 "Photo: Isaac Garcia / The Pan American")
It’s a smoldering Saturday afternoon outside Trae Valdez’s home in rural Weslaco. As he waits for two of his fellow band members to arrive, a goat makes noise in the distance while guitarist Nate Garcia jokes about sacrificing the animal before their concert.
An ensemble for a little more than four months, the guys in And Venus hope that their hard work pays off as they begin a journey through their musical career.
“We like to think of our music as colors,” Garcia said. “Sometimes you can feel blue and sad and other times you can feel red and angry. I think all of us are continuously writing music in our heads and then bring it to the others. We usually end up with something we all really love.”
There are four members, all from Weslaco: Fernando Cruz on drums, Valdez on bass, Garcia on guitar and Robert Ruelas on vocals/guitar, all 22-years-old, And Venus played their second concert at Cine el Rey in McAllen June 26, opening up for local favorites Dignan.
But what makes And Venus who they are is not what happens onstage; it’s what goes on before they reach it.
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT
Although people didn’t make their way into Cine el Rey until a little after 7 p.m., And Venus started a few days before that, driving down to the Valley from Austin and San Antonio.
“We all relocated from Weslaco to Austin permanently about a year ago because Bob lives in San Antonio and we thought he was the best person fit to understand our style and direction,” said Garcia.
After they made their way to Weslaco, the band met with family and friends, but got together a day before the show to practice their set for the concert.
“We practiced yesterday at my house, outside, man was it hot. I couldn’t even concentrate on the set and to top it off I sat on fiber glass and itched all over,” Cruz said. “But today we are practicing inside.”
And they did just that in Valdez’s parents’ cozy entertainment room. The guys drove in two separate vehicles, unloading their instruments and breaking a sweat in the process.
“For some reason I can’t get used to the heat even after living here for so long—San Antonio seems just a bit cooler,” Ruelas said.
Used to small spaces, the band set up and made the best of the tight area as Valdez warned the rest of the guys not to set anything on top of his mother’s new couch.
“In Austin we practice in a shed no larger than 10 by 10, you’d be surprised how we can manage to fit in there,” Valdez said.
Once the guys set up and tuned their instruments, which took about 15 minutes, Valdez introduced the idea of opening up the show to a song by the late Michael Jackson, hacking out a bit of “Beat It” on his bass to drive home the suggestion.
Eventually, the guys began playing their set all the way and being vocal about each other’s performance. Cruz was keen in pointing out Garcia’s guitar solo on the song “the great silence.”
“Nate, that was the best you have ever played that—seriously man, that was awesome.”
Agreeing to run through the set one more time before the concert, the guys dispersed for about an hour.
Although they had only played once before, Cruz insisted shaving his head was part of a ritual before playing. Garcia smoked a few cigarettes and remained socially networked, posting on Myspace and Facebook reminding everyone of the concert. Valdez set out to cook “veggie burgers” for anyone that wanted a bite to eat while Ruelas stayed practicing his vocals.
“Bob, you sound amazing. Come out and play,” Cruz yelled as he climbed an oak tree in Valdez’s front yard. “Fuck I scraped my arms; I can’t play at the show tonight guys,” he joked.
Before they regrouped and ran through the set one last time, Cruz reminded the band of how he single-handedly coined the name of the band.
“ I was sitting on the toilet reading People Magazine and I saw an article featuring Serena and Venus Williams,” Cruz said. “And that’s how the name came about.”
However Garcia refused to believe that the name of the band came about that way, Cruz insisted it was the truth.
Once the band was ready, they packed up their instruments in the two vehicles and set off to Cine el Rey.
“I remember our first show in San Antonio; on the way back to Austin we saw sparks flying and I thought it was a cigarette hitting the road,” Cruz said. “But it was our instruments falling out of the truck.”
AFTER THE SHOW
Content with crowd reaction And Venus settled into the crowd after packing up their instruments and seemed positive about their future as a band.
“I think we all really want to do this for a living, but who knows?” Garcia said. “We're all pretty passionate about it-- I guess, and I think that with passion alone we can achieve as much as we intend.”
For now, And Venus plans limited concerts, instead focusing on the creation of more music.
“At the moment we’re just writing and hopefully releasing an EP by the end of this year. --As for shows not anytime in the next month, we're going be writing this month.”
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