We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Molly Gallegos. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Molly below.
Molly, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
Well, I’m a Leo so I love being the center of attention but really it was the first time I walked through the doors of Su Teatro. I saw people who looked like me on stage and in the audience and I felt immediately at home. I don’t exactly remember what show it was, it was quite a long time ago, but I knew immediately I wanted to tell those stories too. Through Su Teatro I I met so many inspirational people who unknowingly gave me permission to express myself however I wanted to. I met poets, musicians, actors, visual artists, people who were all connected to this one community and branching off to do that same work in other parts of the city. Their work and dedication to telling our stories inspired me to do the same. In 2019 I realized how unhappy I was just doing art on the side. I wanted to make art all day. I wanted to immerse myself in music and theater and painting. My career working with students was very fulfilling but I felt so fake telling them to pursue their wildest dreams when I wasn’t doing that myself. It took me quite a while to be brave enough to even admit to myself that I wanted to pursue a more creative life, but since I did it’s just taken off, and I know there is so much more to come.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I host Super Sonido on KUVO Jazz every Sunday at 4pm. As a young college student finding myself on a predominantly white campus I clung to the people in my same boat. While we had a wide range of experiences as Latinx students one thing that stuck out was our desire to reconnect to our mother culture, whether that was learning to speak Spanish or studying indigenous cosmology or cooking, or simply just visiting the places where our ancestors came from. For me the connection to my father’s family came through music. I’ve grown up, as many biracial people, deeply confused about who I am and where I belong, and while my mother worked very hard to give me a sense of culture I still felt incredibly disconnected. Music though, provided a space where I finally made sense, particularly music that connected the past to the present. Musicians like Chicano Batman with their vintage soul sound and Bomba Estereo with their electronic folklore gave me a space to carve out my own identity. But I had to search to find it. I wanted people to turn on the radio and find themselves, easily. So I decided to start Super Sonido, a show that hopes to open up parts of listeners that they didn’t even know were waiting to be found. With Super Sonido I hope to provide an hour of sonic validation, an hour long soundtrack to us finding ourselves together through playing music that validates both our past and all the places we are heading. I’m so proud of the community I’ve created through this show. It can feel strange because most of us have never met but we can connect because we have the same experiences, we have band aids over similar wounds. When you listen to Super Sonido I hope that you feel like we’re sitting together in my kitchen over a cup of whatever you prefer just talking or dancing or laughing together like old friends.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
Pay them! It sounds simple enough but if you want art you have to pay artists. There are so many sculptors, jewelers, musicians who’s creativity gets lost in the grind of paying bills. Can you imagine how much more beautiful our lives would be if those people had time and space (and MONEY!) to just make things? Can you imagine the amount of creativity you have that you aren’t even aware of because you’re stuck behind a desk all day? What if the trope of “starving artist” didn’t exist? What if people didn’t have to chose between passion and financial stability? I’m a strong advocate for doing whatever the heck you want because really, with only so much time on this planet why have we chosen to waste so much of it to jobs that drain us? I want to see more people smiling and covered in paint or clay. I want dirty fingernails and papers all over the floor. I want people to be able to pursue their greatest joy because really why else are we alive, and the only way for people to be able to do that, is if they don’t have to worry about putting food on the table.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
I love that I am able to connect with other people in a unique way. I love going to KUVO and getting letters, or when people find me on social media and share with me the music that moves them. I know that I make work that I needed when I was younger and it feels really good to know that other people need it too. I also love the search. I love finding some new and exciting music. I love reading about it. I love researching the folklore behind the rhythms and instruments and I love being able to pass that on to everyone listening.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.supersonidoshow.com/
- Instagram: @_mollegria
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/molly.gallegos.96/
- Twitter: @DamitMolly
Image Credits
Elizabeth Salamanca, Mane Rok, Susan Gatschet