When I was 13 (2006), I remember my parents (Ruben & Maria) desperately looking for that one hobby that would interest us enough to keep my brothers (Alejandro & Aldo) and me from playing video games for 10 hours straight…. every day.
My sister, Melina, was 19 and in looooovvvveee with a guy named Ulises. Ulises, blinded by love, resorted to one of the most bulletproof ways to make even the emotionless rock fall in love with you…. a serenade under the moon.
Apparently, the serenade went well. It happened late at night, and I was able to sleep through the whole thing. I was a teenager at the time. The serenade was so successful that my parents were convinced that my brother and I should also learn how to play the guitar in order to be able to serenade (and I did serenade, it worked, but that story is for another time). My parents then talked to one of the guitar players who helped with the serenade and convinced him to teach us how to play the guitar.
And that’s when Alejandro Requena gave me my first guitar lesson. I really only had 5 or 6, but that was enough to keep me going. I was obsessed with playing the guitar; I couldn’t get enough, and I’ve been teaching myself ever since. That same year, music stopped being mysterious and one-dimensional. Music became an infinite gift that got better with practice, patience, and time.
Suddenly, at a young age, I felt a purpose. I knew I was going to live my life revolving around music; I just couldn’t imagine it any other way.