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Cultural representation

By David Chang

Aug. 24, 2003 9:00 p.m.

This is the story of a middleman ““ a middlewoman to be
exact. Sandwiched between the artist and the press, a publicist
usually facilitates interviews, instead of actually giving
them.

However, an interview beckoned when UCLA graduate and publicist
Veronica Gonzalez served as curator for a recent Getty Center
concert, bringing in soundscaper DJ Cheb i Sabbah and a slew of
traditional Indian music performers.

“I haven’t seen a nice Indian concert at a major
venue all summer, and there’s a large Indian community in
L.A.,” Gonzalez said. “I realized that Indian culture
is utterly neglected within mainstream L.A. People are sampling
Indian music like crazy, yet why is it not getting more
attention?”

To hear Gonzalez’s motivation for the Indian music
showcase is to learn the secret of her success: find a niche and
fill it. The violinist with an ethnomusicology degree from UCLA
founded Elemental Media, a media, marketing and radio promotion
company, two years ago.

A first generation Mexican-American, Gonzalez has parlayed her
music background and her ability to communicate with the mainstream
media as well as the Latin world into a successful start in
publicity.

“I felt really confident people would want to hire me
because there aren’t that many people doing great bilingual
campaigns,” Gonzalez said. “I have clients, and I
haven’t even done any advertising. You find a niche, and
there’s no one else that can compete with you.”

Gonzalez’s background as a musician and a world music
aficionado has helped her as a music publicist.

“I’ve had music critics call me up and say they
enjoy talking to me,” Gonzalez said. “They feel they
can really get down to details about the music, dig deep into the
artist and who they are culturally. On the other hand, another
publicist, who studied communications and didn’t study music,
might be going off the bio, saying, “˜Oh, I love the album
““ it’s beautiful music.'”

Born and raised in East Los Angeles, Gonzalez was inspired by
her musician relatives and decided to take violin lessons. She
attended the L.A. County High School for the Arts, where record
labels made regular visits to recruit interns.

At 15, she began interning at A&M Records, helping promote
Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation Tour one summer. Stints at Cal
State Fullerton and East L.A. College followed until a music
teacher introduced her to the ethnomusicology program at UCLA.

“I couldn’t believe there was a major like
that,” Gonzalez said. “It’s like anthropology
““ you study culture but through music. I thought it was
perfect and just what I was looking for. Right away, I auditioned.
I talked to the counselor, Al Bradley, and he said he would help me
out. By fall of 1992, I was at UCLA.”

After completing her studies in 1995, Gonzalez moved to New
York, where her degree impressed visionary salsa producer Sergio
George. She immediately became manager of George’s record
label, Sir George Entertainment. She then landed the managing
position on former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne’s Luaka
Bop label.

“Working with David Byrne was the experience of a
lifetime,” Gonzalez said. “It was so much more than I
had ever done before that it took me to another level.”

Now, Gonzalez has her own company with upcoming Latin artists
such as Quetzal, Cafe Tacuba, Juana Molina and Radio Mundial under
the fold. Though not exactly proven heavyweights, they still have a
shot at stardom.

Visit dailybruin.ucla.edu for more information on
Quetzal, a band on the rise from Gonzalez’s roster.

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