Caliche Caroma
Translation by: Frantz Voltura
Born in Mexico City in 1988, Daniela Olmedo, from the cradle onwards has never been far from music–her father was a mariachi–there, the seed was sown that germinated into a beautiful, leafy tree. When Dainela was barely six years old, she was already playing at family parties, performing amongst the bustle of her relatives, known to them as Dany, she sang, grabbed the guitar, the jarana or whatever she could find. Live music, playing in front of public audiences, was to be her first school.Many other lessons would soon follow. This is her musical history.
Dany Speaks
When they took me to Mexico City from Tulancingo, Hidalgo, being a Mariachi was the first job my dad had. I remember my uncle’s bohemian parties; my relatives included the girls and boys playing children’s rounds, mostly songs that had to do with childhood. We were only babies and they had already integrated us as part of the family’s fandangos. Also, my dad collected records, I listened to them carefully and that gradually formed me in music.
On my own initiative, I entered art school. The truth is the teachers were just kids themselves. It was only when I got closer to the music of Michoacán, I had my first teachers, one of them was Zaya (Elizabeth Avendaño) who told me how to play local styles, los sones. She was patient and taught me the essentials of this music.
Music first took me to Escuela Libre, a school in Mexico city, located in the Roma neighborhood. I then I took my exam to compete at the Escuela de Iniciación del INBA #2, very close to the Multiforo Alicia. I spent a year there preparing for entry to La Escuela Nacional de Música, they accepted me as a student, I did my preparatory work and a year of undergraduate studies in Ethnomusicology. After that I changed schools, I chose the ENES campus Morelia, studying in Music Career and Artistic Technologies.
I decided that I would dedicate music to myself when they paid me to play (nervous laughter). I started working professionally at the Roma school for artistic initiation. I had a choir class with a teacher from Yucatán, Juan Ernesto Villegas. He integrated me into his chamber choir that sang Anglican church masses in Lomas de Chapultepec, Mexico City. Though I don’t remember that year very well, there were many concerts. In 2009, I gave performances in Carmina Burana. We were given the whole book to learn and that was when I decided to work in music.
I have participated in many projects. In traditional fusion music groups with other genres, for example, La Bruja y la Conjuros de Ella. At the same time I performed with world music groups, Sephardic music, and in chamber choirs. In Morelia with ChanequeSon, Sonaxa, etc. In Mexico City, the family project of Ensamble Hueyapan was more formal.
The musical styles and epochs that I enjoy most are: New Spanish, Balkan, Choral, and music made in the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries.
For me, music has always been a job, a job that I really enjoy, a job that completes me. Lately, I have thought about what would’ve happened if I’d dedicated myself to something else and I really can’t imagine anything else giving such meaning to my existence the way music has. I’ve stopped making music during certain periods of my life and I’ve felt that something (or everything) is missing, I cannot be without music for long periods of time. For me, music is a way of life.
Currently, I am operating more independently in terms of ensembles. I work more as a solo singer, however, invitations to perform in groups continue. I guest singing sones with the Orquesta Típica García Blanca. Next year I will take part in a project called En Femenino, where several women singers collaborate making arrangements of leeward sones jarochos and bolero compositions composed by girls. Furthermore,I sing in monumental choirs for the Ministry of Culture in Mexico City. Alongside this, I make ethnomusical sound bytes like those of Leandro Corona. I also do sound in documentaries with a collective in el chilango.
It has been difficult being a woman and devoting myself to music. When I started to study on my own initiative I found support, but I myself had to look for schools and teachers, and sometimes it was difficult. It wasn’t common for women in my family to sing or play. I told my parents that I wanted to study music and there was some shock, because, in order to do so, I had to leave the nest. Of course, I copied the first thing I saw at home, the only other knowledge would come from outside my family’s breast and I did not hesitate to seek them out. It was a long path for my relatives to understand that I could look for my own sources of learning, and this path continues presently.
After arriving in Morelia, I discovered that the music of Tierra Caliente had a path alreadycarved out by other women like Zaya, Laura Gil, Violeta Jarero, amongst others. At first it was difficult, opening a space for myself with local musicians was not a piece of cake. The same thing happened in the production space, being almost always surrounded by men, which is a challenge, because they doubt women can achieve the same level. Each time the road becomes wider, I hope that my job pays its way.
I tell boys and girls trying to dedicate themselves to music to prepare…a lot. It is true that there are demands, discipline, formality, but all this will eventually bear fruit and it is rewarded at the end of the day. It’s good to try to be the best at what we do, there’s no need to be afraid.
Cover image: Wendy Rufino
Escritor putrefacto que deja el alma en cada tecla, a veces es grasa esa alma. Ganador dos veces consecutivas del premio «Mejor dedícate a otra cosa». En su casa lo conocen como Panchito porque baila el cha cha cha. Quiere adelgazar, pero no puede.
