Soluna<\/a>. Formed in the late \u201990s, the group quickly signed with DreamWorks Records and recorded its self-titled debut CD, which came out in May. With the release of their hit single \u201cFor All Time\u201d and the accompanying video airing on MTV\u2019s popular TRL viewer request show, band members \u201cT\u201d (short for Christina) Lopez, Jessica Castellanos, Aurora Rodriguez, and America (pronounced Amereeka) Olivio are clearly on a roll. S\u00faperOnda caught up with them in Santa Barbara, hours before they performed as the opening act for Marc Anthony. The four Southern California Latinas were energetic, excited, and entertaining after a rare day of rest for them during the tour.<\/p>\nSO:<\/b> I know you\u2019ve been together for only three years. How did you get signed with DreamWorks?<\/p>\n
Jessica:<\/b> We were fortunate to get noticed early on in the inception of the group. We had all been struggling artists as soloists. We\u2019ve been trying to do this since we were four years old \u2013 singing in church since we were little. But once we got together with the band, doors started to open. People who knew people opened doors for us. They had friends that you never knew they knew. Like your friend had a friend who had a company … and you\u2019re like, \u201cyou never introduced them to me before …\u201d [all laugh].<\/p>\n
SO:<\/b> So in the beginning, you were playing what kind of venues?<\/p>\n
Aurora:<\/b> We actually didn\u2019t play any venues in the beginning.<\/p>\n
Jessica:<\/b> America and Aurora, they\u2019ve known each other the longest. They\u2019ve known each other since they were young girls. I met them through a friend, a producer that I was writing with. They had been introduced to him because we were all trying to break into the business separately \u2013 somehow, some way. So when we met, I knew people, and she knew people, and she knew people that were in the business, and after we found T [through a producer friend spotting her photo in her father\u2019s auto body shop], doors just started opening.<\/p>\n
The second we found a manager; she introduced us to people at DreamWorks [and other labels]. It was like they saw the talent from the onset. And fortunately we didn\u2019t have to go through the grunt part, doing showcases in LA … because we had done it all individually. We feel that we did all the work before … so that when we got together as a group, people recognized the talent. We got signed six months after we formed the group, which was really lucky.<\/p>\n
Once that happened, we needed to find a sound for ourselves. We sought out different producers. DreamWorks helped us with that. We ended up with Steve Morales and did the bulk of the album with him. [Morales has also produced albums for Ricky Martin, Enrique Iglesias, and Jon Secada.] It\u2019s not the overnight thing that people think it is. It does take a lot of hard work. We were hoping and praying that we\u2019d get on the Marc Anthony tour. We didn\u2019t know it would come this soon. Our album just came out in May, so we\u2019ve really been lucky in getting the opportunity to open for him. And now we\u2019re going to open for Enrique Iglesias [in the fall]. [Girls all cheer.]<\/p>\n
Jessica:<\/b> We\u2019re doing about 30 dates with Enrique.<\/p>\n
America:<\/b> So we won\u2019t be seeing home for a while, but it\u2019s so exciting to tour and see the world. T is keeping track of how many states we\u2019ve been in \u2013 we\u2019ve already been in 31, right?<\/p>\n
SO:<\/b> And are you getting to see any of these places that you\u2019re going to?<\/p>\n
T:<\/b> Yeah, sometimes. We try to stay overnight, then go to see whatever the big sight is, whenever we can.<\/p>\n
Jessica:<\/b> We try to soak it all in, but sometimes after the shows we\u2019re just beat. All we want to see is a bathtub. Just soak in there.<\/p>\n
T:<\/b> But I don\u2019t know if I\u2019ll ever be back to Paducah, Kentucky, so sometimes you just have to go all out to see something.<\/p>\n
America:<\/b> When would you ever have gone otherwise?<\/p>\n
Jessica:<\/b> Plus it\u2019s great to meet the people from different places. The people are so interesting. We didn\u2019t realize before that there are so many different cultures and accents going on.<\/p>\n
SO:<\/b> Are you finding that audiences are different in different areas? I picture places that are \u201cnot LA\u201d being more enthusiastic, for example.<\/p>\n
America:<\/b> Right. The Midwest is so enthusiastic. A lot of them don\u2019t even say our name right: \u201cSelena.\u201d But they just love being entertained and they show it, which is just awesome. Especially when we\u2019re singing the song \u201cFor All Time.\u201d In Cleveland, Ohio, they loved it. I think Ohio\u2019s been the best as far as radio play is concerned.<\/p>\n
SO:<\/b> That sounds very cool.<\/p>\n
T:<\/b> It depends on how much a radio station [in the area] plays it. Sometimes we\u2019ll go somewhere and every person will know our song. Everybody knows it and everybody\u2019s singing it and you\u2019ll actually get some people who recognize you. We did get that before. So that\u2019s cool.<\/p>\n
America:<\/b> It\u2019s fun to see how the shows change. We started doing some of these shows before our album came out, and gradually there are more and more people, more and more faces that are familiar with us, and more and more signs that say \u201cSoluna.\u201d The first couple shows we were at, people were staring at us, like, what?<\/p>\n
T:<\/b> They have posters everywhere, all of these different cities, all over the place. You know Eddie Kay Thomas \u2013 he\u2019s an actor? [The pseudo-sophisticated guy who beds \u201cStiffler\u2019s Mom\u201d in American Pie.] He lives in my building, and I hadn\u2019t seen him for a long time because we both travel so much. He saw me the other day in the elevator, and he\u2019s like, \u201cYou gave me your CD before, but I didn\u2019t know you were a real singer. I\u2019m seeing your posters everywhere in New York.\u201d<\/p>\n
America:<\/b> We love New York. [Laughs]<\/p>\n
SO:<\/b> What was it like shooting the video? Did somebody come up with the concept \u2013 was it the producer? How did that work?<\/p>\n
Aurora:<\/b> Well, we already had filmed one video, \u201cBring It to Me,\u201d which was our first video. We kind of came up with that concept. You know we loved the video, but …<\/p>\n
America:<\/b> You can\u2019t afford to do everything you want to do. You want to do all these fancy things. We wanted to have the sun turn into the moon, and then have the sky eclipse yellow. And there\u2019s four of us…<\/p>\n
Jessica:<\/b> Mind you, there are four different opinions and ideas here. So we like to leave it up to the director. So they can do their job. We do give opinions, of course [all laugh], but what we really want is something that reflects us.<\/p>\n
Aurora:<\/b> What we really wanted was to have something that make didn\u2019t make it seem like we wanted to be all supermodel-y. We wanted to show that we have four personalities, and show that we\u2019re fun and like to hang out.<\/p>\n
Jessica:<\/b> And not take away from the song. It\u2019s such a pretty love song. We wanted to really portray that.<\/p>\n
T:<\/b> We did that in all of the individual room shots. Did you see the video?<\/p>\n
SO:<\/b> Yeah, we did. [Readers can view it at www.solunagirls.com]<\/p>\n
T:<\/b> In each of the different room shots we each had our own personal stuff, and our own guy … and we were just chilling in tank tops and jeans or shorts or pajamas or whatever. I think that kind of gave the audience more of a feeling like, okay, this is how they really are. You know, they\u2019re not…<\/p>\n
Jessica:<\/b> Untouchable. We don\u2019t want to be like that. We always like to be in contact with the fans, and talk to people as much as we can.<\/p>\n
SO:<\/b> Do you know yet what the second video is going to be? .<\/p>\n
Aurora:<\/b> We\u2019re mostly just touring now, so it\u2019s hard to take the time out.<\/p>\n
SO:<\/b> I imagine it would be hard, with touring. But when you do another video, you\u2019ll do another track off that album or your next album?<\/p>\n
T:<\/b> We\u2019ll do another track.<\/p>\n
America:<\/b> We\u2019ll do one of those Michael Jackson albums where everything\u2019s a single.<\/p>\n
SO:<\/b> And are you noticing that, as you\u2019re touring, your record sales are going up and people are starting to notice you?<\/p>\n
T:<\/b> Uh huh. Every week the sales go up.<\/p>\n
SO:<\/b> I\u2019ve definitely noticed, tracking the different Hispanic bands for S\u00faperOnda, that you guys are getting a lot more comments on websites. There\u2019s a lot more Internet activity.<\/p>\n
Aurora:<\/b> Yeah? [Claps.] Great!<\/p>\n
Jessica:<\/b> Especially with Marc Anthony and Enrique. I mean, we\u2019re hoping that there will be. We always sell a lot of albums at concerts, and it\u2019s such great exposure for us just to get out there. These are our people. There\u2019s a lot of Hispanics here as well who will definitely love the album.<\/p>\n
SO:<\/b> You have songs in English and Spanish. Among yourselves, do you speak both languages? How does that work?<\/p>\n
T:<\/b> We speak Spanish when we don\u2019t want anyone else to know what we\u2019re saying. Especially when we\u2019re a place like Wisconsin, where not many people speak Spanish.<\/p>\n
SO:<\/b> Be careful in Santa Barbara, because a lot of people speak Spanish here.<\/p>\n
T:<\/b> We really don\u2019t do it that much, especially here or in New York. But in the Midwest, a lot of people don\u2019t know Spanish, so we use it there. Not to be rude, but if I have to say, \u201cAurora, your bra strap is showing,\u201d stuff like that.<\/p>\n
SO:<\/b> Speaking of bra straps, do you have somebody who handles wardrobe? Does somebody walk you through that?<\/p>\n
Jessica:<\/b> We have a stylist who puts together outfits for us when we\u2019re on tours. Although we like to look individual too.<\/p>\n
SO:<\/b> I noticed that in all of your PR shots you\u2019re kind of color-coordinated, but not wearing the same thing.<\/p>\n
T:<\/b> That\u2019s what we try to do.<\/p>\n
America:<\/b> We usually stress over it. We\u2019re like ohmygawd, what are we gonna wear?<\/p>\n
Jessica:<\/b> It depends on how you\u2019re feeling that day. Sometimes you might be a little bloated and think, \u201cThe white top just makes me look even that much more big.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jessica:<\/b> The reason why we started the color coordination is that at first, when we didn\u2019t plan it, one of us would be in black and somebody else would be all in lavender. And then people would ask, \u201cAre you supposed to be the lead singer?\u201d or something … and it just got weird. So we try to at least coordinate the colors. But now, we\u2019ve gotten really lazy the last couple of shows, so we\u2019re like, let\u2019s try something new \u2013 everybody just wear whatever you want.<\/p>\n
America:<\/b> We\u2019ve been trying to ask our fans whether they like the matching outfits.<\/p>\n
T:<\/b> One time we did a show with Otown in Rochester, New York. We\u2019re so interested in how everybody else does it \u2013 we\u2019re like, \u201cso what do you guys do when you get dressed?\u201d And Trevor is like, \u201cUm \u2026 I get dressed. We just, you know, take whatever out of our suitcase that we want to wear.\u201d [Girls laugh.]<\/p>\n
America:<\/b> Another thing about the matchy-matchy is it\u2019s like a contrived thing.<\/p>\n
T:<\/b> We don\u2019t want anybody to think that we were put together by somebody else. Like we were put together and have to match and have to wear this outfit and have to be like four girls that other people are telling what to do.<\/p>\n
Jessica:<\/b> We\u2019ve put ourselves together since the beginning. We manage ourselves, along with our manager, but we\u2019re very involved in everything and we want people to know that. People aren\u2019t telling us what to wear. We\u2019re wearing what we want to wear.<\/p>\n
Aurora:<\/b> We try to learn from veterans that we meet about what works on the road \u2013 we\u2019re just trying to pick their brains.<\/p>\n
America:<\/b> Look at Destiny\u2019s Child. They always had to have the same material, and that\u2019s not our style.<\/p>\n
Jessica:<\/b> No, that\u2019s not our style.<\/p>\n
T:<\/b> But Spice Girls are cool. Each one had her own individual style, which is cool.<\/p>\n
Jessica:<\/b> Their style I really, really like. But don\u2019t quote me on that! [Laughs.]<\/p>\n
America:<\/b> So we\u2019re trying to find a niche. We\u2019re looking for that thing, and I think that thing might just be that we are Soluna. We are who we are.<\/p>\n
SO:<\/b> I think the thing that might be most unusual about you is that you don\u2019t have a lead singer. That makes a difference \u2013 I mean, that\u2019s definitely something unique.<\/p>\n
T:<\/b> The thing is, you want to hear everyone sing. A lot of people mention that they like to hear everybody.<\/p>\n
Jessica:<\/b> In a lot of groups, not everybody really has a chance to be heard. But people want that, I think. They\u2019re sort of rooting for you.<\/p>\n
SO:<\/b> So you guys, obviously, are spending a lot of time together on the road. Do you have sisters?<\/p>\n
Jessica:<\/b> All of us come from big families. That\u2019s how we stay sane in the group.<\/p>\n
SO:<\/b> I imagine that would be a big adjustment, so much togetherness. I mean, it\u2019s probably a big adjustment anyway, being on the road.<\/p>\n
Jessica:<\/b> We share a lot.<\/p>\n
Aurora:<\/b> We\u2019re together all the time. Sometimes we have to share rooms.<\/p>\n
Jessica:<\/b> Sometimes we have to share a king-sized bed. [Laughs.]<\/p>\n
T:<\/b> It was no big deal. When we were first starting out, it was me and my mom and dad, my three sisters, in one room. In this one-bedroom apartment. My mom and dad had their room, and we shared two bunk beds.<\/p>\n
Jessica:<\/b> I used to sleep with my sister till I was 22.<\/p>\n
Aurora:<\/b> I remember I was upset when in my family we got separate rooms.<\/p>\n
SO:<\/b> In terms of sort of your musical role models, do you have any bands that you aspire to be like?<\/p>\n
T:<\/b> Boyz II Men.<\/p>\n
America:<\/b> En Vogue.<\/p>\n
Aurora:<\/b> People like Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, and the Beatles, all of the classics. That\u2019s one thing that we share in common \u2013 we like the classics.<\/p>\n
America:<\/b> We all have individual preferences, beyond those.<\/p>\n
Jessica:<\/b> Harry Belafonte.<\/p>\n
America:<\/b> Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston probably influenced us all.<\/p>\n
SO:<\/b> If you weren\u2019t doing music, if you weren\u2019t in a band, what would you be doing?<\/p>\n
Jessica:<\/b> I\u2019d probably be dead. Just kidding! I would be working part time and trying to do music.<\/p>\n
America:<\/b> She\u2019d be 90, still working, trying to have a music career. I think we\u2019d all be doing something in the arts. We talk about it, and we\u2019re always artists, one way or the other. Artists always need to emote, I think; we\u2019d always be doing something where we were creating and moving people, one way or the other.<\/p>\n
SO:<\/b> So do you have any acting aspirations, like Beyonce [from Destiny\u2019s Child]?<\/p>\n
America:<\/b> Who doesn\u2019t? I\u2019d like to know who doesn\u2019t want to be a movie star, deep down inside.<\/p>\n
Aurora:<\/b> Even doing theater is great.<\/p>\n
T:<\/b> Just to try on being someone else, it\u2019s just so fun to be in a whole different world. That\u2019s what you do when you sing a song, anyway.<\/p>\n
America:<\/b> You\u2019re not necessarily in that situation at the moment, but you know when you\u2019re singing, \u201chey, I love you\u201d or whatever, you have to put yourself in character and be in the moment.<\/p>\n
T:<\/b> True that. True that.<\/p>\n
SO:<\/b> Tell me about some of your charity work, your community service work.<\/p>\n
Aurora:<\/b> Well, in the past couple of months we\u2019ve been so busy promoting the album, we haven\u2019t had the time that we usually get to do charity stuff, which we love to do. Our first-ever performance together was for the McClaren Children\u2019s Center. It\u2019s to foster protective services for children who need emergency help. We\u2019ve done stuff for the Revlon Breast Cancer walk; we\u2019ve done the AIDS Walk a couple of times in Los Angeles and in San Francisco.<\/p>\n
T:<\/b> We performed for Elton John\u2019s AIDS fundraiser, the Academy Awards party.<\/p>\n
Aurora:<\/b> We\u2019ve done some benefits for cancer.<\/p>\n
Jessica:<\/b> Being an artist gives you an opportunity to give back. It\u2019s your opportunity to be where thousands of people can see and hear you that you would never be able to reach if you were working at an odd job or something. It\u2019s an opportunity for us to be involved with something good, and we love to take those opportunities and be able to help. We\u2019re grateful that we can, because we\u2019re so fortunate. I mean, people try all of their lives to do what we\u2019re doing. Now that we\u2019re doing it, we want to be able to give back.<\/p>\n
America:<\/b> One of the charity events that\u2019s going to be telecast is the One World Jam. It\u2019s for world education. It was filmed at Radio City Music Hall and it had Nelly, Boyz II Men, Souljahz, Olga Tanon, Hakim, Ja Rule, Elton John, Juanes, Musiq, Riverdance, Allesandro Safina, and Chicago. [Note: The two-hour television special airs on the WB Network from August 25 to September 7 in several cities. Check your local listings for air times.]<\/p>\n
SO:<\/b> Do you feel any kind of special responsibility as role models? Obviously, you have a lot of young people who listen to your music.<\/p>\n
T:<\/b> Yeah, we do. Especially young girls, on the website. We\u2019re constantly thinking about being good role models.<\/p>\n
Aurora:<\/b> It\u2019s a role model thing, but it\u2019s also \u2026 growing up as Latinas you have a lot of respect for your parents and your family.<\/p>\n
Jessica:<\/b> And you don\u2019t want to do anything that they\u2019re not gonna be proud of, you know what I mean?<\/p>\n
T:<\/b> On top of that, we really think about what we do, what we say and what we do onstage, because there are little ones out there and they\u2019re looking at you. Especially the young ones.<\/p>\n
America:<\/b> Especially the young Latinas. They\u2019re looking at you not for guidance, exactly, but for inspiration. … When our album was done and we looked back, we realized that all of our songs were really motivating and inspiring and positive. Every one of the songs is kind of a feel-good song.<\/p>\n
Aurora:<\/b> Even the heartbroken ones are.<\/p>\n
America:<\/b> Well, the heartbroken ones are like a good sad movie, inspiring and passionate.<\/p>\n
Aurora:<\/b> It\u2019s part of who we are as people. No matter what we are doing, we always care about giving a good impression to people, no matter who they may be. It\u2019s just part of the way that we were raised. We\u2019ll always be like that.<\/p>\n
SO:<\/b> Do you think that being Hispanic has had any effect on your success? Has it helped? Has it hurt? Did it make any difference?<\/p>\n
Aurora:<\/b> I think it\u2019s helped. Singing in English and Spanish just makes our audience that much broader. Especially now, in these times, everybody\u2019s appreciating music in any language. English-speakers are coming to appreciate music in Spanish more than ever. We\u2019ve had such an overwhelming response from the English-speaking people to our songs in Spanish.<\/p>\n
Jessica:<\/b> So many people in the United States are becoming bilingual. Many times, when they hear our songs in Spanish, they appreciate them and they try to understand the words. People always ask, \u201cWhat does \u2018Soluna\u2019 mean?\u201d And they say it\u2019s so cool when we explain it [the sun and the moon] to them.<\/p>\n
Aurora:<\/b> There are so many people in the United States who have Latin heritage, like us. [Aurora is Puerto Rican, T is Mexican, Jessica is Mexican and Colombian, and America is Chilean, Spanish, and Irish.] They\u2019re proud, but they think of themselves as American first. And that\u2019s what we are. We do American pop music. We\u2019ve got an album on an American label, and that is what the majority of American pop music is out there.<\/p>\n
SO:<\/b> Any advice for our readers?<\/p>\n
Aurora:<\/b> Expose yourself to whatever art or music that you can find.<\/p>\n
America:<\/b> Don\u2019t be stopped by not having money for training or lessons. The best education is finding people to expose yourself to.<\/p>\n
Jessica:<\/b> Practicing your craft, having perseverance. Don\u2019t listen to the negative. There are always people who will tell you it\u2019s too hard, you can\u2019t do it. But we\u2019re living examples, living proof that you can do it.<\/p>\n
America:<\/b> I\u2019m sure all of us at some point in our lives have tried to do something we weren\u2019t sure we could.<\/p>\n
T:<\/b> Yeah, you tell people you want to be a singer and you get so many people saying, \u201cThat\u2019s great, but what\u2019s gonna be your real job?\u201d And I hate that, because if I had ever gone back and thought about what a \u201creal job\u201d could have been, I would have missed my opportunity, or I would not have tried so hard to do what I really wanted to do, because I had a fallback plan. You\u2019ve always got to follow your heart no matter what you hear.<\/p>\n
America:<\/b> And sometimes there aren\u2019t a lot of opportunities out there for students. I mean, we\u2019re extremely lucky and fortunate to have this job. But sometimes when you go for it … I know I have a lot of friends who went for it, and it can lead you to something that you love. They\u2019re now writing music or doing other things related to music \u2013 not necessarily performing, but doing other things.<\/p>\n
Jessica:<\/b> Sometimes it leads to something else that is also in an area that you love. Something that interests you. I mean, if you\u2019re working at a job that doesn\u2019t interest you, then you\u2019re not going to be happy at that job and you\u2019re not going to be fulfilled. You need to do something that you want to do, and at least try to go for it. If you don\u2019t, you\u2019ll regret it, and you don\u2019t want to live your life in regret.<\/p>\n
America:<\/b> I know a lot of people who never really thought about writing or production or something like that, and then fell into it.<\/p>\n
Jessica:<\/b> Exactly. It can lead you to other things if you just keep following your heart.<\/p>\n
![\"Soluna,](\"http:\/\/www.pit5.com\/pics\/music\/Soluna_Al_For_All_Time.jpg\")