Josh Norek is not your average record label executive. At 31, this New York native has already made some major contributions to the national and international embrace of Latin Alternative music. Together with Tomás Cookman, he co-founded (and currently co-organizes) the Latin Alternative Music Conference, which takes place this year from Wednesday, August 2nd through Saturday, August 5th in NYC.
EYE OPENER
As Vice President of Nacional records, Josh has helped increase the awareness of such acts as Nortec Collective, Andrea Echeverri, Los Bunkers and Mexican Institute of Sound, partnering with select radio stations to obtain radio airplay for thesebands, a luxury that Latin Alternative music is rarely afforded. Al Borde recently caught up with Josh inside the stylishly funky North Hollywood home-turned office from which he runs the day-to-day operations of Nacional Records. He offers unique insights about the Latin Alternative music scene as well as the concept behind creating LAMC.
A native New Yorker, Josh feels a need to explain his passion for this type of music since Latin Alternative was not something heavily played on the radio while Josh was growing up. He recalls,“I never really heard any Spanish-language music growing up in upstate New York other than salsa and merengue. But I took some time off from college at about 20, and I wound up working at Warner Argentina in Buenos Aires. I was working with their non-Latin artists like Hootie and the Blowfish and Green Day and found myself pushing Anglo music on poor, unsuspecting Argentines.
”As it turns out, it was Josh who ended up ‘converting’ when he had his first taste of Latin Alternative music: “This was the first time I heard Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, and I became a total convertido. I became obsessed with Rock en Español. It was just so much more interesting and ground breaking than anything I was hearing in the States, I mean, just that whole fusion of traditional Latin sounds, whether it’s tango or cumbia, you know, with punk or Hip-Hop or Electronic music, it was a lot more interesting than what I was hearing in the US.” The experience in Argentina had a profound impact and would re-shape the direction of Josh’s career.
LAMC: NEXT ROUND
One of Josh’s biggest milestones has been the success of the Latin Alternative Music Conference (LAMC), the country’s premier event for Latin Alternative music. Born in 1999, the Conference was created due to the lack of specialized attention and awareness given to the genre. Josh recalls, “At the time there were really big expectations for Latin Alternative music, people really felt that it was going to be the next big thing.” But a big impediment has been the fact that the genre never had an outlet exclusive to this type of music.
“Sometimes Latin Alternative would get a token panel at CMJ [the annual College Media Journal music marathon-another must-attend event for indie music], sometimes it would get a token panel at Billboard, but this genre has very specialized needs. So the LAMC was created as a way to bring everybody from around the world together for at least one time a year, all under one roof networking, and a lot of deals come out of this.The first year we did LAMC, Kinky was the winner of our unsigned bands contest and they wound up getting a big contract out of that so for us, we’re very proud of the track record that the conference has. It’s there to help other artists and we want them to make the most of it.”
FACING CHALLENGES
While there are events like the LAMC that help promote this type of music, the genre still faces plenty of challenges. For Josh, the biggest has been getting this music commercial radio and television exposure. He explains, “Because Latin Alternative music is too edgy and alternative for Spanish commercial radio,it gets little exposure. Likewise, because the lyrics are in Spanish, it is hard to get on English-language commercial radio.”
The Internet—MySpace in particular—is one important outlet that has greatly helped to give more and more people access to Latin Alternative Rock and, in doing so, has helped the genre maintain its relevance today. Josh notes, “MySpace is amazing because it brings a lot of equality. I mean with radio, people don’t understand, everything you hear [on mainstream radio stations], everything on a major label is payola. If it’s not direct payment it’s all kinds of indirect things and as a small, independent label, I don’t have the budget to do payola; I can’tpay to get Nortec or Andrea Echeverri on the radio. But the difference is with MySpace, it’s this way that people can hear the music, regardless of whether it’s on radio or on TV, ‘cause they find what they like.
”In an effort to bring this music to a wider audience, the LAMC will include free concerts and numerous showcases. The conference takes place this year from Wednesday, August 2nd through Saturday, August 5th in New York City. There will be pre- and post- LAMC shows with Manu Chao, Plastilina Mosh, Molotov and Zoe. Panel topics include “Spanish vs. English in Reaching U.S. Latinos” and “Los Tres Crossovers: Further Defining What Crossover is in Today’s Market.” More information on the LAMC, including registration deadlines, can be found on its website.
www.latinalternative.com
