Conversations with Luis Gracia-Alonso

Today we’d like to introduce you to Luis Gracia-Alonso.

Hi Luis, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Hi! I am a Mexican American musician and music educator based out of the Orange County and Pomona city areas, currently figuring out my way through life in my late 20’s. Looking way back, my earliest experiences with music were when I started taking piano lessons at about 6 years old. At the time, I really enjoyed learning the piano, however, I never really thought of it as being what I ultimately wanted to do in the future. Growing up, I was always a bit of a quiet kid, usually preferring to listen and observe and everything and everyone around me. I think part of it came down to struggling with transitioning between the English and Spanish languages early on, but I used to be a reserved kid. I also really enjoyed being out in nature and experiencing the natural ambience of the world, and a lot of my musical experiences came from listening to the music that my parents and grandparents played on the radio. Overall, I mostly just listened quietly and took everything in, just enjoying the simple joys of life in the present.

Fast forward a few years, I made the switch from piano to learning the trombone in elementary school. From there, it was history for me as I’ve stuck with trombone as my main instrument since. You could say I was a good old band kid and just enjoyed playing trombone, but as dorky as it may have seemed at the time, I really do have to credit that playing trombone gave me a lot more confidence in myself. I have always been super hard on myself with school and my personal expectations on my own achievement, however, trombone really just transformed me from a fairly introverted person to one with personal validation and allowed me to begin being open to meeting new people. I even found my current wife in high school through music, and they are now my biggest advocate and supporter in my life for me and my music. High school was a time to find myself and to open up myself to new experiences. One of my favorite things to do at the time was to go to the public library and check out a few albums on CDs. I remember the first CD of an artist who I credit set me onto my musical path now. The year was 2010, and I found and listened to Trombone Shorty’s “Backatown” album. That album blew my mind and made me realize that so much more was possible with music than I had ever imagined as a kid. I realized that I could have my own taste in music; a personality and identity of my own.

After graduating high school, I studied Music Education at California State University Long Beach (after changing majors from Biology Education after a year of realizing I could not live a life of music not being a constant for me). In college, I met so many musicians and colleagues through performing in the jazz bands and concert bands, as well as marching drum corps. I also joined my first band ever (that I am still with to this day), a ska-hardcore band “Not a Chance”. I ultimately graduated with my Bachelors in Music Education and completed my Single Subject Credential in Music at CSULB, all the while filling in as trombonist for various funk, hip-hop, ska, and reggae bands throughout Southern California. Some of the bands I played in have come and gone, but all of these experiences and performances helped me realize that I am so much more capable of a person than I had given the chance to for most of my life. I have struggled with confidence all of my life, never feeling like I was really ever that capable of achieving much. One could say I was a bit sensitive growing up, but it was through music that I really felt that I had developed a personal sense of self-esteem and a sense of pride in myself. I tend to struggle when I feel like I had no say or control over things in my life; trombone and music are a few ways where I feel I have control over myself and what I do.

Through music, I really felt myself evolve from the shy boy I was growing up: for the first time I felt like I had a voice, supported by my musical voice, This newfound voice changed my life; I feel supported and excited to connect with other people through music. Through this new voice, I found it easier to meet new people, and over the past few years has ultimately led for me to receive opportunities I never though possible for me. I perform in a few touring ska bands currently, Half Past Two and The Ruffolos, and I have performed across the country for so many people. Educationally, I am also fortunate and have the extreme privilege to share the absolute beauty, joy, and inspiration of music among my students. I teach high school music at Ganesha High School in Pomona, and I could not describe how powerful and heartwarming it is to see students truly experience and learn the gifts that music can give you. I cannot thank music enough for everything it has done for me in my life. I got to meet and connect with so many new people through music; music has given me a voice, a community to be a part of, the love of my life, and my ultimate purpose. I even have the confidence now to release my own music, and share my own personal expression of my emotions and personal experiences musically. I have a song coming out soon that is an expression of personal challenges that i have been facing with my mental health over the past year; themes of existentialism are present, but through writing and recording this song, I feel like it ultimately helped me get out of a dark place mentally and spiritually and finally gave me a semblance of hope again.

Music has always been present in my life, but reflecting upon how it has shaped my life, I can only sing the praises of what music has done for me as not only a musician but myself in finding my identity, a community, and a purpose.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The road to being a musician and music educator has not always been the easiest. I have been fortunate to have had a strong support system, consisting primarily of my family, friends, and musical colleagues. My family, while hesitant and not very approving at first when I declared my career aspirations as a musician and music educator back in 2015, have only seen the amount of growth in me as a person as I continue down this life path. If I am going to be honest, the biggest obstacle for me in my career as both a musician and teacher is myself. Even though I have much more confidence than what I had growing up, I still am, to quote a classic alternative rock song, “my own worst enemy.” I still struggle with my own self-confidence and second-guess myself when taking initiative. This is most notable in working with my students; I am still needing to build faith and trust in myself that I know what I am doing well enough to lead my students to success. I also need to keep building the strength and resilience within me to advocate for myself when being dealt an unfortunate hand or situation, while allowing myself the grace to make mistakes. I struggle a lot with perfectionism and hold unreasonably high standards of myself; however I will say that through therapy as well as the consistent support from my wife, family, and friends, I am making progress. I never want to be seen as unapproachable or lacking humility, but I now have recently learned that I need to give myself credit on my capabilities. Lifelong learning will always be a part of the journey, but I can’t lose myself in the mix.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I mentioned it briefly before, but I am a freelance musician, and I am a high school music teacher at Ganesha High School in Pomona. Along with freelancing, I play full-time in Half Past Two and The Ruffolos as a trombonist, and I fill in regularly with several other bands throughout Southern California. I also write music of my own independently on my own time, mostly for personal creative fulfillment. During the school year, my teaching job takes up majority of my time during the week, and I tend to gig on the side during the weekends. Over the summer when I am off, I have recently been touring both locally and nationally with the two full-time bands while picking up more musical gigs on the side. It’s mostly a busy schedule, but I am truly grateful to be in a position to have so many incredible opportunities. I specialize as a trombonist, but I play piano as well as other brass. i recently have even started learning the electric bass, mostly for fun and out of love for the instrument itself.

For me, a lot of my pride and joy is in my work. I am proud to have been able to take major steps in rebuilding the music program at my high school since I first started teaching right after the pandemic in 2021. I had a very small music program, with a band of 15 students and an orchestra class of essentially 5 students. Since then, my school’s program has grown (though still a modest size) to of about 55 students, not including the full guitar classes I also teach at the school now. Musically speaking, I am grateful for all of the incredible opportunities I have had performing as a trombonist. I have recorded with a number of bands including Half Past Two, The Ruffolos, The Sovereign Artist, Triple Thread, and so many more. I also have been able to meet so many new people and travel to new places to perform music. I am proud of how I have grown as a musician up until this point also, performing nationally and soon internationally. One last thing that I am proud of is my growth in myself as a musical creative of my own; I dabbled in songwriting for a long time but have only grown more validated and self-assured in the music that I am writing. I am especially proud of my newest song that I am releasing: “Where Do You Find the Time?” I feel it not only showcases stronger and more developed compositional techniques from myself, but also is a song that I am being very openly transparent in expressing my personal mental health challenges. I am very excited to continue seeing my future musical and creative development and I am open to learning more about myself through this process.

As for things that set me apart from others, I am going to share one about me as a musician, and one of me as me. As a musician, I feel that something that sets me apart is that I really just like to have fun and perform. I like to dance, and I really like to perform with energy (as appropriate to the style of music of course). I play a lot of pop and ska and punk lately, so I feel that just letting loose and having fun has helped me be more entertaining to watch and hear in live performance. I also have a strong sense of song form, so I like to connect dance and movement with the music.
As for me personally, I think what sets me apart is that I try to be open to new experiences and meeting new people. I don’t want to ever be seen as unapproachable to people that I meet at shows or in other musical gatherings. I have grown to really enjoy meeting people and connecting through music. I have high expectations of myself and really want to perform at my best, but I also don’t want to come across as better than anyone else. I have so many trombonist friends in other bands that I admire and respect because they are great musicians. I believe in the power and importance of supporting a healthy and strong music community. With how divisive and hateful the world is right now, I want to push for community to support marginalized voices. We need to be there for them. It is through music that I feel that I have a voice and can advocate for myself; I want to try and keep an open and inclusive space for those I meet, as my life has changed so much for the better by the help of a musical community that was there for me.

Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
When it comes to taking risks, I have historically not been the most daring. However, I can say that all of the risks I do take are what i feel will ultimately best for me in the long-run. One of the biggest risks I took was changing majors from Bio to Music so many years ago. I was so scared of what this big change would do to my relationship with my parents, who pushed for me to pursue more stable career paths, as well as a risk in the sense of me not even feeling confident to make it into the music program at Long Beach. That leap of faith is what ultimately led me down my current path and gave me a sense of purpose and fulfillment that I don’t think I would have had staying in the science field. Other risks I have taken have been reaching out and working with bands that I never hoped to dream of and really just meeting new people and trying new things musically. Even releasing my own music for the first time was intimidating; “who the heck am I thinking anyone would ever want to hear my own music?” Life and music are all full of risks though. I never would have had the opportunities that I had if I kept to myself and played it safe all the time though. It is intimidating to put myself out there and give my 100% all of the time; but also, what is the point of hiding inside of myself? If it fails, that is also okay too,; I would rather be burned than live a life fixated on the what-ifs. There is so much life to be experienced, remember to find and hold onto hope and take the leap of faith. Music is the biggest risk, the biggest leap of faith I have ever taken. And it is the best decision I have ever made.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://luisgraciaalonso01.wixsite.com/my-site/bio
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/luisboneyg
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzd47RBO-dQs_kw8h6G-qpA
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/67973Hp2KJWtf8WtKCwIur?si=P_v-h_JwQTeZokijQ7WQ_w

Image Credits
The Corona Chronicles

Rae Mystic

Jess Adams-Gracia

Isaac Castro

Schubirds.jpg