Amid a wave of hateful messages towards immigrants from the commander in chief, Kansas City rockers Making Movies are dedicating their latest tour to the those who arrived in this country.
The band’s Immigrants Are Beautiful tour looks to bring a message of hope and solidarity for those who stand against the hateful tone which has taken over sections of the political and social discourse in the United States.
“As this super fear-based rhetoric started to come from the White House and national media, we thought we had to voice something in direct opposition to that,” Said Enrique Chi, the band’s lead singer and guitarist, to La Prensa San Diego. “If you have a bit of racism or prejudice you have to be careful because we all come from a human migration. Look at who your grandma was, who your grandpa was.”
Immigration and the coming together of cultures are two concepts that are very near and dear to this ensemble. The band is made up of Panama-born brothers Enrique and Diego Chi and Mexican siblings Juan Carlos and Andres Chaurand.
Making Movies’ rock and roll sound incorporates Afro Latino and psychedelic tones, but also draws heavily from the heritages of both families. It is not uncommon to see electric guitars be traded for the mejorana, a Panamanian acoustic guitar, mid performance. It is also not unusual for one of the Chaurand brothers to add the shoe stomp beats of zapateado, a step dance hailing from Mexico’s Veracruz state.
Chi explained that the band’s members dissect and tread the lines between musical styles in order to see what common threads tie musical styles together, rather than looking for what sets them apart.
“Everything that I love in music is a direct result of human migration,” he said. “Cumbia rhythms, for example, are a mix of indigenous and African rhythms but feature spanish lyrics and poetry.”
“Nothing in music or art is a ‘pure’ anything anymore, maybe nothing ever was,” Chi added.
It is with this appreciation of culture, along with their political stance, that the band has made their shows a place to celebrate the diversity and cultural fusion brought forth by immigration.
The band even took this concept one step further by offering free show admissions to DACA recipients throughout the tour.
“It is a simple act of solidarity but it we have been moved by seeing how it impacts young people, and actually, just people really, in our communities,” Chi said of the ticket giveaways. “Some of our DACA guests have come talk to us after shows and it is very powerful to hear their stories of what they have lived though and their struggles.”
Making Movies will be playing a local show on Thursday night at Winston’s in Ocean Beach. DACA recipients can register for their free tickets on the band’s website: makingmoviesband.com/daca.
