March 25, 2007

They’re on the ‘Mexican Radio’
La Nueva Onda Latina has found its audience in local Hispanic community

By KATHY GRAY
of the Chronicle

     When you hear the sound of Wall of Voodoo’s “Mexican Radio,” you know it’s time.
     That’s the signal that La Nueva Onda Latina has hit the airwaves and for the next two hours KACI-FM is given over to Spanish-language music and entertainment.
     Launched in November by Eloy Pando and his crew of young disc jockeys, La Nueva Onda Latina has found its audience on the FM station.
     Pando and Antonio Valdovinos spin the CDs, while Nataly Lopez and Jessica Medina take requests.
     “The phones start ringing before 8 o’clock,” Pando said. “We’re averaging about 60 callers a night.”
     That’s about one every two minutes.
     La Nueva Onda Latina has apparently found its niche with a growing population. A recent estimate of Wasco County’s Hispanic population put it at 11.2 percent, more than 1 percent higher than the state average.
     And when the radio crew put on a block party as part of Third Friday in downtown The Dalles, about 700 people of all ages turned out in front of KACI’s offices to dance, eat and just have a good time with the radio La Nueva Onda Latina crew.
     That means “New Latin Way,” to the non-Spanish-speakers in the audience.
“The reason we named it that is because we here in the U.S. are no longer a traditional Mexican or Cuban or Puerto Rican culture,” Pando explained. “We’re very Americanized. We’re creating our own culture. We’re diverse with our language. We’re the Spanglish generation.”
     And, gradually, La Nueva Onda Latina is finding the sound to fit that culture.
Pando and Valdovinos started out with a broad mix of programming from adult contemporary to the regional styles often popular with first-generation Hispanics: banda, ranchera, mariachi and norteña. They’ve also sought out the younger audience with reggaeton, a relatively new style of dance music that began in Puerto Rico and derives from a blend of Latin tropical sounds, Jamaica’s reggae and urban hip-hop.
     They’ve also blended in a number of other styles such as Tejano, salsa, merengue, cumbia and others.
     Gradually they are narrowing in on what their listeners want to hear.
“We found out that pop-rock didn’t work,” Pando said. “Not many people in the Mid-Columbia were listening.”
     Salsa and Merengue had a small following, but not big enough for broad appeal and “Tex Mex” hasn’t really caught on in the Pacific Northwest.
     “Regional Mexican is our hottest show,” Pando noted. Reggaeton also generates many requests.
     Pando has plenty of experience in radio in particular and show business in general.
     He grew up in Mexico and won a contest to have his own radio show, spotlighting local talent. He’s dabbled in music, music promotion and wrestling — yes, wrestling — ever since.
     He moved to The Dalles almost two decades ago and went to work for the city public works department. He now works for Orchard View Farms. But on the side he has promoted music and wrestling. In 2002, he and Valdovinos had an eight-month stint producing a Spanish-language program for another local station.
     That’s when Valdovinos purchased his own DJ equipment. The Jalisco, Mexico, native has worked for Orchard View Farms for 10 years. He is now also a popular performer from Portland east at Hispanic and non-Hispanic events. His shows draw from a collection of more than 1,700 CDs.
     Valdovinos likes to see people having fun and likes to perform. Someday, he’d like to work on the radio full-time.
     Despite their earlier work, he and Pando didn’t find their radio fit until coming to KACI.
     “The Hispanic community loves the oldies,” Pando said. They were familiar with the songs because many have been translated into Spanish, and many Latin performers have crossed over to rock-and-roll.
     “And they’re romantic and tell stories,” Pando added.
     In addition to producing the show, the La Nueva Onda Latina crew sells now sells their own ads and has had a good response, particularly with Hispanic-owned businesses, whose owners sometimes feel more comfortable buying from members of their own culture.
     “We’re having to turn away commercials, because we’re maxxed out,” Pando said.
     Gary Grossman agrees that La Nueva Onda Latina is a success. He is market manager for Bicoastal Medica, which operates KACI and the other stations of Columbia Gorge Broadcasters.
     “I think it’s wonderful — and necessary to provide the programming for our Latino population here,” Grossman said. “We’ve just been very blessed to have the talent to be able to do the show.”
     The company’s Hood River station, KCGB, also has a Spanish-music program, calld “La Differencia.”
     Grossman is so pleased with La Nueva Onda Latina’s show that he is planning to extend the Friday program by another hour, if Eloy and Antonio are willing.
     Grossman sees the program filling a broader niche as a Latino information network where people can connect with community information and each other through dedications.
     Pando’s mission is broader still, stretching beyond the radio station and into the community as a whole.
     “We’re trying to organize the Latino community to the point of having a good, strong political voice, and also get much more involved in the community in general,” Pando said.
     His primary target is the youth of the community. He hopes to encourage more Hispanic young people to attend college, start businesses, and participate in community government.
     “There’s so much talent going to waste,” he said. “A lot of people don’t know how to start businesses. I’m going to try to find ways to get funding and bring more talent out and use it, so they can be more independent.”