Last October after a performance in Pasadena, I had the opportunity to talk to the members of La Santa Cecilia. During that conversation, they mentioned being eager to get into the studio and record new material. If anything was apparent during our exchange of words, it was that La Santa Cecilia had plans. Big plans.
A lot has happened since that humble conversation. Fast-forward to current day, La Santa Cecilia is now under a major record label, none other than Universal Music to be exact. The new material they were hoping to record, well, that’s out now under the album title Treinta Dias.
The album’s first single, “El Hielo (ICE)”, and its music video, has brought the band well-deserved national attention by the mainstream media. Marisol “La Marisoul” Hernandez, lead singer for the band, shares with us the story of the single and about how famed musician Elvis Costello came to be featured in the new album.
The story of La Santa Cecilia’s “El Hielo” and Treinta Dias, as told by Marisol “La Marisoul” Hernandez:
“El Hielo” is a song we felt we had to write. Not only because of all the voiceless, undocumented immigrants who are out there struggling every day and fearing deportation, but because it’s a story that’s very near and dear to us. My mother worked as an undocumented domestic worker and baby sitter for many years.
Pepe Carlos, our accordion player, was also undocumented until very recently. For the last four years we were traveling to Texas and Arizona and since Pepe Carlos was still undocumented during that time, we had to take extra long routes in order to avoid immigration checkpoints. We were invited to play in Mexico many times and always had to leave Pepe Carlos behind. So it was a very bittersweet feeling to have that success in which Pepe Carlos often couldn’t participate. It’s been a long road.
Now, we have the new album out and are playing with Los Lobos at the Greek Theater on Cinco de Mayo. From Treinta Dias we were honored to work with Elvis Costello in the song “Losing Game”. It was introduced to him through our producer, Sebastian Krys. He sent Elvis an email with the song and not only did Elvis accept to sing on it, he also added some lyrics of his own.
He was very generous in explaining why he wrote those lyrics. And to think, we just met him last year when he invited us to his Wiltern Theater show where he asked me onstage to sing “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood”. It’s been an unbelievable experience to work with such a great musical icon and to have accomplished so much this year already. And to think, the year is just beginning.
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