The Third Annual Funky Latina Music Festival gets underway Saturday, March 30, at the Crescent Ballroom in Phoenix.
“One of the goals of the festival is to be a music discovery festival. So, you’re going to see up and coming Latin indie artists and I think some of these artists in a year or two will be playing Coachella,” said blogger, DJ and music maven Elyssa Bustamante, better known as the Funky Latina.
Hear a longer interview with Elyssa Bustamante
The festival offers a range of styles, including those which merge Latin and Middle Eastern musical influences on tracks like “Una Noche Más” or “One More Night.” Those are songs from Phoenix-based Monique Hasbun, who’s descended from those cultures.
“I intertwine some ‘Spanglish’ — because that’s what I’m most comfortable speaking — and I’m going to add some Middle Eastern percussion, some instruments, some flutes, because I also do belly dancing as well,” said Hasbun. “So I just want to mix everything in, because it’s the most authentic to who I am.”
Hasbun said she’s influenced by artists like Shakira, herself of Latin and Middle Eastern descent. That influence earned Hasbun the title “Shakira of Phoenix” by a local magazine.
Doors open at 7 p.m., and the event starts at 8 p.m.
Hear a longer interview with Monique Hasbun
According to a release, the lineup features the following artists:
- "Vortxz is an indie bilingual rock band from Houston that blends the influences of the Strokes with Rock en Español to create a new-age alternative rock sound for the next generation.
- Introverted Funk, based in Los Angeles, blends R&B, disco and house music to create a sound that is uniquely their own.
- The New Royals hail from Phoenix and consists of three brothers who combine rock, pop and electronic music.
- Monique Hasbun is a pop singer/songwriter from Phoenix who infuses her Latin and Middle Eastern background in her music.
- DJ Audrey is a Phoenix-based DJ who spins dance music from all genres."