Latest / Austin Signal / Belongings lost in homeless camp sweeps, despite city resolution

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Belongings lost in homeless camp sweeps, despite city resolution · Austin Signal

• 0:08
  Austin's unhoused population say
• 0:10
  they lose everything when the city
• 0:11
  sweeps through their camps.
• 0:13
  Those kinds of sweeps are ramping up
• 0:15
  following a year old city council
• 0:17
  resolution to do so.
• 0:18
  We've got that story.
• 0:19
  And the city of Austin overpaid
• 0:21
  hundreds of employees to the tune of
• 0:22
  one more than $1 million.
• 0:25
  Most employees expected having to
• 0:26
  pay the money back but didn't expect
• 0:28
  to face legal action over something
• 0:30
  that the city was at fault for.
• 0:32
  More about both of those stories
• 0:33
  coming up on today's show.
• 0:35
  The Austin Signal is a production
• 0:37
  of KUT News, hosted by
• 0:39
  Jerry Quijano.
• 0:40
  The KUTX Artist of the Month for
• 0:42
  April has only one rule.
• 0:44
  There are no rules.
• 0:45
  We're gonna chat with the duo behind
• 0:46
  Gran Moreno.
• 0:48
  And a sad update from Athena.
• 0:50
  The Great Horned Owl nesting here in
• 0:51
  Austin was believed to have lost
• 0:53
  both her owlets, but we've got
• 0:54
  some good news to share with you.
• 0:56
  That is up next here on
• 0:58
  Austin Signal.
• 1:08
  Howdy out there, you are listening
• 1:10
  to Austin Signal.
• 1:11
  It is April 20th and a rainy
• 1:13
  Monday outside the KUT studios.
• 1:16
  The National Weather Service is
• 1:17
  forecasting rain chances to increase
• 1:19
  through daytime tomorrow, so
• 1:21
  be sure to keep those umbrellas and
• 1:23
  raincoats handy.
• 1:25
  I'm your host, Jerry Kiechanel.
• 1:27
  Thank you for tuning in today.
• 1:30
  Austin plans to ramp up the clearing
• 1:31
  out of homeless camps and public
• 1:33
  spaces starting next month.
• 1:35
  The city is supposed to provide
• 1:37
  people with options for housing and
• 1:38
  other resources, but many in the
• 1:40
  community say they are not getting
• 1:42
  that help.
• 1:43
  KUT's Luz Moreno Lozano has
• 1:45
  the story.
• 1:48
  This right here is one
• 1:50
  of the entrances that we
• 1:52
  had.
• 1:53
  This is Tony Carter, a man
• 1:55
  who's been experiencing homelessness
• 1:56
  since 2019.
• 1:58
  We're in Southeast Austin at the
• 2:00
  former homeless camp he was living
• 2:01
  in with about 10 other people.
• 2:04
  But a few weeks ago, the city came
• 2:05
  in and forced everyone in the camp
• 2:07
  to leave.
• 2:08
  All that's left are scraps of what
• 2:10
  used to be living quarters.
• 2:11
  Pieces of tents anchored to the
• 2:13
  trees and lots of blankets, clothes
• 2:14
  and other belongings are strewn
• 2:16
  through the property.
• 2:17
  As you can look over here to your
• 2:19
  left.
• 2:23
  This is where I
• 2:25
  was staying with
• 2:27
  my son and
• 2:29
  his girlfriend.
• 2:30
  It's where he has lived since last
• 2:32
  November and where he stored all his
• 2:34
  belongings.
• 2:34
  I had a nice tent,
• 2:37
  my clothes was inside the
• 2:39
  tent, I had
• 2:42
  the box spring
• 2:44
  mattress that we
• 2:46
  had put down inside
• 2:48
  the tents and stuff,
• 2:50
  actually I had it stapled
• 2:52
  down right in here.
• 2:53
  Tony and others living in the camp
• 2:55
  were given no notice before they
• 2:57
  were cleared out.
• 2:58
  His son told them Austin police and
• 2:59
  other city workers came in and told
• 3:01
  everybody to leave, threatening to
• 3:03
  arrest them if they didn't.
• 3:05
  Tony was at work at the time and
• 3:07
  lost all his possessions.
• 3:09
  You know, that's the way they want
• 3:10
  it.
• 3:11
  The Gawson City Council wants to
• 3:12
  make that experience less traumatic.
• 3:15
  Last year, the council passed a
• 3:17
  resolution to better coordinate the
• 3:18
  clear-outs.
• 3:19
  That includes giving advanced notice
• 3:20
  to people living there and providing
• 3:22
  access to housing and other
• 3:24
  resources.
• 3:25
  But Paulette Soltani says that's not
• 3:26
  happening.
• 3:28
  She's with Vocal Texas, the group
• 3:29
  that fights on behalf of people
• 3:30
  experiencing homelessness.
• 3:33
  She and others are calling out city
• 3:34
  officials for their lack of
• 3:35
  compassion and their inability to
• 3:37
  follow their own rules.
• 3:38
  The heart of this problem can only
• 3:40
  be solved with housing, with
• 3:42
  services, with health care.
• 3:45
  These suites are never going to
• 3:47
  do anything about harm our
• 3:48
  community, our entire community, not
• 3:50
  just our unhoused folks.
• 3:52
  We need to invest in those
• 3:53
  solutions.
• 3:54
  Flottani spoke at a press conference
• 3:56
  this month to highlight what they
• 3:57
  considered are poorly managed sweeps
• 3:59
  of an encampment in Austin.
• 4:01
  Kari Ann Smith was one of the
• 4:03
  speakers. She had been swept out of
• 4:04
  her camp in Austin a few weeks ago.
• 4:07
  They took all of my stuff.
• 4:09
  They took my generator.
• 4:10
  They took every single thing.
• 4:12
  And they do not offer resources.
• 4:14
  The shelter was cold.
• 4:16
  The shelter just filled up and
• 4:18
  everything.
• 4:19
  They don't give you no resources.
• 4:21
  They just leave you out to sleep on
• 4:23
  the concrete.
• 4:24
  The press conference was held near
• 4:25
  the corner of E.
• 4:26
  Caesar Chavez and San Marcos
• 4:27
  streets. The area highlights the
• 4:29
  struggle to support the homeless
• 4:31
  population while also creating
• 4:32
  the camps in the first place.
• 4:34
  In that area, there are several
• 4:36
  service providers for the unhoused.
• 4:38
  That includes the Angel House soup
• 4:39
  kitchen where people can get a warm
• 4:41
  meal, take a shower, and get a fresh
• 4:43
  change of clothes, along
• 4:45
  with the Texas Harm Reduction
• 4:46
  Alliance, Mobile Loaves and Fishes,
• 4:48
  and other organizations.
• 4:50
  Shannon Taylor, who lives in the
• 4:51
  East Cesar Chavez neighborhood, says
• 4:53
  because there is that concentration
• 4:54
  of homeless services, people tend to
• 4:56
  congregate there.
• 4:58
  Many of the services set up near the
• 5:00
  Terrazas Library parking lot.
• 5:02
  That has led to an increase in trash
• 5:03
  in public areas and safety concerns
• 5:05
  for people visiting the library and
• 5:07
  other area businesses.
• 5:09
  Taylor says the neighborhood is
• 5:10
  looking to the city to enforce the
• 5:12
  camping ban and keep the area safe.
• 5:15
  And while we're waiting for
• 5:16
  a comprehensive citywide solution to
• 5:18
  this problem of homelessness,
• 5:21
  unfortunately, the solution just
• 5:22
  can't be to
• 5:24
  allow our neighborhood to
• 5:26
  become a default shelter.
• 5:28
  The city has cleared out that area
• 5:29
  several times as part of its
• 5:31
  housing-focused Encampment
• 5:32
  Assistance Link, or HEAL,
• 5:33
  initiative.
• 5:35
  The goal of the project is to close
• 5:36
  unsafe homeless camps, like those
• 5:38
  near busy roads or in flood-prone
• 5:40
  areas, and offer people
• 5:42
  shelter and access to other
• 5:43
  resources.
• 5:45
  David Gray is a director for the
• 5:46
  city's Homeless Strategy Office.
• 5:48
  And so that area is an area that we
• 5:50
  do work hard to keep clear.
• 5:52
  It's also a high traffic
• 5:54
  area, a high injury roadway.
• 5:57
  And with the increase
• 5:59
  in construction along I-35,
• 6:02
  we know there's even greater
• 6:03
  potential for, for injury
• 6:05
  to folks.
• 6:06
  Still, he says there's room for
• 6:07
  improvement.
• 6:08
  We're working with APD on
• 6:10
  learning those lessons and making
• 6:11
  sure that in the future, we do
• 6:13
  things with the spirit of
• 6:16
  compassion, that we
• 6:18
  maybe do better rounds of outreach,
• 6:20
  and then on the
• 6:22
  actual cleanup day, give folks
• 6:24
  a little bit more time to gather
• 6:26
  their personal effects before
• 6:28
  we begin taking away debris
• 6:30
  and doing the garbage removal.
• 6:32
  Better coordination will be
• 6:33
  important because Gray's office has
• 6:34
  announced a new plan that would
• 6:36
  increase the number of sweeps and
• 6:37
  implement a plan to keep those areas
• 6:39
  clear of future camps.
• 6:41
  With a mix of police, city staff,
• 6:43
  and others, the goal would be to
• 6:44
  provide people with safer places to
• 6:46
  sleep and other resources to help
• 6:48
  them get back on their feet.
• 6:50
  And giving at least 72 hours advance
• 6:52
  notice before cleanup begins.
• 6:54
  After the sweep, another team would
• 6:55
  monitor the area to make sure people
• 6:57
  are not creating new camps.
• 6:59
  Tony Carter says a city can ramp up
• 7:01
  campsweeps all it wants, but without
• 7:03
  the proper resources, people will
• 7:05
  continue to live on the streets.
• 7:06
  If you...
• 7:08
  The homeless people not to
• 7:10
  be home.
• 7:13
  Get something done.
• 7:14
  The City Council still has to
• 7:15
  approve the plan.
• 7:16
  It will start its debate on that in
• 7:18
  May.
• 7:19
  I'm Luz Moreno Lozano in
• 7:21
  Austin.
• 7:29
  Well, times are tough and an
• 7:30
  unexpected bump on your paycheck
• 7:32
  might seem like a blessing in
• 7:34
  disguise, but for some City of
• 7:36
  Austin employees, it was more of
• 7:37
  an annoyance mixed with anxiety
• 7:40
  that happened when the city
• 7:41
  accidentally overpaid 10%
• 7:43
  of its employees last month and had
• 7:45
  to demand that pay back.
• 7:47
  For more, we are talking with Andrea
• 7:49
  Ball, Growth Development Reporter
• 7:51
  for Austin Current.
• 7:52
  Welcome back to the show, Andrea.
• 7:53
  Thank you for having me.
• 7:55
  So how did exactly how
• 7:56
  did the city end up overpaying some
• 7:58
  of its employees and how much in
• 8:00
  total did they overpay?
• 8:02
  So in March, the city inadvertently
• 8:04
  paid 675 of its
• 8:06
  employees a total of 1.4
• 8:10
  million combined in
• 8:12
  their paychecks. It was an accident.
• 8:14
  Somebody basically pressed the wrong
• 8:16
  button, the machine overrode
• 8:17
  it, it was kind of technical error,
• 8:19
  human error, combo, whatever
• 8:21
  it happened.
• 8:23
  And so once the city realized that,
• 8:25
  they made an initial outreach to
• 8:27
  their staff saying, hey,
• 8:29
  hey, we made a mistake.
• 8:31
  Don't go spend that money.
• 8:32
  We're getting it back
• 8:33
  And some of the employees were kind
• 8:35
  of already under the suspicion
• 8:37
  that they were going to have to pay
• 8:38
  this money back anyway, correct?
• 8:39
  Oh, yeah, they knew.
• 8:40
  I mean, the people that I talked to
• 8:42
  were like, Oh, I know, not I don't
• 8:43
  get to keep this. They told us it
• 8:45
  was fat. It was right before or
• 8:47
  right after the checks
• 8:49
  went out that they knew
• 8:51
  and some people got two times their
• 8:52
  regular pay.
• 8:54
  Some people it appears were paid
• 8:55
  more than $5,000 extra.
• 8:58
  How do you, when you've been
• 8:59
  overpaid, how do you get the money
• 9:01
  back to the city?
• 9:03
  So just to back up
• 9:04
  for a little bit, what had happened
• 9:06
  was with some employees who didn't
• 9:07
  get the message, hey, this is
• 9:08
  coming, they were walking up to
• 9:10
  their supervisor saying, what's up
• 9:12
  with my paycheck?
• 9:14
  And everybody was sort of, we have
• 9:16
  a normalcy bias as people, right?
• 9:17
  Like, oh, it must be that thing,
• 9:19
  that would make it normal.
• 9:20
  Oh no, this would make normal.
• 9:21
  Maybe I was like promoted,
• 9:23
  who knows what happened?
• 9:26
  But they reached out pretty soon,
• 9:28
  but people really didn't know what
• 9:29
  had happen.
• 9:30
  It became clearer that the
• 9:32
  city which controls the direct
• 9:34
  deposit was like, okay, we're going
• 9:36
  to take it out and you can decide
• 9:38
  if you want to do it over one pay
• 9:40
  period or four pay periods, or
• 9:42
  if you want to pay us by check,
• 9:43
  we take check too.
• 9:45
  So how did it end up coming to be
• 9:47
  that some of these employees were
• 9:49
  facing legal action from the city?
• 9:52
  Yes, so the employees received
• 9:54
  a document that was
• 9:56
  a paid like a basically a clawback
• 9:57
  agreement, a payment agreement
• 10:00
  that says, Hey,
• 10:01
  we overpaid you.
• 10:03
  This is your name.
• 10:04
  This is how much you were overpaid.
• 10:05
  We want it back.
• 10:07
  And, uh, it was a few sentences
• 10:09
  and then like really the second
• 10:11
  paragraph says signing
• 10:13
  this agreement means that
• 10:16
  we're going to avoid a dispute and
• 10:17
  it's going to, avoid a contested
• 10:19
  lawsuit.
• 10:20
  And it's going to, you
• 10:22
  know, make sure whatever.
• 10:23
  And people were like, wait, what?
• 10:25
  Why are you automatically assuming
• 10:28
  that we're going to a lawsuit here?
• 10:29
  I didn't even say I didn't want to
• 10:30
  pay it.
• 10:31
  And so it felt like
• 10:33
  there were some employees who just
• 10:35
  signed it no big deal, no problem.
• 10:36
  But there were other employees who
• 10:37
  said, I really need to know how this
• 10:39
  affects how much I give to my
• 10:40
  retirement.
• 10:41
  How does this affect my taxes?
• 10:43
  That kind of thing.
• 10:44
  And so basically,
• 10:46
  people started asking questions, but
• 10:48
  there were so many people asking
• 10:49
  questions at the same time that
• 10:51
  they couldn't meet the April 10th
• 10:54
  deadline by which they were supposed
• 10:55
  to sign.
• 10:56
  And so people were
• 10:58
  getting really angry
• 11:00
  and some refusing to sign
• 11:02
  and the city says
• 11:04
  they did not intend it to be a
• 11:06
  threat. But lawyers are lawyers and
• 11:08
  so lawyers are gonna lawyer and they
• 11:10
  want to make sure that all their
• 11:12
  options are available to them
• 11:14
  should someone decide I'm not paying
• 11:16
  it back.
• 11:17
  Do you know how much, if any,
• 11:19
  the city has been able to recoup
• 11:20
  already?
• 11:21
  I don't know dollar figure,
• 11:23
  but as of last week,
• 11:25
  I think they were down
• 11:27
  to like 30 something people,
• 11:30
  39 people who had not signed it.
• 11:32
  So out of 675, they're
• 11:34
  getting most of it.
• 11:35
  But the people that I had spoken to
• 11:36
  who either had signed it or hadn't
• 11:38
  signed it weren't fighting about
• 11:40
  the agreement.
• 11:42
  They were just saying, just answer
• 11:43
  our questions.
• 11:44
  As soon as they give me questions
• 11:45
  answered, I want them in a legal
• 11:46
  document.
• 11:47
  I want you to specify it because I
• 11:49
  don't trust you because you just
• 11:51
  messed up my paycheck.
• 11:52
  And I don t think this city intended
• 11:55
  to come across aggressive
• 11:57
  or forceful or
• 11:58
  whatever but they have said this
• 12:01
  is taxpayer money.
• 12:02
  We kind of bombed it and
• 12:04
  so we need to make sure that money
• 12:05
  is protected and that That's what
• 12:06
  we're doing.
• 12:07
  All right, we have been speaking
• 12:08
  with Andrea Ball.
• 12:09
  She is the growth development
• 12:11
  reporter for Austin Current.
• 12:12
  KUT and Austin Signals partnering,
• 12:14
  covering the city of Austin.
• 12:16
  Andrea, always great to talk with
• 12:17
  you.
• 12:18
  Thank you for having me.
• 12:20
  Thank you for tuning in
• 12:22
  to Austin Signal.
• 12:23
  We have more show coming up after
• 12:25
  the break
• 12:30
  This is Austin Signal, I'm Jerry
• 12:32
  Quijano.
• 12:33
  Bird lovers in Austin and beyond may
• 12:34
  be familiar with Athena, the
• 12:36
  great horned owl that has for many
• 12:38
  years made her home at the Lady Bird
• 12:39
  Johnson Wildflower Center during
• 12:41
  breeding season.
• 12:42
  Thanks to a partnership with the
• 12:44
  Cornell Lab of Ornithology,
• 12:46
  birders far and wide have had the
• 12:47
  chance to watch Athena raise her
• 12:48
  young over the years on one of the
• 12:50
  lab's live bird cams.
• 12:52
  Sadly that camera went dark over the
• 12:53
  weekend as Athena appeared to have
• 12:55
  abandoned her after at least one
• 12:57
  of her outlets died.
• 12:58
  And while the second outlet on
• 13:00
  Sunday was also believed to have
• 13:01
  died, Cornell and the Wildflower
• 13:03
  Center reported today that that
• 13:05
  outlet showed signs of life and is
• 13:07
  now being rehabilitated.
• 13:09
  Here with an update is Scott Simons
• 13:10
  with the Lady Bird Johnson
• 13:11
  Wildflower center.
• 13:12
  Welcome to the show, Scott.
• 13:14
  Thank you very much.
• 13:15
  So earlier reports from the
• 13:16
  Wildflower Center and partners at
• 13:18
  the Cornell Lab said both of
• 13:20
  Athena's outlets had died, but now
• 13:22
  we know that one has survived.
• 13:23
  Can you tell us about the status of
• 13:25
  that outlet and how the center
• 13:26
  discovered that it survived in the
• 13:28
  first place?
• 13:29
  Yes, so the allot is alive
• 13:31
  and well and in the care
• 13:33
  of Austin Wildlife Rescue we're
• 13:35
  very happy to report and it is
• 13:36
  eating well this morning and is
• 13:38
  asking for more food and so there's
• 13:40
  a reason to be really hopeful there.
• 13:43
  What happened is,
• 13:45
  you know, the Cornell Lab of
• 13:46
  Ornithology, who's arguably the
• 13:48
  leading expert of birds in the
• 13:50
  world, was monitoring
• 13:52
  the nest site. They monitor our
• 13:54
  camera 24-7, whether it's
• 13:56
  staff or volunteers.
• 13:58
  And noticed that
• 14:00
  after one owl had passed
• 14:02
  away, of course, on Friday,
• 14:04
  and we had noticed that Athena was
• 14:06
  spending less time at the nest
• 14:08
  at the very same time.
• 14:10
  So there was indication to believe
• 14:11
  that perhaps the male had stopped
• 14:13
  attending the nest or something
• 14:15
  had gone wrong, and that
• 14:17
  is really the first red flag.
• 14:19
  Yet, Athena was still coming back
• 14:21
  to the nest.
• 14:22
  And on Saturday,
• 14:25
  we started to see some behavior that
• 14:27
  led us to believe that Athena was
• 14:28
  abandoning the mast.
• 14:30
  On Sunday morning,
• 14:33
  after the night, it appeared
• 14:35
  that perhaps the second chick was
• 14:37
  struggling.
• 14:40
  Even though Athena had not
• 14:42
  officially abandoned the nest yet,
• 14:44
  at a certain point, Cornell had
• 14:46
  decided that perhaps that chick had
• 14:48
  passed away.
• 14:49
  And at this very same time,
• 14:53
  Athena was tending to spend
• 14:54
  less and less time at the nest.
• 14:56
  So this was all sort of happening
• 14:58
  very quickly.
• 15:00
  We believed that the second outlet
• 15:02
  had passed and we had turned off
• 15:04
  the live stream, which
• 15:06
  is the practice of Cornell.
• 15:08
  When a nest season is
• 15:10
  over, no matter the outcome, the
• 15:12
  live-stream is turned off.
• 15:15
  The Cornell lab staff
• 15:18
  continued to monitor the nest
• 15:20
  site through the camera without
• 15:22
  publishing it and
• 15:24
  notice that the outlet exhibited
• 15:27
  some movement after a couple of
• 15:28
  hours. And so they
• 15:30
  alerted us at the Wildflower Center
• 15:32
  and we immediately got in touch with
• 15:33
  our friends at Austin Wildlife
• 15:34
  Rescue and we sort of worked
• 15:36
  together very, very quickly to
• 15:39
  get to the Wildflower center and get
• 15:41
  to that nest site and get up there
• 15:43
  and rescue that owl yesterday.
• 15:45
  So the baby owl, the little
• 15:47
  owlet was rescued
• 15:49
  late yesterday afternoon and
• 15:51
  by this morning the owl was
• 15:52
  responding really well and asking
• 15:54
  for more food.
• 15:55
  So we're
• 15:58
  very, very grateful that we were
• 15:59
  able to act quickly and
• 16:01
  make a difference in this instance.
• 16:03
  Yeah, definitely some great news
• 16:04
  after what seemed like a really sad
• 16:06
  situation over the weekend.
• 16:08
  Now, Athena has been returning to
• 16:09
  the center for years to nest.
• 16:11
  Has anything like this happened
• 16:12
  before?
• 16:13
  She abandoned the nest early on
• 16:15
  and so you know it's not
• 16:18
  that unusual occasionally for
• 16:20
  an owl parent or
• 16:22
  or or mother to abandon the nest for
• 16:24
  multiple reasons and so she
• 16:26
  has abandoned nest in the past but
• 16:28
  more or less Athena
• 16:30
  has been incredibly steadfast
• 16:32
  as we like to say she
• 16:34
  has this would this was her 15th
• 16:36
  nesting season at the Wildflower
• 16:38
  Center.
• 16:40
  And so we have reason
• 16:42
  to be hopeful that Athena will
• 16:43
  return. She has an incredible
• 16:45
  nesting location that she's
• 16:47
  returned to again and again.
• 16:49
  And so, you know, we have,
• 16:51
  we have a reason to hopeful for
• 16:53
  the future with Athena.
• 16:55
  We have been speaking with Scott
• 16:56
  Simons. He is the Director of
• 16:57
  Marketing and Communications at
• 16:59
  Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center.
• 17:01
  Scott, thank you for your time.
• 17:02
  Thank you, it's a pleasure.
• 17:07
  The KUTX artists of the
• 17:09
  month for April is Gran Moreno.
• 17:12
  Their upcoming album is a conceptual
• 17:14
  two-part release, side A,
• 17:16
  El Sol, which is out now,
• 17:18
  and side B, La Luna, coming
• 17:19
  soon.
• 17:20
  They're a duo of brothers, Ricardo
• 17:22
  and Cristian Rodriguez, and they've
• 17:24
  been making music for many years
• 17:26
  now. As a duo, yes, but
• 17:28
  with many other people and in
• 17:30
  many other projects.
• 17:31
  But now they're focusing their
• 17:33
  energies on Gran Moreno.
• 17:35
  The fellas have been out on a tour
• 17:36
  of the Midwest, but before they hit
• 17:38
  the road, they made time to speak
• 17:39
  with us here on Austin Signal to
• 17:41
  talk about their journey and the
• 17:43
  decision to focus on working as a
• 17:45
  pair. We're gonna hear first from
• 17:46
  Ricardo, followed by Cristian.
• 17:49
  We were traveling around
• 17:52
  and I feel like
• 17:53
  we really missed to play and
• 17:55
  we start just jamming just because
• 17:57
  we missed the music.
• 17:59
  And to be honest, we're not looking
• 18:00
  for anything specific.
• 18:02
  We don't want to go into the
• 18:04
  book shows and you know, that
• 18:06
  stuff.
• 18:07
  But everything happened so fast
• 18:09
  because we start jamming together
• 18:11
  and then we do open
• 18:12
  mic somewhere just because we want
• 18:14
  to play.
• 18:15
  And everyone, like some people,
• 18:18
  always, every time that we play,
• 18:19
  it's like, hey guys, you should play
• 18:20
  in this, in this venue, blah, blah.
• 18:22
  And so everything starts happening,
• 18:23
  happening. And look at us now, we're
• 18:25
  again on the road.
• 18:27
  I mean, it took us probably like
• 18:29
  a year to define our sound
• 18:31
  right now, because at the
• 18:33
  beginning he was just playing the
• 18:34
  guitar, that's it, but now
• 18:36
  he's switching like guitar or
• 18:38
  playing the guitar and bass at the
• 18:39
  same time, but it took, you know,
• 18:42
  like probably six,
• 18:44
  seven months to figure something
• 18:45
  out.
• 18:45
  I know it's kind of hard because
• 18:47
  there's a lot of influences and it
• 18:49
  sounds like you're making lots of
• 18:50
  music, but for somebody who may
• 18:52
  not be familiar with your music, how
• 18:54
  would you define your sound?
• 18:57
  We call it Saifost.
• 18:58
  It's like a type of distortion,
• 19:01
  but very specific one because it's
• 19:02
  not distortion but it's not metal.
• 19:04
  In between of that, it's fost,
• 19:08
  psychedelic fost.
• 19:10
  I don't know.
• 19:11
  It is Gran Moreno to be honest.
• 19:12
  It's Gran Morena classic rock,
• 19:15
  Saiblues.
• 19:17
  Yeah, sabor, saborcito norteño
• 19:19
  y de todo.
• 19:38
  And I would say the sound,
• 19:40
  at least for me from El Sol, is
• 19:41
  kind of like psychedelic rock.
• 19:43
  It has a lot of moments like that.
• 19:45
  So how did you end up making the
• 19:47
  music that you made for El Sol?
• 19:50
  The rock and roll is the base of
• 19:51
  everything.
• 19:53
  And we start on
• 19:55
  that to create,
• 19:57
  to go for somewhere else, you know?
• 19:59
  But always the base is the rock
• 20:01
  and role, you now?
• 20:02
  It's always on our heart.
• 20:04
  And I believe it's, that's why I
• 20:06
  sold, it's mostly psychedelic
• 20:08
  rock, but there's a little bit of
• 20:10
  something else.
• 20:11
  But the heart of our music
• 20:13
  is rock and rolled.
• 20:16
  I was thinking
• 20:18
  about that the other day,
• 20:20
  when we created El Sol,
• 20:23
  this album is
• 20:25
  the combination of
• 20:27
  the music that we liked.
• 20:29
  Because we are brothers,
• 20:31
  but we have many different...
• 20:34
  I have a brother and a sister too,
• 20:36
  you know, we're very alike and in
• 20:38
  some ways we are completely
• 20:39
  different.
• 20:39
  And that's, and you can feel that in
• 20:41
  El Sol, honestly, like there's some
• 20:43
  songs that they are like heavy, like
• 20:45
  super heavy, I like heavy stuff.
• 20:47
  He's more romantic, for example,
• 20:49
  but we can mix everything
• 20:51
  and put it together and create like
• 20:54
  strong songs or loud songs, but also
• 20:56
  have like many or like
• 20:58
  a deep feeling and
• 21:01
  you find in all of the album.
• 21:03
  I think this is good to everyone to
• 21:05
  know, or part of our rules is
• 21:07
  there's no rules.
• 21:08
  You know, it's just have fun
• 21:10
  and create music and I
• 21:12
  believe most of the
• 21:14
  bands fighting because they want
• 21:16
  to do something and someone else
• 21:18
  don't want to.
• 21:20
  And that's not our case, because
• 21:22
  we are free to do whatever.
• 21:24
  And I believe this is part of the
• 21:26
  people feel like, okay, these guys
• 21:27
  are true.
• 21:28
  Just because we don't have, we don't
• 21:29
  want to be part of anything.
• 21:31
  We just want to do music.
• 21:33
  And do you guys feel like you have a
• 21:34
  pretty good creative process working
• 21:36
  with each other?
• 21:37
  Now yeah now we are having
• 21:39
  this moment of our lives that we
• 21:41
  are like working together
• 21:43
  like pretty smooth uh
• 21:46
  it's not always like that but it's
• 21:47
  like the it's like a humans used
• 21:49
  to live right but yeah
• 21:51
  right now we are like we are
• 21:53
  in this part of our life that we're
• 21:54
  trying to create like so
• 21:57
  much music Oh,
• 21:59
  man
• 22:10
  Don't, don't go,
• 22:12
  or I'll feed you there
• 22:17
  The long, long road
• 22:20
  I'll see you there
• 22:23
  Well, I wanted to ask a little bit
• 22:24
  about El Sol.
• 22:25
  It features a couple of songs that
• 22:27
  have lyrics in English and then a
• 22:29
  couple of tracks have lyrics and
• 22:30
  Spanish.
• 22:31
  How often have y'all worked with
• 22:33
  making music in English?
• 22:35
  Actually, it's the first time.
• 22:36
  Yeah? And what was that?
• 22:37
  Experience like?
• 22:38
  I love it, I love.
• 22:39
  I mean, I grew up with music
• 22:42
  in English without knowing that they
• 22:43
  say, but at the end when I
• 22:45
  translate, it's exactly
• 22:47
  that I'm feeling, you know?
• 22:49
  And I believe everything is about
• 22:51
  vibes, everything is the
• 22:54
  feeling. It's not necessary
• 22:56
  to understand what they say.
• 22:58
  But talking about English is
• 23:00
  something that I, growing up, you
• 23:02
  know, I'm growing up watching videos
• 23:04
  on MTV about Korn,
• 23:06
  Limpizky, or something like that.
• 23:08
  So I feel great, it's
• 23:10
  my dream to sing in English,
• 23:12
  so yeah.
• 23:12
  Oh man, I would love to hear y'all
• 23:13
  do like a cover of corn blind,
• 23:15
  you know, but that's been,
• 23:20
  we have been speaking with Cristian
• 23:22
  and Ricardo Rodriguez.
• 23:23
  They are the duo behind Gran
• 23:25
  Moreno.
• 23:26
  We're gonna have a link to their
• 23:27
  Studio 1A performance in today's
• 23:29
  podcast show notes.
• 23:30
  They are KUTX artists of the
• 23:32
  month for April, 2026.
• 23:34
  Guys, it's been great talking with
• 23:35
  you. Thank you so much for having
• 23:37
  us.
• 23:38
  And thank you for starting the week
• 23:40
  here with us.
• 23:41
  That is it for today's show.
• 23:43
  Rene Chavez directed today's Show.
• 23:45
  Kristen Cabrera is our managing
• 23:47
  producer.
• 23:48
  And thank to Alexa Hart, our new
• 23:49
  producer here on Austin Signal for
• 23:51
  her help. I'm your host, Jerry
• 23:53
  Quijano.
• 23:54
  We will be back with you tomorrow,
• 23:56
  same time.
• 23:57
  Have a great day.