美国国家公共电台 NPR Y La Bamba's Luz Elena Mendoza On Valuing One's Voice

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Y La Bamba's Luz Elena Mendoza On Valuing One's Voice 

play pause stop mute¹ unmute max volume 00:0002:38repeat repeat off Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser² to a recent version or update your Flash plugin. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "OJOS DEL SOL")

Y LA BAMBA: (Singing in Spanish).

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: 

That voice belongs to Luz Elena Mendoza. Her band, Y La Bamba, borrows from folk, indie rock and the Latin music she grew up listening to as the daughter of immigrant parents.

LUZ ELENA MENDOZA: Both of my parents are from Michoacan, Mexico. They came to the states and started their family. I was born in San Francisco. And then the whole family moved to southern Oregon, where both of my parents landed working at sawmills. When I was younger, I used to hit this box in my house. My dad used to make some, like, random³ stuff. Like, if he needed a place to put his shoes, he would make a box out of plywood. And for some reason, my - it was my brothers and I - we - I just started hitting a box and started singing. I got on the box, started hitting it with a stick and just - I made my rhythm.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LIBRE")

Y LA BAMBA: (Singing) Last night, while I was dreaming, I thought I fell asleep...

MENDOZA: And my brothers joined in.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LIBRE")

Y LA BAMBA: (Singing) What was a dream where my traveling eyes...

MENDOZA: And we were always having that experience. We would be singing, you know, like, if it was some Vicente Fernandez song or if it was a Ramon Ayala song. And mostly it was, like, the jams that my father listened to.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LIBRE")

Y LA BAMBA: (Singing in Spanish).

MENDOZA: It's so special to have that. Like, us as children just - without even realizing that we are singing and expressing the fruits of our culture. Because I grew up in such a strong, like, Hispanic community, I carry that. And so I carry it wherever I go. So that's always strong. My big thing lately is this - I feel like either you're Mexican or you're, like, Chicano or you're, like, bocho. And then I feel like living my life, feeling kind of like this in-between - and I have struggled with knowing who I am, my identity. Am I, like, 50 percent Mexican or am I 50 percent American? I am 100 percent Mexican and I am 100 percent an American. And I feel like I am also 100 percent Chicana. And so, for me, doing my music, I value that voice and I've learned to value that voice.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "OSTRICH")

Y LA BAMBA: (Singing) I'm a daughter of the southern mountain. Some say that I've come from...

MARTIN: Luz Elena Mendoza of the band Y La Bamba. Their new album is "Ojos Del Sol." This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. BJ Leiderman writes our theme music. I'm Rachel Martin.