Salinas Underground

Even though Salinas is in California, it does not have the movie-making history of its bigger neighbor down south. Ivan Ramirez is a lifelong Salinas resident that thinks that by using his hometown as a backdrop, he can do something that seems impossible. He is trying to make a name for himself in a crowded industry by jumping off the deep end. His first film clocks in at just under 30 minutes, and it is both an ode to Salinas and a story of someone dealing with an existential crisis. 

The Rumba Madre is a group that was formed in Nashville by an eclectic group of guys that had a passion for music and another very important quality. They all spoke Spanish. David is one of the founding members and a teacher who has traveled worldwide playing music. He was born in Spain and now lives here in Monterey County. In between, he has taught and played music from El Paso to London and now open mics in Oldtown Salinas.

Artist Alley started two years ago as a way to gather the work of several artists in one place and give people a chance to buy directly from the artists themselves. Starting at the offices of Artists Ink, the alley features up to several dozen local artists showcasing their work. Oz set up shop inside the Co-Lab Studio and interviewed several people involved in keeping this fantastic event going!

In 1936 Salinas was the center of a strike led by mostly Filipino field workers. Over six weeks, battles happened in Oldtown. On one side, the striking workers were trying to prevent the lettuce trucks from reaching the packing sheds filled with "scab" workers from other parts of the country. On the other side was a motley crew of law enforcement afraid of a "red wave" descending down on the picturesque little town of Salinas. 90 years later the neighborhood is very different but if you look closely you can still find reminders of our interesting past.

If you want to taste the flavors of the Salinas Valley go out and buy a salad. If you want to listen to the sounds of the valley then you need to check out The Rudians. They take global music sounds and inject personal experiences for a unique sound that will have you dancing for hours. They give us a little of their musical history and talk about their epic performance at Cali Roots.

Christie Cromeenes took over district 5 at an interesting time in Salinas' history. Now that her first term is coming to an end, she feels there is still more work to be done not only in district 5 but in all of Salinas. Listen as she tells us her Salinas story and plans for her district if she manages to keep her seat on the council.

Andrew Sandoval is a Salinas native running for city council in district 5. He sits down with Oz and the Comadres to discuss his plan and how he differs from the incumbent. He talks about his experience on the Measure G Citizens Oversight Committee and how he will use that knowledge to help the people of his district.

Steve McShane is the incumbent city council member in Salinas's 3rd district. He has represented his district for several years but still feels like he has work to do. Listen as he sits down to answer our questions and talks about his plans for his district. Oldtown Salinas is experiencing a renaissance, but how can the area help with the lack of affordable housing in the city? Listen as he sits down with the Comadres and Oz in the Salad Bytes hot seat.

Cary Swensen is running for City Council in Salinas' 3rd district. She sits down with the Comadres Frenchy and Samantha, who will be joined by Oz from Salinas Underground Podcast for this series to talk about why she decided to run and what makes her different from her opponent. She also tells us how her background in education gives her a different perspective on the issues that matter here in Salinas.

After nearly 10 years of telling stories from Salinas, we have finally arrived at episode 300! So many great people have come on the podcast to talk to us and we feel like we are only getting started. For this special episode, we talk to one of the hardest-working comedians on the West Coast. El Gordo Mamon has an incredible story that starts in San Jose and weaves its way through Salinas before heading around the globe. This is a hilarious and insightful interview featuring another person from Salinas doing something nobody expected out of our fine little city.

This is a hybrid episode of the podcast that was recorded in two different locations. The first half was recorded in the studio and the second half was recorded on location at Steinbeck's Home Brew Fest.  In the studio, Kim Lawson, current President of the Salinas Steinbeck Rotary Club, and Cary Swensen, Home Brew Committee Executive, are here to talk to us all about the event. This was the fifth edition of the festival and it was the largest ever with 1,200 people in attendance. They are already planning for next year. 

For this episode, we packed up some of the equipment in the studio and headed over to the Monterey County Fairgrounds for the Ink at the Bay Festival. The event is back as big as ever after a two-year hiatus because of a global pandemic, and the event is back as big as ever! Listen as we talk to tattoo machine manufacturers, Ms. Ink at the Bay, Oldies Monterey Bay Chapter founder, and others! If you missed this year's event, mark your calendar for next year.

After a two-year break for a worldwide pandemic, Ink at the Bay is back at the Monterey County Fairgrounds. Paulina sits down in the studio to tell us how an idea her brother had one day has morphed into a three-day festival featuring some of the best tattoo artists in the world. It's an inspirational story, and there is still more left to write!

Paper Tacos is the hottest greeting card company in Salinas and most of us have never even heard of it. In this episode, Jesus Ruvalcaba talks to us about his humble beginnings in a labor camp in Castroville to becoming an art director at one of the oldest companies in the Silicon Valley. He fell in love with art as a child but he got his formal education at Hartnell. From there he moved on to CSUMB for his bachelor's degree before jumping into the professional realm. Paper Tacos started in 2017 as a way to make greetings cards for an audience that was being ignored by the major companies. To shop for cards, calendars, pencils, and more check out PaperTacos.com Instagram: @Paper_Tacos

Samantha from 831 Comadres joins us this week to talk about a show that was planned at the end of last year. In December, the city of Salinas and the Big Sur Land Trust announced that they had received millions of dollars from the state to put into two park projects in Salinas. One is the complete revitalization of Closter Park on Towt St. The other is the next step in turning the Carr Lakebed into a beautiful park in the middle of Salinas. We also discussed a couple of programs voted on by the city council that Oz, as usual, has some issues with. He uses Martin Luther King's letter from Birmingham Jail as a reference, so of course, he thinks he once again figured out the city's problems in one episode.

Leticia Hernandez has been running a community garden at Natividad Creek Park for five years. Over that time with her group Local Urban Gardeners, she helped turn a neglected section of the park into a beautiful oasis in the middle of the city, a meeting point for many environmental-related activities. Listen as she tells us stories of the effort it took to get where they are, including having to wait a year for a fence to be built! She also talks about transparency in our waste production cycle and how you can be a part of the community garden team.

The plan to turn Carr Lake from agriculture into a huge city park keeps moving forward. But what exactly is Carr Lake, and why is it sitting there in the middle of town? This question leads Oz down an 8-million-year-old rabbit hole that includes the Colorado River and a canyon as vast as the Grand Canyon underwater in Monterey Bay. The guys also talk about even more new bars and restaurants that will soon open in Oldtown Salinas. Also, will a local taco institution on Alisal be replaced by Starbucks?

The church of Rock & Roll comes to the podcast with one of Oz's childhood friends. Steve O talks about what it has been like to watch the Salinas music scene evolve over three decades and how it will continue to move forward. We talk about the Rocky Horror Show currently going on at the Paper Wing Theatre in Monterey. If you plan on going, be sure to know how to misbehave properly. If you don't know what that means, listen to the episode, and we will tell you all about it.

Once again, Salinas was in the national news for reasons that had nothing to do with agriculture or Steinbeck. Instead of adding more fuel to an already hot fire, we see this as an opportunity to look within our community and work on healing ourselves. We also talk about the unexpected recall election before finishing it up on a lighter note. In the next city council meeting, there will be a vote for more food trucks and the next step towards a beautiful new park in the middle of the city.

In this episode, we have a conversation with local writer Xago Juarez about his art and what it was like for him growing up in Salinas. We talk about his childhood and walking to Alisal High through the Old Lane and what it was like to live with some of the last Dust Bowl migrants in the Alisal. This one goes deep and drops a lot of knowledge, so you may want to grab a pen and paper to take notes.