Today we’d like to introduce you to Melanie Medina and Rafael Alvarez.
Melanie and Rafael, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
The Hot Bananas formed as part of the Chamber Music program run by the Hausmann Quartet at San Diego State University in 2013. It was formed by Rafael Alvarez and me, Melanie Medina, two guitarists new to the music program at SDSU. We bonded over a love of 2Chainz and carne asada fries. Our musical operation began as a trio consisting of two guitars and a trombone under the name “Two Guitars and a Bone”.
By the end of the semester, a violin was added to the lineup after Rafa just happened to get rear-ended by a violinist. Soon, we began busking and playing regularly at the Hillcrest farmer’s market. The Bananas also began playing events on campus at SDSU and private parties. Our reputation grew from playing public events, our social media activity and word-of-mouth. Now, we play regularly at public and private functions as a trio of two guitars and a bass.
We owe much of our unique group dynamic to coaching from the Hausmann Quartet.
They taught us just how nuanced communication needs to be between members of a small ensemble, regardless of the genre. This communication is definitely enhanced by our close personal friendships as well. It’s a lot easier to play music with someone you can talk to and make eye contact with.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road hasn’t been completely smooth. The lineup has changed quite a bit, mostly due to the fact that this is an ensemble of busy music majors trying to get through college. We’ve weathered personal differences and had long periods of inactivity when our members have been particularly engrossed in their schoolwork. All this is in addition to the struggle of being a new music group trying to gain traction in a large city with a limited demand for jazz.
Please tell us about The Hot Bananas.
We are a gypsy jazz trio. We specialize in not only the gypsy genre, but we also gypsy-fy whatever music tickles our fancy. Hip-hop, Top 40, Disney, video game music, you name it. We also are known for our high-energy live performances and our frequent mention of bananas in our publicity material. We’re especially proud of how apparent our friendship is from watching us play. We like blending jazz, something people generally consider an antiquated art form, with more popular, simple, catchy music that everyone can enjoy to show how improvisation is a timeless form of communication. Also, we have a high potassium content.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
MELANIE: My favorite memory from childhood is getting my first guitar. It was an absolutely terrible First Act guitar. The neck snapped for no apparent reason after about a year. But I’ll never forget the thrill of learning stuff like “Mary Had a Little Lamb” and “Camptown Races” and just being STOKED at the fact that I was making music. I was playing the guitar.
RAFA: My favorite memory from childhood was driving down my cul-de-sac in my red jeep and meeting my best friend in a blue hummer. We were 5.
Contact Info:
- Email: hotbananasgypsyjazz@gmail.com
- Instagram: @hotbananasgypsyjazz
- Facebook: facebook.com/thehotbananas
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