Spotlight Series: Making Movies

2018_Spotlight Series_making-movies

Tonight, genre-busting troubadours Making Movies bring their eclectic fusion of rock, cumbia, and spoken word to Levitt AMP Trenton. Known for their contagious Afro-Latin rhythms, socially-conscious messages, and heartfelt performances, Levitt AMP Trenton concertgoers are in for a fantastic show tonight. The members of Making Movies are no strangers to Levitt. Tonight’s show will mark the band’s fifth appearance on a Levitt stage—with past performances in Sheboygan, Wis. (2018), Santa Fe, N.M. (2018), Denver (2017) and Memphis (2017).

Comprised of two pairs of brothers with Latin American roots—Enrique and Diego Chi, born in Panama, and Juan-Carlos and Andres Chaurand, first generation Mexican-American immigrants—Making Movies delves into the beauty and complexity of multicultural heritage and the immigrant experience. They seamlessly synthesize the Latin American styles and instrumentation they experienced at home with their families and the American styles they grew up with in Kansas City, Kan. (the city they still call “home” today). Bandmember Enrique Chi explains that having family, friends and bandmates from all over the globe serves as an important reminder that “human beings are much more similar than they are different.” Listeners will quickly discover that this concept is a thread that runs through all Making Movies music. 

Their 2017 release I Am Another You–said to be “lyrically and sonically one of the best albums of the year” by NPR—received rave reviews from Rolling Stone and the Chicago Tribune, as well as tastemakers like Remezcla, American Songwriter and MTV. Their companion album released later that year, You Are Another Me, was met with similar acclaim. Beyond the albums’ impeccable grooves and poignant stories about the immigrant experience, the carefully chosen album names pay homage to the beautiful Mayan greeting, “In Lak’ech Ala K’in.” Translating to “I am another you” (said by one person) and “you are another me” (answered by another), the simple greeting celebrates the shared humanity of both greeters—echoing the idea of human interconnectivity heard in much of the band’s music.

If you’re in Trenton, N.J., tonight, don’t miss the chance to move, groove and celebrate the human experience with Making Movies. For everyone else, let’s enjoy their NPR Tiny Desk Concert!

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