New Kid on the Blog

Halo Afrobeta friends,

I recently photographed the lovely afrobetans and shortly developed a lovely friendship. I'm their adopted 24-year-old child and the rest is history :)

On the real, I love this band and I believe in it 150%. So I'll be contributing on this bloggity-blog and sharing some fun, random, sometimes insightful information. I'll also bring some sights for all to see.

I'm excited!

Hope you are too!

NKOTB,
Kar Gar :)

Fun Times at Borscht!

Dale! Go get the projector in Hialeah then! These were words spoken at some point in the night at the premiere of the Borscht Film Festival.
The scene was 1500 people seated in the floor and mezzanine of the historical Gusman Theater. There we sat with drinks in hand and anticipation in our hearts to see a compilation of the best and brightest film and animation work by and of Miami.

Only problem was, the projector at the Gusman wasn't working. So after the scheduled musical performances by Sirens and Sealions and Animal Tropical, they needed more entertainment to keep people around while we waited for the projector to arrive from Hialeah.

Tony and I were sitting in the back row of the floor next to my sister, who did make-up on our music video short that was premiering at the fest.
Matty and Lucas came up to us and said, we're sorry to bother you, but would you guys mind playing?

So we borrowed a guitar from Sirens and Sealions and played 6 of our songs acoustic-style.

I remember going to the Gusman as a little girl on a school fieldtrip and as I grew up I always admired it as such a classy venue. And now I can say I played there.
It was kinda like losing your virginity though. You know you look forward to that moment and then afterward you think, "I wasn't supposed to be like this."

That's kinda how it felt. Bittersweet. There was a lot of chatter throughout the audience. People were understandably antsy about when and if the films would begin, making them not the best crowd to play for. But for all the chatters, there were people who genuinely enjoyed the show and said so and clapped. So thanks guys!

Afrobeta secret free show tonight at 10 pm at the epic hotel downtown. 270 biscayne blvd way.

New Afrobeta vid premieres at Borscht Stories at the Gusman!

Hey!
First off we must thank profusely Yara Travesio, Lucas Leyva, Antal Steinbach, Nabila Santa-Cristo, Priscilla Quesada, Karelle Levy and KRELwear, KarGar, Jeje!, the other Karla, Catherine and the set building boys, the vogue dancers, Tamargo, Kodak© and EVERYONE who put their blood and sweat into making this shoot a reality...
It was a concept that I would have never come up with, and truly, we are still in the midst of production for the album (which isn't the best time to shoot a video). But!
It was the time for the Borscht Film Festival so we did it!
Yara (director/choreographer) had the concept. Stemming from an candid interview with Anna Karina french new wave actress and incorporating Yara's eye for movement.

We can't wait to see how this is going to develop*!
:) We shot in B&W with film lovingly donated by Kodak!

Come see the reel* deal in its entirety at the premiere at the Gusman Theater 7pm on November 28th for the Borscht CCCV Stories!


*cheesy puns make me smile!


luv,
cuci

Ps: Below is the link for the interview with Anna Karina...Enjoy!




Pss: Oh! When I found the interview on YouTube I also found a fan vid for a Crystal Castles song mixed in with a scene with AK in "Vivre sa Vie". I can see that CC's Alice loves Anna Karina's signature bob and black-rimmed eyes!

97th Anniversary at Tobacco Road!

Heya!
So our next show is Saturday November 21st! Which is also my dad's bday, so maybe there will be a Papi sighting at the show???
It's not just any gig either, its the 97th Anniversary of Miami's oldest bar, Tobacco Road. Legend has it Al Capone hung out here during prohibition!
Simply put, this place has magic oozing from its walls. The Road kinda defies all kinds of conventions, it's divey but not small, it's cheap! (97 cent drinks?) but the food is rich, and most anyone can/and does play here but I've yet to see a terrible band there. Can't say the same for one of my other all-time Miami faves, Churchill's.*


In any case, we are playing the anniversary party this year! TB is tearing it with 2 nights of music, Friday the 20th and Sat. the 21st till 5 am. We play the second night...A big honor if you have ever been in past years, because they close out the parking lot and the party is JUMPIN'!
We play at 12:45 till 2 am.
Last year I was there for the Spam set at the same time and there were at least a thousand people!
crazy!
What am I going to wear?

*all commentary is based on the visceral experience and opinion of the blogger and do not necessarily represent the views of Afrobeta©

In lieu of our weekly Jazid performance...

So as we announced earlier, we are taking a break from Jazid to concentrate on recording our debut album. But here it is, the first Tuesday night off and I gotta admit I'm feeling nostalgic.
So enjoy a cool jam with Tim. He just brought his horn and said he wanted to play. We had never met him before, but we got to know him onstage!
;)
love you,
cuci

Thanks to Diego Tosoni for posting this and being one of our "regulars" at Jazid.

I'm blue, if I was green I would dye!

Yay! So Halloween was cool cuz I finally got over the flu that had ominous overtones of swine-niness...
Here's what the Miami New Times had to say about our Halloween performance:
"In an ode to the 1972 American porn industry, Gen Art held its Other Hollywood party at Awarehouse. The highlight on the night was definitely Afrobeta's smurf-tastic performance."

Taking a break from Jazid!

Hey Everyone!

It's crazy to think that we've been at Jazid every TUESDAY since the first Tuesday in January, till the last Tuesday in October.

But alas, we've decided to take a break from our weekly at Jazid to record our long-awaited debut. I've been waiting forever!

We do have a couple one-offs coming up, like this Saturday at the Grove Block Party.

But for the most part, we're keeping it low...

I'll keep blogging and tweeting so K.I.T., Stay Sweet, and Don't change 4-NO ONE!

Luv always,

Afrobeta