Music has always been the greatest influential entertainment in any culture since the dawn of time. It has bonded generations, families, and cities together. Houston has one of the best underground alternative rock music scenes in Texas. Showcasing many local bands from all over the United States and even internationally. However small these bands are, the support from the locals never seems to fall short. Recently more venues have been opening up on the Southeast side of Houston. Thus allowing a whole new wave of customers to have access to live alternative music. 

    As a local Southeast resident and music lover, I was ecstatic when finding out about these venues. The Southeast is full of rich Hispanic culture from its restaurants, live music, and stores. This means that new venues such as The End, Compound, and  Embassy OutPost have allowed the alternative Hispanic crowds to have a safe and fun space to listen to live music. Before, these shows would often happen on other sides of Houston far from diversity. I recently attended a show at the Embassy and had the opportunity to interview concertgoers and musicians who also agree on how important it is to have these venues available to our Latino community. 

Interview With Concertgoer: ( Known as Bean )

Carla C: How Long have you been attending these local shows?

Bean: A few years now.

Carla C: How do you think these shows affect you personally as a Hispanic and local person?

Bean: “It’s awesome seeing people who represent my culture play music, like rock music & cumbia together… cumbia I grew up listening to while rock is something I discovered myself you know my mom didn’t show me that seeing it put together is awesome spiritually. It’s cool being around Hispanic people in that aspect. It’s also so

warming … I love my community so much.” 

These venues provide all kinds of safety for our people. We can dress however we want, talk how we want, be queer, be loud without the fears of judgment that we get for being different in our community and the rest of the world. We are allowed to be unapologetically us. This is our way of expressing how we feel through music.  Many of these concertgoers are teenagers who are looking to escape reality with art. Musicians also have these venues to showcase themselves.

Interview with a Musician: ( Known as Zero )

Carla C: How do you think your music has influenced the Hispanic Community? And just having these venues available to the Hispanic community?

Zero: “ I think one of the better things about living in Houston is that it’s not only so diverse but that there is such a strong Hispanic community it’s unlike any other city I’ve been in which lends itself to being diverse within itself, Hispanic and Latino culture is not a monolith and the music scene lets people connect and have a space that they normally wouldn’t.”