Latest / Caught on the Mike... / Hector Anchondo- singer/songwriter, award winning blues artist

Transcript

Hector Anchondo- singer/songwriter, award winning blues artist · Caught on the Mike...

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Disclaimer, the views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities they represent.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: Listen or discretion is advised.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another exciting episode of Caught on the Mic.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: I cannot speak on the behalf of my next guest, but I can say for myself, summer of 2025 has felt like a summer full of full circle moments.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know what it is, man.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: I walk outside, I'll go take a walk around the neighborhood, and it will feel like I'm back to the late 90s, early 2000s.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: Music is coming back in a roundabout way.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, we have a kind of a big event coming up in our area.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: On July 12th, 2025, 897 the River is hosting their 30th anniversary bash with 311, Sublime, The Urge, Blue October, Sick Puppies, and my next guest, Mr.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: Hector Anchando.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: How the heck are you, my friend?
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: I'm doing great.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: Uh thanks for having me.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: So are you having similar feelings lately?
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: I I have been, I've uh I just been seeing like there's more a lot more like I want to say like organic, like more feel-good music that that is more relatable and all that good stuff.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like is I've been noticing it more as well.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I'm and I'm definitely all about it.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: You and me both, and it's weird because I know during the pandemic era, it's like people that used to take a shit on bands like Limp Biscuit came around to Limp Biscuit, and now all the party bands like the Sublimes and the 311 and everybody that makes music to feel good is like having their own little bit of renaissance, plus all these awesome bands that are kind of coming up alongside those bands.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: What do you think the reason for that is?
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: I think, you know, maybe it's you know, there's probably you know lots of reasons, but I think one of the reasons is I think people are turning, you know, we always turn toward towards music to help kind of heal, heal our soul and and heal, heal what we got going on inside.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: And I think right now I think we need that feel-good music uh more than ever right now.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: So I think I think that's at least one component.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, for sure, for sure.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: So for people that might not be as familiar with you as I am, let's kind of take a step back to the beginning and kind of jump into your origin story and kind of what got you started in music yourself.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, I got started in music, I didn't realize that I it was it was from you know, when I was younger, I didn't realize how much I loved music or how much I was into it until later looking back, you know, I uh I was in you know, choir all the way through high school.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I you know, I I auditioned for the band and I and I got into the band and band in high school, but or in junior high, but I did I had to bow out because um I guess you know, maybe it was just going about learning music that way wasn't for me.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, so but I would stayed in choir all the way through.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: And it was when I was 16, I was I we rarely ever got uh we didn't have cable TV where I grew up out in Missouri on a farm, way out in the sticks, so but we did have a satellite dish that looked like we're part of a uh some kind of experiment.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um one of those big giant old school satellite dishes, and and uh it would always get struck by lightning.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: So um my mom only got it fixed a couple times growing up, but one of the times that it was working, I was watching uh VH1, I think, is what it was, and they played Guns N' Roses, November Rain, and Slash was playing that really beautiful guitar solo in that song, and I that's when I knew what I wanted to do.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: I wanted to play uh some beautiful guitar, and and and then I got started shortly thereafter.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, and so how long between you starting and you forming your first band, how how long of a space of time was that?
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: I would say maybe about a year because I really I really wanted once once I was in that mindset, I I it took me about a year to be able to sing and play.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um and and then once I started being able to sing and play, I you know, started um jamming more with people from school at the at the high school that I went to, and and uh um and then just got eventually there was enough people to get a band going.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: And I I think it was uh within a couple years, I think well right away I started doing like little shows and stuff at school, but I think it was within a couple years I played my first show at uh at a venue coffee house called the Coffee Grind in Rawl, Missouri, which was about 25 miles down the road.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: Your band Enchondo, you guys started up and played the Ranch Bowl for the first time.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: What was it, 2000, 2001?
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yep, right around there for sure.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so let's talk about the origin of that band in particular because that's uh for those of us that have those rosy tinted glasses memories of the Ranch Bowl era, you guys are definitely a band that stuck out.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so let's talk about how that band came together.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_01: So I moved to Omaha in '99, and I was I started playing the you know, the open mics around town.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_01: And my cousin George, who went by who goes by Big G and the band On Chando, he, you know, I he became interested in guitar, so I started teaching him some guitar.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_01: So I think it was only like a couple weeks later I I had talked him into getting on an open mic stage with me.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_01: And it was uh an open mic downtown Omaha called Stage Right.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_01: And I think they did it every Monday night, I believe.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_01: And they and that open mic went on for a a lot of years.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but that's that was uh mine and Big G's first performance together, and um and then from there uh George or Big G had an uh he his cousin um was uh Justin Gomez, and he played some bass because Justin's dad was a musician, and so that's how he that's how we found our bassist.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_01: And then my cousin, and we were in our early early 20s, right?
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_01: And my cousin uh I was just I I was I've always been in, you know, it's like that that mindset of like just tell anybody and everybody you know that you're trying to find you know what you're trying to find and it'll find its way to you.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_01: So I told my little cousin, I think he was maybe 11 or 12 at the time, and and then he said, he's like, oh, my friend's older brother plays drums.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, oh let's let's audition.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: And in my mind, his older brother was you know older.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_01: So we uh I met I met the guy who's uh Alex Mosier, um, who's still the drummer to this day.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_01: Oh and he, you know, very tall guy.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_01: I he seemed everything about him seemed older.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: Auditioned him, he was a great drummer.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and it wasn't until years later that we found out his real age.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um but he was only 15 at the time, and but he did not, he's a tall dude, he's like 6'6, right um, and so I he did not look like he was 15.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_01: So it was that classic, like we were uh sneaking him into the bars, or or he'd have to go stand outside when we weren't playing, kind of thing when we were playing uh out in different areas, but um but uh yeah, so that's how the that's how all the members, the beginning starting members uh found each other.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's I I forgot about the fact that Alex was much younger than you guys, but like let's let's be honest, like you couldn't have asked better arrangement at that point in time with the Omaha music scene being as vibrant as it was to have somebody that's high school age embedded in your band while you're like taking a stab at it, right?
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_01: Totally, totally.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_01: It was it was you know, we there was an age gap there, but it it just really it just worked, you know.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_01: The chemistry was there from the beginning.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: And you guys, you guys had a single, She Devil, that hit on 897 the River, you know, shortly after forming and playing a routine of of shows at at the ranch bowl.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: What was that like whenever you had a song hit on radio while you're still a young band?
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, it was an incredible feeling.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um it was it exceeded our expectations.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_01: Uh because at the time it was getting uh it was happening, it went on for a long time, but it was getting like 50 spins a week, and um that changed that changed our lives, you know.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_01: All of a sudden we're playing sold-out shows, and it was it was a it was a cool learning experience.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it was we're it was we were there for the ride, it was it was amazing, and it was it was cool because back then we still you know uh people bought albums from shows with from from new artists, and so it was you know, we had the the lines of folks waiting to get the CD and the autograph on the CD.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_01: And and so I'm so glad that I got to really experience before experienced that, and we all did.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_01: I was glad we all got to experience that before things moved on and changed, but it was like that whole the whole thing, and it was it was amazing.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, when you and I were texting and setting up this episode, you know, we've played a few shows together, but like I said, we were kind of like ships passing in the night because I think when Inchondo blew up, I was going through a series of band lineup changes and redefining my sound at the time to where you know your album dropped after you guys had record recorded at Presto to the point where you guys inspired me to record the second 3QE album at Presto as well, just because the fidelity was so good and it was a little bit more affordable than the warehouse was at the time, but just as good quality, um, but just as good a quality, and uh so I I know whenever we released our second album, we just kind of turned our faces outward as opposed to working on the Omaha scene, because the one thing I will say, and I'm I'm not shitting on Omaha by any degree, so don't take this away from that, is that Omaha is not really forgiving when it comes to giving people uh a redemption arc, so to speak.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: You know, uh you get one chance to make a first impression, and I know my initial lineup of three-quarter evil three QE wasn't the best thing in the world.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: I you know, years have gone by and I say that, but it was such a growing experience at such a vibrant time in the local music scene.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: How did you embrace or did you feel the local music community embraced you guys?
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I think the local scene was really supportive.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I think there was something really cool about the Omaha scene that I I thought I was like, oh, this is you know, as a as a youngster, I thought uh this is what it's like everywhere, you know.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_01: I think where Omaha really shined was people gave gave uh bands a chance.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_01: And people would go see bands they'd never even heard of or even like didn't know anything about, they're like, oh, that's who's playing tonight.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_01: Let's go do that.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and you know, if they're good, cool.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: And if they're not, you know, they still got you know the ranch world, we'll do some bowling or or what have you.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_01: But it was cool because especially at the ranch bowl, it was awesome that people would just show up regardless who was playing, because it was like the whole um oh, it was just that whole oh I'm I'm I'm I'm forgetting the word.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_01: This that whole community that that yeah that whole lifestyle that Alma had revolving around Ranch Bowl.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that you know, people just show up.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_00: Do you have a favorite memory from that era playing at the Ranch Bowl or during that time that still blows your mind to this day?
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_01: Oh man, that's a tough one.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_01: But I I'd say I'd say how into the music people were at that time.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like Omaha, you know, people really got into it.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_01: People were dancing, people were like, you know, shouting out different things to to the band, you know, people really got involved.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_01: It was like um it was very cool, and I think I I honestly think that's kind of something that you know, Omaha has its music lovers still, and Omaha is still a supportive town.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_01: But there was something that changed.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_01: Uh people don't seem to get as involved as they used to.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um so I I miss, I love that about that time.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, people were you know doing you know the the mosh pit uh thing too back then, you know, but you know, the dancing and all that, I uh it's a little bit different now, and the Alma scene in in regards to that.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um so I'd say I'd say that was the energy at the time was my favorite thing about Marriage Bowl.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: Same here.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_00: I you know, I've got so many memories like bowling with less than Jake after a less than Jake show, or like sitting in the bar on a dead Thursday night where a band's getting their first chance or first shot playing at the bowl, and like the guys from Tonic just randomly showed up in the bar and sat down and had drinks with us.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, there's tons of things like that, or like seeing My Chemical Romance through a room of 50 people, and you're like, you think about those moments now, and you're like, that would never happen now because of social media or interest media, and how people are so distracted now.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, I have many times on this show cited the Ranch Bowl as being the forest gump of local music venues because of how many touch points with history it had.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I love that about Ranch Bowl too, and how you know these sometimes you know not famous at the time, but famous now, or sometimes really famous at you know, at that time.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_01: I I loved how they would just folks would just go bowling, and you could be bowling next to like uh a lit.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um, that was cool.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_01: I got to meet those guys.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: The first time I got to see Buddy Guy was at Ranch Bowl.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I was I was like looking through the peeking through the chain link fence through the the doors of the ranch bowl to get a glimpse of him and and uh Sophia John was like, What are you doing back here?
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, I was just trying to I was like, I'm I'm just trying to catch a little bit of Buddy Guy.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_01: She's like, get on in there.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_01: And so that that was super cool, and uh that I'd say that that was also that's probably one of my favorite moments too, is you know um getting to experience that.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_01: And that was back when Buddy hat guy had the long locks, and he was just you know, a party animal on and off stage.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: That's so funny because it sounds like your relationship when you were younger is very similar to what my relationship was like with Sophia when I was younger.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: I used to go, I was the punk rock kid when I was like 16, going to Des Moines and watching the slipknot shows when they were a local band, and she kind of took me under her wing back then myself in a very similar way.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_00: Was there a key artist or album at that point in time that flipped a switch for you and changed the way that you approached music when you were in the thick of it back then?
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, there was I'd say there was several artists back then.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um Pomeroy was one of them.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_01: They they were because they were all they were just so good.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_01: So I feel like they inspired everybody, no matter what genre it was, because they were just so tight and so good.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, um, they so they that definitely seeing them play and hearing how hearing what it could sound what how tight things could be definitely was a big turning point for me and the guys in my band too.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think that's that's a common sentiment among all of us.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's that iron sharpens iron mentality whenever you're surrounding yourself with really good acts, it forces you to get better yourself.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_01: Totally.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_01: And and gives you uh gives you a window into what it could be like, you know.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_01: You know, because sometimes sometimes when you're when you're young, I think it's it's hard to know where to go with it, you know.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_01: I mean you you might have some some good songs and you're working hard at it, but you don't know exactly, or at least me, I I know I didn't know exactly what to do for sure to get you know to become to keep growing and to keep getting better.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_01: But hearing a band like that just it was definitely like a a window into like, you know, like okay, we need to figure out how to get tight, like, you know, that that's how we that's one at least one of the ways we can get better is that, you know.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes, yes, yes.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: I remember playing uh to a similar extent.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_00: I remember playing a show at the music box with Grasshopper Takeover and Kurt Grubb watching our entire set and then sitting down with us and literally giving us notes for for every single song we played and exactly what we did.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_00: And he was like, he was like, you need to start practicing to a metronome, practice to a click track, practice transitions, do this, do that.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_00: And like I had the Reese brothers on a couple of weeks ago, and I don't know if you're familiar with them, they're on Nick Hexham's label, and they were talking about I've I've heard of the name.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, dude, you should check them out.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: Especially you should check them out, but I will for sure.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_00: They uh they were talking about I, you know, I was asking them what they learned as a young band because they started when they were like 16 and 19, and they were touring with Chicago and all these other big name bands.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_00: And they said as a young band, the first thing that they learned was professionalism and how that reputation could carry itself.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_00: Like you had to learn at a young age to become a professional looking, sounding, and acting band, and uh, you know, how much that played into their evolution?
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_00: So, speaking of evolution, let's uh let's kind of start to move away from the past and let's move towards the future.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_00: So, how did you transition from the band Anchando to Hector Anchondo as a solo artist and as a blues artist?
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I I started out with play learning how to play some blues guitar, blues guitar leads, and if you when you listen to the on Chando solos you can hear that bluesiness in them and you know when you know different members of the band started having kids and you know kind of it was just it felt like it was time to like take a break from that for a while.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_01: I started playing I kind of went back to my my roots and I started playing with the with the blues and R B band in Omaha.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_01: And I I became their lead guitar player.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_01: And that reminded me how much I loved that style and they were called Burgundy and Gray and that was a such a wonderful experience learning from you know they were much older than than I was at the time and still even much older than what I am now you know they were they were older fellas and but they all just had had the best attitudes and they were um it was they were all about the vibe and it was cool.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_01: So that got me that got me going and that got me helped me redefine my direction as a musician just oh just overall and and then while I was doing that it was kind of like it was kind of like it was everything was pulling me towards that because a friend of mine um Tim Convey from the band Ludo who was also they were also around in that time the Ranch Bowl era he reached out to me because he every once in a while I'd we would just with on Chonda we'd play some blues and so the one of the nights that we played some played some of that Tim Convey heard it.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_01: So years later he calls me up and he's like hey I got this crazy idea he's like I want to I want to be part of like putting together a Hector on Chondo blues album he's like how would you feel about that he's like I know it's a crazy idea but what do you what are you thinking?
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_01: And I said absolutely because because I was already the universe is already pulling me that way and just out of the blue he calls me and asks me that and I said let's do this and um and so that that's kind of really what got me going in that like besides my love of that style and genre um it was like just the universe was kind of calling out to me.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah as artists and creatives you can't ignore serendipitous moments like that you almost have to lean into them because you know sometimes the universe is telling you to go left and all of a sudden something like that happens and it's telling you to go right and you better just ignore the universe and say hey let's take this bigger sign and go down that road you know since you've been a blues artist you've had an impressive run at the International Blues Challenge.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_00: What was that experience like from going from semi-finalist to eventually first place in 2020 oh it was it was a mind blowing experience it kind of in some ways it kind of reminded me of South by Southwest.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_01: Sure um you know but you know just in a different realm kind of so to speak and um so that that was it was really fun and it was cool there was bands from all over the world there so you got to hear these different um these different folks playing their their versions of the blues and and it was just it was magic down Beale Street in Memphis Tennessee and so it was it was exciting and and the competitive part it was cool to see nobody had any bad attitudes or anything um because you know sometimes in the music industry you can kind of get like that you know especially the competitive stuff which I'm not a fan of I'm not a fan of the competitive stuff.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_01: So I was I was really um pleased to see that it wasn't like that everybody was like hey let's be friends you know let's let's network together and um I liked that so yeah that was that was cool and you know as you walk down Beale Street you know you could hear you know you hear one band coming from one doorway and then you hear another band from another it was it was great.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_01: It was and seeing other artists do their thing um especially the the artists that were the the really good ones too you know like any of the well any of the artists you could take away inspirations from but there were some of those ones that really shined and and again gave you kind of a an idea of like ah like that's I I I could I could uh work on this part of what I do to take it there and have kind of windows into what it could where you could go with it.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_01: And um so and then uh so that in 2015 we made it to the semifinals which we felt like we felt like we won you know because it our only goal was to make it to the semifinals and we um didn't expect anything more than that we we didn't in fact we didn't expect anything but our goal was to at least make it to the semifinals and we we made it and so we felt like we won and and then in fact we got like this really great festival gig in Florida because a talent buyer overheard us celebrating um semi-finals and he thought it was he got such a kick out of it that we were so happy that about that you know about making it just you know just there that he invited us to come play at his fest uh in um tampa I think it was Tampa yeah no no no it was bonita bonita springs so and then in 2016 we went again and we made it to the finals that was that was cool that was a big learning experience because getting to the finals I think I think there was there was things that we during during our finals at the Orpheum uh I didn't think nerves got the best of us and also there were some things we did we got a little too it was such a huge stage one of our one of our our things that if we could go back and do it differently or what we would do the next time was we were really we were really far away from each other on stage because where the monitors were at and I think that kind of like detached us from our our uh our chemistry so it was it and we all had a hard time connecting that night.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_01: So if we could go back that was a big learning it was a nice learning experience and that's something that we we were mindful of to this day we pull it in close and if we're on a big stage we make sure we don't get too far from each other because so we can have that connection.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_01: And then in 2020 I went as a as a solo act I I went and and I worked I was playing this Tuesday night gig for years as a solo act and I so I worked on I kind of just thought you know okay if I'm ever gonna compete in the international blues challenge again I'm just going to imagine that I'm going to again one day and so I was just worked on it for a couple years on the solo stuff and then and eventually I went and and it was like uh all these moments that felt like I was in the right time in the right place all week long.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um I ended up going uh the first two nights in the quarterfinals I played uh I think both decks were a little later um but oh let me back up like when I did in the Nebraska Blues challenge I ended up getting you know they draw straws to see what who goes in the lineup and ended up going drawn for to go first out of all the bands um which uh at the at the time nobody wants that yeah totally at the time I thought uh oh this or and that but I was like oh well you know I'll go first and I'll be able to get over the nerves faster so then I did the quarterfinals and those were both later but the semifinals I got drawn to go first and so I was like I I kind of flipped it around and I thought hey this is a good thing because I don't need to sit there and watch all these other great artists and get inside my own head I can just play do my thing and then get off the stage um and because I was like just my really mindful I didn't want to get in my head about anything and then I made it to the finals and then again I my name got drawn to go first again in the finals.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_01: So I I took it as a a blessing um so again I I I got there I didn't have any time to get in my own head and I just did you know did my set and and then it and it surprised to me I ended up uh winning and I wasn't even I wasn't even backstage where I was supposed to be when they called my name so I had to uh hurriedly get get back there.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_01: It was a little embarrassing but the it was a it was mind blowing I felt like I was like at any moment somebody was going to say uh what are you doing back here or like when even when they called like when I went up on to the stage I was I had all I had was this feeling like am I like did I hear something wrong?
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_01: Like am I they gonna tell me to get off the stage if I woke up there it was it was just a mixed bag of emotions.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_00: To retrace a few things that you kind of brought up is the the whole competitive nature of being involved in art that warms my heart to hear that despite the fact that you were competing against these other artists that there was still a sense of community and kind of drawing a further parallel to it, I think everybody their first time on a ginormous stage like that has that rock band mindset where like we got to spread out.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_00: We got to like work the stage from all angles.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_00: But if you go and see bands like Marcus King or like even Chris Stapleton the band is all really tightly close together for the exact reasons that you talked about being challenging for you guys.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_00: That's crazy stuff.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_00: That's crazy stuff.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_00: So let's talk about where you're at right now in 2025 you know this big show for 897 the river is coming up you know blues artist on in one hand contemporary pop rock reggae artist in the other hand how do you balance both with what you're about to do in July you know I guess it is a it is a tough balance I don't I don't do as many shows with Anchondo as I do with like Hector Onchando either solo or with my band um but it's still a tough challenge um and I uh I just you know I rehear I rehearse a lot with the with the guys and that that helps keep me keep me like you know straightened out with the different the different music and so I'd say it's I owe a lot to the guys being willing to get together and rehearse so much.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_01: So that really helps and I and um and I you know I think I just I've always just worked a lot and I played a lot because you know my I I think that helps too because I've always been on the mindset of like you know thinking about you know the big music towns you know in Omaha is growing still growing to this day becoming more and more of a music town.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah um but I you know I always think about the the big music towns like Nashville or Chicago or New York where you know where people um can not only play full time but make a really good living but and it's not even the the good living part I mean that would be awesome but the fact that they you know part of how they become such musical um beasts is because they're playing they're playing nonstop all the time and it's a a way of life and that's how I've I've always strived to just make that do the same thing so that I can keep growing and so that I think the amount that I play the uh as often as I play I think helps keep everything um uh straightened out for me.
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_00: Well and and I've pointed this out multiple times on recent episodes that audiences have become more attuned to the musician's mindset.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_00: Like you and I being musicians we've always listened to everything.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_00: You know you said Guns N'Roses early on but you're also talking about Buddy Guy and I I think about like the fact that I'll listen to somebody like Atmosphere then turn around and listen to like the Bill Evans trio or some other jazz album or something along those lines or go listen to a hip hop record.
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah you know absolutely absolutely and as a father of teenagers myself um and now future musicians um one thing that I've noticed is we can demonize social media and we can demonize streaming all day long but at the same time what it has done and has managed to do is eliminate blurred lines of genre to where kids just listen to music for the sake of it being music.
• 35:55
  SPEAKER_00: They just listen to music now.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_01: Love that they don't think of things in terms of rock band or country band or anything along those lines do you kind of do you kind of feel that that's played into your evolution a little bit as well absolutely I I do for sure I mean my kids are like hearing all different kinds of genres constantly and it's becoming just music you know and I I think that's gonna I think that gives um pathways to new and exciting um artists and songs and with the different flavors and uh I I I really like that and I also I think people are waking up to that there's more there's more sounds out there in general than the what the mainstream is that's being fed to everybody.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's it's nice to that people are realizing that there's more than just the the one four five you know court music you know one four five six you know like it's like there's more to it than just those those main four chords you know right which those are good ones I like I love those but you know there's more so what's next for you musically aside from this show um is there more in Chondo's future or and is there more in Hector and Chando's blues future yes there's so um Chondo we've been talking a lot about putting out because it's nice in today's day and day and age that you don't have to have the pressures of putting out a full album which is really cool because I mean putting out a full album is really stressful for me anyway it's I like because it take it takes me a long time to feel good about songs being ready to record.
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_01: So being able to put out less songs at it at a time is definitely appealing to me.
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's and it's a win to do that in today the way it's today people consume music today.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_01: So in On Chando we've talked about um we have one song we've talked about putting out like either two or three songs like sometime in the future which I would love to start doing that you know maybe once a year every couple years.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_01: And then in a the Hector on Chando um band we're we're working on um we're raising some money to get the next album out and hopefully start recording in the next month or so.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_01: The songs are all ready so time to get some new music out.
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_01: Also this year I went to NAM and um in Anaheim California this year and it was my first time going there and I I did not expect this but I ended up getting an endorsement through a guitar company in France.
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah and this is the I've I haven't told mentioned this anywhere yet um so that was in January but so now they're just now they're shipping out the guitar this week so it's finished finally and it's being sent out so that's a big some big news and um you know that's I guess that's big news for both both bands you know the Hector Onchando band and on Chando because to have it's it's just a cool feeling and experience to have that endorsement um called Magneto guitars.
• 39:23
  SPEAKER_00: Oh that's awesome.
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah that is awesome so what advice would you give to a younger artist trying to find his or her voice in today's music scene I would say learn something try to learn something new every day a good practice regimen also learn different styles uh I think learning different styles is the absolute best way to developing your own voice uh whether it be musically or vocally you know or you know instrumentally or vocally um is the the best way to develop your own voice and style in general I love that man I love that so my closing question is my most favorite question to ask everybody that does the show and it's kind of a little bit off the cuff but I like everybody's unique answer and that is what is your advice for making the world a better place tomorrow than what it is today through your experience you know I have a good one I I feel like it's a good one I've been thinking about a lot um waving at people you know like acknowledging that we each other exist you know waving at the letting the person on the road the in traffic let them in you know let them in wave at them they don't wave who cares just wave at them but I think you know building that back up in our because we don't a lot a lot of times people don't wave at each other anymore we don't even smile at each other anymore you know like when we're out and about doing our daily things you know I think waving smiling saying saying hi I think and starting bringing that kind of thing back would make a a big difference in everybody's happiness they would uh I feel like we're all so removed from each other because of you know social media has its pros and cons.
• 41:16
  SPEAKER_01: But I think you know just doing that little gesture would acknowledge that hey hey you exist I exist you know we're all in this together kind of a thing.
• 41:26
  SPEAKER_00: So random acts of kindness and acknowledgement is what it all boils down to.
• 41:31
  SPEAKER_00: Totally all right ladies and gentlemen January or January shit where am I at July 12th July 12th River's edge part council bluffs Iowa 897 the river's 30th anniversary show you can see this strapping young man front the band Inchando I'm looking forward to it I know all of you are looking forward to it Hector why don't you tell everybody where they can find you and your music online so if you go to Hectorblues.com that'll take you to um uh the the Hector on Chando music but that you know by way of that you could find the Onchando music I mean it's on all streaming platforms um either uh there's three variations like there's uh on Chando there's Hector on Chando and there's Hector on Chando band or the three different spaces that you can look up the music.
• 42:30
  SPEAKER_00: Check it all out everybody every last bit of it I gotta tell you man I led off this episode by um talking about full circle moments and redemption arcs and things of that nature and I gotta say man if I were to express any one regret it's the fact that you and I have never sat down and had a conversation like this in the past even though we've kind of like I said ships passing in the night but I look forward to many more in the future dude glad to know you I can't wait to hang out in real life likewise the world's a much better place with you and it my friend you too brother thank you thanks for doing the show man I I really appreciate you having me it means a lot once again I'd like to thank my friend Hector Anchando for doing the podcast today.
• 43:20
  SPEAKER_00: It was a lot of fun make sure you give him a follow on Instagram at Anchondo Music at Hector underscore and chondo underscore band he appreciates all of your support check out his music the three ways he told you how on all the streaming platforms Hector and Chondo Hector and Chondo Band and Inchondo.
• 43:41
  SPEAKER_00: You can check them out on July 12th at River's edge park in Council Bloods Iowa with 311 Blue October Sublime Stick Puppies and the Burge I cannot wait for that show I hope to run into all of you there.
• 43:56
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure you are following Caught on the mic on all social media platforms give me a follow on all the podcast platforms and subscribe to my YouTube channel.
• 44:06
  SPEAKER_00: This has been Caught on the mic with Michael Clark.
• 44:09
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Michael Clark until next time thank you