Dia de San Lazaro - Sancti Spiritus

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

On December 16, I was in Sancti Spiritus, relaxing, planning and showing my wife Susie where I’ve been hanging out for the past three years. I’ve got a lot of great friends there, including our buddy Sam. Sam knows a lot about the layers of humanity all around him. Cuba is a remarkable society, a blending and mixture of so many times and places. One of the most facinating things about Cuba is the remaining influence of the old African religions that came with the slave trade.

One of those religions is called Yoruba. Before they were arrived in Cuba, some African groups practiced a religion centred around the Babaoa tree. They made the harsh crossing to the Caribbean, and discovered another tree, the Selva. The Selva tree was similar in size, shape and texture, and so it became the centre of the new Afro-Carribean religion.

Slave men were not allowed to congregate. To allow that would be to allow the possibility of rebellion. The plantation owners ignored the women as unimportant, and in failing to recognize the transfer of the religious priesthood from the men to the women, they ensured that the African soul would never be erased and defeated from Cuba.

The Dia de San Lazaro is the high holy holiday for the Yorbua religion.

Akupunktura is a pop punk band from Cienfuegos, Cuba. They are part of the original punk movement which began roughly 15 years ago in the communist country. They’re amazing dudes playing fun pop punk that would be a hit anywhere. This is from the Cienfuegos show on the Solidarity Rock tour.

Gatillo loves punk rock and camping. Sancti Spiritus, Cuba’s outdoor enthusiasts will blow yer mind and drink your questionable home brew.

This is Eskoria. Punk rock stalwards, legends and torch bearers. William Fabian was Cuba’s number one punk rocker, a kind and quiet guy who just wanted to play the music he loved. He died in January, 4 days after we came home from Cuba. This was shot in Trinidad at the Solidarity Rock show last summer, when everyone had had way too much agua ardiente to drink.

Sometimes, you aren’t ready to be totally blown away by what’s around the bend. Last summer, we went to Cuba with drum heads and cymbals and a couple of guitars and a bag of mics and cables. Basic stuff needed for any rock band. During that trip our Cuban partners set up a show in Trinidad, at the Casa de Cultura. The day was spent smoking cigars in the rain with Cuban friquis, and then when it stopped, we set it all up inside and had the first show of it’s kind since 1995. This is Arrabio, the fiercest, baddest and nicest motherfuckers you will ever meet.

This is an interview I did with my friend William Garcia. I have worked with William on Solidarity Rock for two years now. This was shot in July 2009, before the SLATES tour and right after the first bits of gear were delivered.

This is an interview I did as part of the SLATES Solidairty Rock tour. This is SLATES talking about the realities of Rock N Roll in Cuba from their own experience.

Dia de San Lazaro - Sancti Spiritus

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

On December 16, I was in Sancti Spiritus, relaxing, planning and showing my wife Susie where I’ve been hanging out for the past three years. I’ve got a lot of great friends there, including our buddy Sam. Sam knows a lot about the layers of humanity all around him. Cuba is a remarkable society, a blending and mixture of so many times and places. One of the most facinating things about Cuba is the remaining influence of the old African religions that came with the slave trade.

One of those religions is called Yoruba. Before they were arrived in Cuba, some African groups practiced a religion centred around the Babaoa tree. They made the harsh crossing to the Caribbean, and discovered another tree, the Selva. The Selva tree was similar in size, shape and texture, and so it became the centre of the new Afro-Carribean religion.

Slave men were not allowed to congregate. To allow that would be to allow the possibility of rebellion. The plantation owners ignored the women as unimportant, and in failing to recognize the transfer of the religious priesthood from the men to the women, they ensured that the African soul would never be erased and defeated from Cuba.

The Dia de San Lazaro is the high holy holiday for the Yorbua religion.

Akupunktura is a pop punk band from Cienfuegos, Cuba. They are part of the original punk movement which began roughly 15 years ago in the communist country. They’re amazing dudes playing fun pop punk that would be a hit anywhere. This is from the Cienfuegos show on the Solidarity Rock tour.

Gatillo loves punk rock and camping. Sancti Spiritus, Cuba’s outdoor enthusiasts will blow yer mind and drink your questionable home brew.

This is Eskoria. Punk rock stalwards, legends and torch bearers. William Fabian was Cuba’s number one punk rocker, a kind and quiet guy who just wanted to play the music he loved. He died in January, 4 days after we came home from Cuba. This was shot in Trinidad at the Solidarity Rock show last summer, when everyone had had way too much agua ardiente to drink.

Sometimes, you aren’t ready to be totally blown away by what’s around the bend. Last summer, we went to Cuba with drum heads and cymbals and a couple of guitars and a bag of mics and cables. Basic stuff needed for any rock band. During that trip our Cuban partners set up a show in Trinidad, at the Casa de Cultura. The day was spent smoking cigars in the rain with Cuban friquis, and then when it stopped, we set it all up inside and had the first show of it’s kind since 1995. This is Arrabio, the fiercest, baddest and nicest motherfuckers you will ever meet.

This is an interview I did with my friend William Garcia. I have worked with William on Solidarity Rock for two years now. This was shot in July 2009, before the SLATES tour and right after the first bits of gear were delivered.

This is an interview I did as part of the SLATES Solidairty Rock tour. This is SLATES talking about the realities of Rock N Roll in Cuba from their own experience.