We were lucky to catch up with Mariana Grahl recently and have shared our conversation below.

Mariana, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you feel you or your work has ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized? If so, tell us the story and how/why it happened and if there are any interesting learnings or insights you took from the experience?

One of the main challenges we have found, is to explain others that Latin Music is more than just salsa, cumbia or reggaeton. When we started El Chanclazo, we made our Mission to share our culture through music so on our performances, we like to talk about where a song is from, about the composers, or the music style. This is why we like to describe our style as “Bohemian Latin Music”. Today we get to perform music from different LatinAmerican and Hispanic countries and this is how we educate others about the beautiful and various styles that are a part of Latin Music.

Mariana, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I was born in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico; a border town with Brownsville, Texas where we get to enjoy the best of both countries. The first time I got to sing in front of a big audience, I was 4 years old and was accompanied by my dad on the guitar and my mom with her tambourine, and since then, I haven’t stopped singing and I’ve had the opportunity to perform in national and international stages for people from all over the world! I moved to the DFW back in 2017 and in 2019 I met Pepe Valdez and we started this magical journey called El Chanclazo. Even after the Covid Pandemic tried to stop us, we get to bring our “Bohemian Latin Music” to all of the DFW Metroplex in different venues, festivals and private events. Our mission is to share our culture through music! Our name comes from the preferred latina’s moms method of punishment, La Chancla (the flip-flop). Chanclazo means to be hit by a Chancla and although, this is just a popular joke within the latin community, we chose this name to remember the music that we grew up listening too, with a selection of modern music that is now a part of our culture.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect is to unite generations and communities with our music! When we have a show and we see an older couple dance to a song they love; a young person singing out loud the song that their grandparents used to sing to them; a person getting excited because the song we’re playing is from their country. We definitely love to see people excited and passionate about this music; the music we love and that describes who we are.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

A lot of people don’t understand the challenges that come with being a creative person. As a musician, and as a singer, in my particular case, people expect from us to bring the party, the happiness. When we perform, we need to leave our personal problems, situations and even emotions down, before going up the stage and put up our best face. Us creatives, entertainers, don’t have “sick days”, don’t get upset and can’t be having a bad day. The emotional toll can be hard for some people to handle. Non-creative people struggle to understand this and often minimize what we do because we “get to enjoy it” but they don’t know what, most of the time, is hidden behind our smile. Just because we get to do for a living what we’re passionate about, doesn’t mean that is not a job for us and that it isn’t hard hard. As any specialty, being a creative requires discipline, hard work and many hours studying and perfectioning our techniques and talents. We don’t wake up one day and automatically know everything about the industry or how to connect with a crowd. It takes many years of practice and a lifetime of study. There’s a say in spanish: Renovar o morir; it translates to: To renew ourselves or to die; and I think this is the best way to describe the music industry: either we renew ourselves and understand that this is a constant practice or we won’t be able to continue doing what we love.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.elchanclazodfw.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elchanclazodfw/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elchanclazodfw
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@elchanclazodfw
• Other: TikTok: @ElChanclazoDFW