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Diego Bernal: Standard Relay
San Antonio, TX musician and beat crafter DIEGO BERNAL released his most recent inspiring love letter to music this past August on local label, Exponential Records. While I’d love to spell out the new album name here, it doesn’t appear our site can currently handle several of the special characters in the title (see cover art for more!). Diego’s bio best describes where he comes from:
There’s a whole other territory nestled deep within the heart of Texas…a city within the city of San Antonio. You can try tracking it on your iPhone but chances are that there is no listing for “San Anto.” The street corners are lined with palateras, taquerias, and every variety of mom and pop shop imaginable. This is the setting of Diego Bernal’s story and the source material for his music.
.Although Bernal claims San Antonio as his home town, he spent much of his childhood traversing from home to Texas’ Rio Grande Valley to California’s Bay Area. Along the way Bernal soaked up the sounds- from the Latin harmonies of Trio Los Panchos and the R&B of Bill Withers and Joe Bataan to the jazz of Charlie Mingus and McCoy Tyner. It was also the golden era of hip-hop and Bernal soon found himself infatuated with beats and production.
.Bernal was born to parents who were educators, activists, and intellectuals-a former migrant farm worker and an education reformer- so it only makes sense that he started as a civil rights attorney and then turned to politics- first as a city councilman and now a Texas State Representative… oh, and he makes some soulful beats on the side when he’s not fighting for justice and equality.
Somewhat like Bernal, this writer spent time each year as a kid travelling the opposite direction, from Los Angeles to San Antonio, a great diverse city with a beautiful soul to match. You can pick up Diego’s new LP and other releases over on BC as a free download, or head on over to his Soundcloud page where you can grab .wav files or peruse his other tunes.
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