Many people know Dominic Gonzalez as local DJ Domonic, as the venue/bar/restaurant Boxcar expands as it moves from the railroad yard to a new location on Water Street adjacent to the plaza. , he will be taking on a new role, one that will be his first in the industry. – Former full-time entertainment director. Gonzalez, a veteran of more than 20 years of performance and promotion experience, said he wants to transform the Boxcar, which is perceived as a bar where people can enjoy music, into a mid-sized, full-fledged concert space downtown. It's possible the town could use something like that, so we gave him a call with some questions. Let's go sweet, sweet As. This interview has been edited for length and brevity.
Let's start by talking about your own project. DJing can obviously cover so many genres and subgenres. How would you describe your own contribution?
At first, I learned the basics of DJing such as beat matching, scratching, blending, and song selection using turntables. I started doing it when I was 15, convincing my parents and grandparents to buy me a turntable for Christmas. I have always been a fan of local music and culture, and from an early age I would read local publications to see where I could find DJs and bands.
I want to listen to KUNM's songs street beat; And in Santa Fe, you'll see [DJs like] Donovan and The Rev…House DJ. I created my own style between the hip-hop and house music I was listening to, a little blend of hip-hop, house, reggae, reggaeton, everything. And some of that comes from watching all these DJs, but at the end of the day, I loved the music so much that for me it was just working all week and getting through this situation. I was able to create these moments on the dance floor for people, or maybe they just had a great week, I don't know, but I was able to create that atmosphere. What about that?One of my mentors as a child was Sol. [Bentley]. He took me under his wing and we were able to build a lot over the last 10 years and when you see me and Sol on a flyer, it's some kind of party. It got to the point where people knew it was going to happen.
As someone who works in the music scene every week, what do you think about the current state of the Santa Fe scene?
It's been a long time since I've seen positive growth in the music community, so I'm very happy. Venues are popping up, there are more places to perform, and more and more young people are playing gigs as musicians. There have been fewer venues for a while, but now, for the first time since the pandemic, there are fewer venues.
And everyone wants DJs again, bands again, musicians again. The crew comes over and they're having a party.For a long time, all you had was Joe Ray. [Sandoval] And Sol, come on… you've got Rashan Ahmad, and you've got Zai Santos, who just did a great job playing the blues in Boxcar. Of course there are many others, but these are the ones that give me hope. Did something like this happen on site after losing Warehouse 21? I feel like I have been reborn with a positive outlook now.
What do you envision for the future of the show at Boxcar, in terms of style, scope, etc.?
Owner on New Year's Eve [Tate Mruz and Slywia Handzel] And I started talking about the future of the Boxcar and all the things I've done in the past from coordinating events and concerts… and my thoughts on what the place would really match up with theirs. We started talking about our vision. It went on to the whole “new boxcar has a different vibe than the old boxcar and we need someone to run the entertainment” thing.
There is a sports bar, daytime dining, patio and cafe, and there is now a music performance room and a side DJ room. And when we set out to open, we always wanted to offer a little something for everyone. What we have on hand is a beautiful live music venue, a slash nightclub, a nice cafe serving jazz and dinner music, and a patio where a DJ or flamenco guitarist can play in the afternoon.
We all know that Boxcar has great DJs, but what I want to do is provide a mid-sized music venue that Santa Fe desperately needs.
A show with Metalachi is scheduled soon. Albuquerque's red light cameras are coming. Some reggae tours. Hip hop; Red Elvis. We're trying to cover a little bit of everything.There's a big show coming up [March 8] Here we have Rhett Haney, a country artist from Nashville. My vision is to have these concerts throughout the week, especially on the weekends. That way, if you come to Bockscar on a Friday or Saturday, you'll know there's a band playing. Sometimes there are two.