WEBVTT

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<v Speaker 1>I'm thinking about these questions. I'm thinking about where do

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<v Speaker 1>I belong? Where am I from? What's my real history?

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<v Speaker 1>Beyond the languages I speak now, beyond Spanish, beyond English?

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<v Speaker 1>Who am I beyond my colonization? What do I want

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<v Speaker 1>to sing about? Who do I want to sing for?

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<v Speaker 2>From media, it's Latino usay, I'm Maria no Josa today

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<v Speaker 2>Stefa a New York based vocalist and composer. I'm creating

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<v Speaker 2>their own origin stories. Seeing Stefa perform live feels like

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<v Speaker 2>walking through a portal into somewhere that is both the

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<v Speaker 2>past and the future. Sometimes Stepha performs with a band.

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<v Speaker 2>Sometimes it's just them and their looper. That's a device

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<v Speaker 2>that allows Stepfa to layer their own vocals on top

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<v Speaker 2>of each other. Comes Stephi creates lush harmonies and soundscapes

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<v Speaker 2>that invite listeners to meditate on the music's message, whether

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<v Speaker 2>they are singing about their ancestors by cures or about

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<v Speaker 2>falling in love under capitalism. Born in Queens, New York

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<v Speaker 2>and raised by Colombian immigrant parents, Stepha began singing as

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<v Speaker 2>early as elementary school. After studying classical music for twenty years,

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<v Speaker 2>Stephi eventually found themselves longing to branch out beyond their

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<v Speaker 2>classical training, learning to use their voice in different ways,

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<v Speaker 2>and even trying out new mediums like performance and video.

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<v Speaker 3>Cepalino.

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<v Speaker 2>In twenty eighteen, Stepa released their debut EP, Ceppalina. It

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<v Speaker 2>was inspired by finding out that their grandmother was Embea,

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<v Speaker 2>an indigenous people from Colombia and Banama. Ceppalina tells the

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<v Speaker 2>story of an indigenous alien who washes up on a

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<v Speaker 2>shore in the present, stripped of her memories and of

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<v Speaker 2>her language. In their upcoming project, Born with an Extra Rib,

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<v Speaker 2>Stepha challenges the story of Adam and Eve. The project,

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<v Speaker 2>which also includes a multimedia performance film and a theater piece,

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<v Speaker 2>follows Stepha's journey in creating their own origin story as

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<v Speaker 2>a non binary indigenous person trying to find home in

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<v Speaker 2>their own body.

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<v Speaker 3>Maybe I'm different today from the last time.

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<v Speaker 2>On this How I Made It segment, Stepa talks about

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<v Speaker 2>exploring their own identity through their creative practice and finding

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<v Speaker 2>ritual in their art experience.

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<v Speaker 1>My name is Stepha Marina Larcon. I'm from Queens, New York.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm a vocalist. I'm a performance artist, composer. When I

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<v Speaker 1>think of Queen's I think of the Seven Train, I

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<v Speaker 1>think of my family. The things that I was listening

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<v Speaker 1>to at home with my family, so a lot of Cumbia, alagnato,

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<v Speaker 1>a lot.

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<v Speaker 3>Of hip hop. I was listening to what my sister

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<v Speaker 3>was listening to.

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<v Speaker 1>She was obsessed with Tupac and Biggie a little Kim.

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<v Speaker 3>I love storytellers.

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<v Speaker 1>I grew up listening to in the house. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>lots of rosil Go Buangadier. I think as I got

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<v Speaker 1>into thinking about Okay, now I'm gonna tell my own

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<v Speaker 1>stories through my music, through my art, these storytellers that

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<v Speaker 1>I was listening to, who were also incredible vocalists, I

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<v Speaker 1>think influenced that desire. My first memories of music, honestly

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<v Speaker 1>are me being an elementary school in chorus. I was

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<v Speaker 1>just like, I want to be singing with other people.

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<v Speaker 1>I want to learn songs, I want to be on stage,

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<v Speaker 1>I want to be special. So I ended up joining

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<v Speaker 1>this choir and we would go sing with like the

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<v Speaker 1>Brooklyn Chorus, and we would sing with like all the

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<v Speaker 1>choirs in the city. And of course, you know, I

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<v Speaker 1>had to be like the loudest I would be.

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<v Speaker 3>I might have been a teacher's pet.

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<v Speaker 4>Oh.

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<v Speaker 1>But I was at music camp when I was like

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<v Speaker 1>eleven years old, and this was like a music summer

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<v Speaker 1>camp at Manheim.

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<v Speaker 3>School of Music.

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<v Speaker 1>They would bust, you know, all these city kids into Harlem.

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<v Speaker 1>It was like the works band music camp, and.

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<v Speaker 3>I was obsessed.

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<v Speaker 1>When I was there, you know, like ten eleven years old,

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<v Speaker 1>I heard about LaGuardia. LaGuardia High School of Art and

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<v Speaker 1>Performing Arts is a specialized high school in New York City,

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<v Speaker 1>which means you have to audition and all of like

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<v Speaker 1>the camp counselors were like, oh, yeah, I'm going to

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<v Speaker 1>Laguardian next year. I was like, this is the only

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<v Speaker 1>place I want to go to, and I was really

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<v Speaker 1>scared of not getting in. But I sang, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>I sang my little heart out, and I got it.

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<v Speaker 1>When I got to LaGuardia, I was like, this is

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<v Speaker 1>exactly where I'm supposed to be. We had five periods

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<v Speaker 1>a day that were just music. We were singing a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of classical music. We were singing a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>you know, Mozart handle. My senior year year, I decided

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<v Speaker 1>to go more into theater performing as opposed to just singing,

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<v Speaker 1>and so I auditioned for the school musical, which was Ragtime.

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<v Speaker 1>I had this like big ballad, and I remember having

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<v Speaker 1>to work so hard on like hitting this note, and

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<v Speaker 1>I'll always remember like it was a B flat and

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<v Speaker 1>I had to belt it. And I remember once I

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<v Speaker 1>like learned how to sing that note, it was like

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<v Speaker 1>it was flying.

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<v Speaker 3>It was such It was such a big moment.

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<v Speaker 1>After LaGuardia, I got into a drama school in London,

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<v Speaker 1>little city kid Stefa moving away from home for the

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<v Speaker 1>first time ever. London was incredible. I saw a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of theater, I saw a lot of art. I was

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<v Speaker 1>very like, I'm not just an actor, you know, I'm

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<v Speaker 1>not just a singer.

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<v Speaker 3>Like I'm an artist.

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<v Speaker 1>Even though at drama school I was told, if you

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<v Speaker 1>are going to do this thing, it's the only thing

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<v Speaker 1>that you can do.

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<v Speaker 3>If you want to be the best at it. And

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<v Speaker 3>I was always very anti that.

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<v Speaker 1>I was always like, but I have so many interests

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<v Speaker 1>and I love so many things.

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<v Speaker 3>How could I just do one thing?

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<v Speaker 1>And so as much as I loved London, people were

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<v Speaker 1>incredibly confused by me. People didn't know where to place me.

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<v Speaker 1>So it was also incredibly isolating. Between twenty ten in

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<v Speaker 1>twenty eighteen, which is when I left drama school and

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<v Speaker 1>when I released Sepalina, my first DP. There was so

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<v Speaker 1>much undoing that I had to go through. One of

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<v Speaker 1>the things that I had to learn from my train

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<v Speaker 1>were the limitations that were placed on me, because when

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<v Speaker 1>I was at Luguardia, when I was in drama school,

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<v Speaker 1>I was told, this is your voice, this is what

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<v Speaker 1>you should sound like because you look like this, because

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<v Speaker 1>you're not tiny, blonde, white, you have to have this big,

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<v Speaker 1>booming voice. But then when I really started to learn

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<v Speaker 1>my voice and what it could do, I realized I

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<v Speaker 1>could sing incredibly high. I could also yell if I

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<v Speaker 1>wanted to, you know, use these different parts of my voice.

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<v Speaker 1>There was so much undoing for me to even start

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<v Speaker 1>writing the first song that I wrote, which was Negra Maslinda,

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<v Speaker 1>that I wrote in like twenty fifteen. I was back

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<v Speaker 1>in Queens, living in New York. I started finding like

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<v Speaker 1>queer family, just so many people down to try anything

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<v Speaker 1>and just put themselves out there. So I'm like, well,

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<v Speaker 1>what if I just try to write something myself. This

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<v Speaker 1>was twenty fifteen, so a lot of protests are happening

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<v Speaker 1>in the.

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<v Speaker 3>US, peaceful Protests continued last night in Ferguson, Missouri, over

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<v Speaker 3>the fatal police shooting of unarmed African American teenager Michael Brown.

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<v Speaker 1>And I'm on Twitter, and I'm seeing these things, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>and I'm watching people share what's happening to them.

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<v Speaker 3>You know.

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<v Speaker 1>Everything starts to like crack open. I'm like, oh, okay,

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<v Speaker 1>this is where I live. Around this time, my mom

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<v Speaker 1>was finding out a lot about my grandmother's past. I

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<v Speaker 1>found out that my grandmother, a the was Embda. Embida

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<v Speaker 1>is an indigenous community from Colombia. And I remember putting

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<v Speaker 1>a photo of Mayouila in front of me and asking

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<v Speaker 1>her to communicate anything she wanted through me. That's how

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<v Speaker 1>Niga Muslina came out of me. Nag I was like, okay,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm a songwriter now, so I gotta start writing music.

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<v Speaker 3>When I started.

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<v Speaker 1>Writing music, I really missed singing in group because that's

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<v Speaker 1>how I learned to sing is with other singers.

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<v Speaker 3>And so I.

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<v Speaker 1>Felt like with a looper I could recreate the sensation

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<v Speaker 1>of having eighty voices on stage with you. We are

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<v Speaker 1>in my bedroom in bedsta in front of me, I

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<v Speaker 1>have a RC five oh five loop station. I'll press record,

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<v Speaker 1>I'll start singing, and then I'll press record again. And

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<v Speaker 1>what that does is it allows the first thing that

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<v Speaker 1>I recorded to keep going. So then what I can

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<v Speaker 1>do is I can record my voice again in time

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<v Speaker 1>or in harmony with the first track that I just did.

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<v Speaker 1>My favorite song to perform from my first DP is Sepalina.

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<v Speaker 1>The story behind Sepalina is I looked up embedras songs

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<v Speaker 1>online and I found one of this man singing, and

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<v Speaker 1>I wrote the words down that I could phonetically write myself,

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<v Speaker 1>and I found this melody way way, way.

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<v Speaker 3>Becoming.

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<v Speaker 1>There's no translation page for these indigenous languages, there's no

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<v Speaker 1>Google Translate for embeddat. You know, I almost had to

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<v Speaker 1>put my own meaning on these words. It's frustrating. I

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<v Speaker 1>don't know what these words mean, but I want to

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<v Speaker 1>sing them. They're a part of my history. Why don't

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<v Speaker 1>I know this?

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<v Speaker 3>You know?

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<v Speaker 1>Why am I so separate from this part of my ancestry?

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<v Speaker 3>To see.

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<v Speaker 1>To it was almost like I am resisting right now,

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<v Speaker 1>Like I'm resisting that colonization by singing this, by saying,

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<v Speaker 1>you can take away our history, you can take away

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<v Speaker 1>our language, you can try to take away our traditions.

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<v Speaker 1>But we are the survivors and we are continuing to fight.

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<v Speaker 1>In January of twenty twenty, I was like, Okay, I'm

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<v Speaker 1>going to put out my next record. And I go

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<v Speaker 1>into the studio and I record all these songs and

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<v Speaker 1>they're like half ideas and there's like things that I'm trying,

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<v Speaker 1>and I invite all these really great instrumentalists to come

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<v Speaker 1>into the space with me, and then COVID hit and

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<v Speaker 1>I'm listening to this music and I'm like, this isn't it.

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<v Speaker 1>I went through this like dry spell of eight months

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<v Speaker 1>of not singing and feeling like I couldn't sing, and

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<v Speaker 1>then I wrote another song and I wrote how do

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<v Speaker 1>I cope? How do I? How do I?

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<v Speaker 3>How do I cool?

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<v Speaker 4>How do I how do I?

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<v Speaker 3>How do I come?

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<v Speaker 1>I started thinking about what I wanted this next record

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<v Speaker 1>to be.

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<v Speaker 2>You.

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<v Speaker 5>When I came home from college, my mom is like.

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<v Speaker 3>You what happened to you? Skinny? Give any see?

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<v Speaker 5>I don't give up, and she's like, touches me and

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<v Speaker 5>she feels something and she's like why is you?

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<v Speaker 3>Go in the doctor and find out I was born

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<v Speaker 3>with an extra rib.

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<v Speaker 2>I know.

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<v Speaker 1>This song with Gosthias was the seed for this record,

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<v Speaker 1>which is called Born with an extra rib Gosthias, which

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<v Speaker 1>means ribs, felt like this redemption for me as a

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<v Speaker 1>non binary person, as a person getting closer to myself.

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<v Speaker 3>It made me.

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<v Speaker 5>Start thinking about my body and about these stories that

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<v Speaker 5>we're told are origin stories, especially someone like me where

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<v Speaker 5>I'm for generation. My family was displaced from their ancestral homes.

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<v Speaker 3>So many of our stories are erased.

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<v Speaker 5>But the power of creating your own stories is just

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<v Speaker 5>It's why we're here right now all together.

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<v Speaker 3>On Mistakes with Cristeas, I was like, I'm not what

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<v Speaker 3>you want me to be. And I was like, I

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<v Speaker 3>feel this.

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<v Speaker 1>Energy, Like I want to write like a punk song,

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<v Speaker 1>Like I want to write this like hard song where

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<v Speaker 1>I'm not just singing, but I'm like screaming and yelling

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<v Speaker 1>and like using my voice in different ways.

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<v Speaker 5>Meda can be medad.

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<v Speaker 4>You know.

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<v Speaker 1>I got to channel that rage and I also got

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<v Speaker 1>to channel this like excitement that after me comes freedom.

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<v Speaker 1>I was like, I don't want it to just be

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<v Speaker 1>a record. I wanted to also be a theater piece.

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<v Speaker 1>I wanted to also be a film. I also wanted

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<v Speaker 1>to be an installation. I want to push the boundaries

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<v Speaker 1>of what a record can be. So I made a film.

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<v Speaker 1>It was a sixteen hour shoot. We went through a

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<v Speaker 1>ritual that day. It was a very intentional opening of

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<v Speaker 1>the space together. There was like twenty something people on set,

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<v Speaker 1>inviting all of these people to help me go on

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<v Speaker 1>this journey. Was incredibly emotional in the space, being back

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<v Speaker 1>in the theater that for so long I adored, and

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<v Speaker 1>then for so long I felt so rejected and so

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<v Speaker 1>angry at and then to be back on my own

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<v Speaker 1>terms was such a healing moment, and it made me realize,

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<v Speaker 1>like theater itself is a ritual to performing is so

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<v Speaker 1>wild because I have to have so much control in

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<v Speaker 1>a way. But then within those kind of boundaries that

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<v Speaker 1>I give myself, which is okay, this is the song,

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<v Speaker 1>I have to push myself. It's almost like you're balancing,

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<v Speaker 1>like you're almost gonna fall off, but like you're still

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<v Speaker 1>on the line, you know. And I feel like that

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<v Speaker 1>when I'm performing, and I think that's when I'm having

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<v Speaker 1>the most fun, not when I'm like everything was perfect,

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<v Speaker 1>every note was pristine. That's not the fun part of performing.

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<v Speaker 1>The fun part of performing is like we already know

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<v Speaker 1>what we're doing. Now we get to have fun. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>we get to push ourselves beyond what we thought this

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<v Speaker 1>moment could be. Maybe I'm different today.

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<v Speaker 2>Steffa's upcoming multimedia record, Born with an Extra Rib, will

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<v Speaker 2>be released in the summer of twenty twenty two.

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<v Speaker 3>You can listen to.

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<v Speaker 2>Their latest single, Ghostillas and the rest of their music

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<v Speaker 2>on all streaming platforms, and you can follow them on

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<v Speaker 2>social media at Stepha.

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<v Speaker 3>Libs, scagg you, scagg you.

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<v Speaker 1>Sometimes it throws me off, like the side.

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<v Speaker 2>Of This episode was produced by Julia Rocha. It was

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<v Speaker 2>edited by Alejandra Salasad and mixed by Julia Caruso and

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<v Speaker 2>gabriel A Biez. The Latino USA team includes Andrea Lopez Cruzado,

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<v Speaker 2>Marta Martinez, Mike Sargent, Julia Ta Martinelli, Victoria Estrada, Patricia Sulbaran,

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<v Speaker 2>Gini Mondalbo, and Rinaldo Leanos Junior, with help from Raoul Berees.

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<v Speaker 2>Our editorial director is Julio Ricardo Barella. Our supervising senior

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<v Speaker 2>engineer is Stephanie Lebau, Our associate engineer is jj Carubin.

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<v Speaker 2>Our digital editor is Luis Luna. Our fellows are Elisa Baena,

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<v Speaker 2>Monica Morales and Andrew Vigilis. Our theme music was composed

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<v Speaker 2>by Zenia Rubinos. If you like the music you heard

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<v Speaker 2>on this episode, stop by Latinousa dot org and check

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<v Speaker 2>out our weekly Spotify playlist. I'm your host and executive

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<v Speaker 2>producer Maria Josa. Join us again on our next episode.

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<v Speaker 2>In the meantime, I'll see you on all of our

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<v Speaker 2>social media. I know it's bemos asta lapproxima Bye.

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<v Speaker 4>Latino USA is made possible in part by the Heising

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<v Speaker 4>Simons Foundation, unlocking knowledge, opportunity, and possibilities more at hsfoundation

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<v Speaker 4>dot org, the John D. And Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation,

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<v Speaker 4>and the Ford Foundation, working with visionaries on the front

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<v Speaker 4>lines of social change worldwide.

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<v Speaker 1>Babe, you're going in Oh my God, not ps fe

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<v Speaker 1>H two elementary school.

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<v Speaker 3>We are out here, we living memories.