The Gitanos

Hola me da mucho gusto escuchar estas canciones de la banda que presentan en su pagina. Sin enbargo deverian de poner mas. Su musica es buena y tienen potencial. Sin embargo les boy a sugerir que empiesen a promosionar y tocar puertas. Sigan adelante van por buen camino.
Fher de MANA

Hello, it gives me great pleasure to hear these songs at the bands website. Nevertheless, you need to write more. Your music is good and has potential. But to suggest that you boys should knock on many doors. Keep it up you are on the right track.
Fher MANA - Email 10/03

As featured in the January 18, 2003 issue of Billboard Magazine named "one of the top 5 bands in the southwest." - Billboard Magazine

Gypsy Living
The Gitanos caravan into Santa Cruz by Joanna Galuszka

Little green Converse sneakers can’t help but take their first dance steps when
Gringo Star bangs on the drums. Those who don’t understand Spanish stick around anyway for the tight artistry. Nearby street buskers may wince, realizing they have to practice harder to draw a crowd like that. From the Boardwalk to Cooper Street to Pearl Alley, The Gitanos are stopping pedestrians and drawing people out of buildings.
The Gitanos (Spanish for “Gypsies”) are four unsigned musicians from Stockton who have been “spearheading the next wave of Latin Rock” for the last six years while holding down day jobs. Guitarist Jimmy Moreno appraises real estate. Bassist Steve Quesada works for a mortgage broker. Singer and lead guitarist Raul Cadena does landscaping. Gringo Star (whose real name is Justin Anderson) works for a legal office. A fifth guy, Michael Klooster of Smash Mouth fame, produced and played keyboards on The Gitanos’ latest full length CD. En el Lugar Perfecto a la Hora Correcta (“the right place at the right time”) has yet to be released.
Moreno says The Gitanos’ sound is like that of “a current American band, but with Latin lyrics.” They have been most commonly compared to Mana. Whether they’re going acoustic with Spanish guitars or going electric for a more rock ‘n’ roll feel, The Gitanos sing about life, love, happiness and disappointment. Moreno doesn’t worry about language barriers. “Good music is good music,” he says. “How many people can repeat the words of a Curt Cobain song? I love Nirvana, but you don’t know what he’s saying.”
The Gitanos feast on an eclectic musical buffet, from bebop to Soda Stereo to Zappa, along with standard favorites (The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, U2 and Radiohead) and jazz.
“You never know what we’re going to be listening to on the road trip,” says Moreno.
Unlike some rockers who accidentally strum a chord and call it genius, The Gitanos cultivated their musical abilities in school and church, of all places. Moreno started as a trumpet player in third grade, though he wanted to play saxophone. Gringo played the drums in his school’s band. Quesada played guitar and bass in the church where his father was a minister. Cadena learned traditional guitar music as a boy in Zihuatanejo, Mexico, from his father.
“Raul is like a mina bird,” says Moreno. “He can mimic anything that he hears.”
Cadena also plays accordion.
The Gitanos hit bottom in 2001, when Quesada was hit in a drive-by shooting outside a convenience store where he worked. The bullet shattered his sternum, broke a rib went through a lung and exited at his shoulder. He was in intensive care for two weeks.
Fortunately, the bullet missed his heart, and he recovered. “I learned to appreciate life more and thought about quitting the band,” he says. He decided to stay in the band, returning to the roster four months after the shooting.
“I realized I was happy with the music,” he says.
It was economic hardship three years later that forced The Gitanos out on the streets, if you will. Though they had played venues up and down California, they still had to support themselves with supplemental jobs. But with the new year came fluctuations in the real estate appraisal industry as well as the brokerage industry. The music store where Raul and Gringo worked closed, and flexible jobs were hard to find.
“Something had to happen with the band, or we needed to get “real jobs,” says Moreno. So they loaded up their gear and hit the road. Moreno says their strategy worked.
“We’ve always been a band to go anywhere to do a gig. That fits the name of The Gitanos.” Moreno likes the audience connection that comes with playing on the street.
“People actually say prayers for us and give us their blessings on a regular basis,” he says.
- Good Times

You do not need a crystal ball to realize the potential of this band, who have appeared on local television, national and even international levels. The Gitanos have worked hard the San Francisco Bay Area and Central Valley of California, where they are well known, which has led them to play alongside Cafe Tacuba, Aterciopelados, Enanitos Verdes, and Paulina Rubio. Recently joined by Michael Klooster (Smash Mouth), who is responsible for keyboards and production of new work. Recently were finalists in the "Anheuser-Busch Battle of the Bands" held at the BB King's at Universal Studios.

No se necesita de una bola de cristal para darse cuenta del potencial de esta banda, quienes han aparecido en la television local, nacional e incluso internacional. The Gitanos ha trabajado fuertemente el area de San Francisco Bay Y Central Valley de California, lugares donde son muy reconocidos, lo cual los ha llevado a tocar junto a Cafe Tacuba, Aterciopelados, Enanitos Verdes, Y Paulina Rubio. Recientemente se unieron a Michael Klooster (Smash Mouth) quien se esta encargando de los teclados y la produccion de su nuevo trabajo. Hace poco resultaron finalistas en el “Anheuser-Busch Battle of the Bands” que se llevo a cabo en el B.B. King’s at Universal Studios. - Ano VIII Vol. 5