the band -- Bay Of Pigs

Frequently Axed Questions

Q₁. How would you describe your music?

A₁. Polkas, Scottishes and Waltzes. We are heavily influenced by the Spice Girls, Celine Dion and Kenny G., but old Kenny G, not the new stuff; also old Hanson. Actually, we are basically a rock band. We incorporate afro-Latin styles into rock, sort of the way Santana did, but in a mixed-up smart-ass way. You may hear Led Zeppelin, Nirvana or Rage Against the Machine, or you may hear Englebert Humperdink and the Fat Boys what the fuck do we know? Hear some Bay of Pigs music in Real Audio format or MP3 format.

A₂.We share song-writing credit equally. Read a quote from Bay of Pigs in Musician Magazine. We do a lot of rhythm-based rock tunes and a lot of our songs come from jamming in the rehearsal room; it's kind of collective work. Other times Jorge or Riq will bring in a riff or a few parts that work together. Riq writes the majority of the music and lyrics, but they are all developed with the whole band.

What comes first, the lyric or the music? The emotion comes first. Better question, What's the difference between a musician and a government bond? The bond eventually matures and makes money. What's the difference between a puppy and a singer-songwriter? The puppy eventually grows up and stops whining. This is a teaser for the Joke Page.

	Q₃.Why aren’t you guys "signed"?
	A₃. Cus we suck. We have had several offers from industry types trying to "clean us up" or "mold" our image somehow and we sucked so bad we thought they couldn't be serious. Thing is everybody on the radio sucks too. We are signed to Lowco Records and if you wanta start something I'll sign you. I'll sign your mother too.

	Q₄.Why did you guys go to El Salvador?
	A₄. We were approached by a Brooke from Meow Mix who had worked in El Salvador in the '80s. She presented it to us as a cultural exchange/music promotional tour/vacation that wouldn't cost us anything. We did some benefit shows and went. Jorge wrote up a thing about the trip that was printed in an edited form in Urban Latino magazine.

Q₅.What's with the name?

A₅. The Short Answer: If you remember from High School history, the CIA helped Cubans who didn't like Castro to try to invade Cuba in 1961 at a place we call Bay Of Pigs; it didn't work. So the name signifies that we're sort-of political and we're Latino-Americanos and we're pigs. If you don't care about the politics what am I gonna do? I'll tell you what I'm gonna do. Rock in your face so you don't even know it's about politics. This is what artists we admire like Fela and The Minutemen did. We suck compared to those bands. Don't even send me e-mail saying we suck compared to those bands. You suck.

The Long Answer: The name symbolizes the clash between North American culture and Latino culture. It represents who we are. We come from a mixture of complex peoples: we are a Cuban-American, 2 Puerto-Rican-Americans and a German-Celtic-American. We make Afro-Latin Rock music-it's a mixture of complex styles some of which are very old and some are very new.

La Respuesta en Español: El nombre del grupo significa la mescla o el choque de las culturas de Los Estados Unidos y El Caribe y los Latinos. Y como se estan chocando, vale.

	Q₆.¿Por que Ustedes cabrones casi nunca escriben esta mierda en Español?
	A₆. Soy un gringo y casi no hablo Español. Somos de Jersey City, Nueva Jersey, donde hay mas hindus que Latinos, todo mi software y mi keyboard son en Ingles y no se deletrear en Español. Si alguien me quiere ayudar transladar todas estas paginas a Español, a me'l favor jefe. webmaster@bayofpigs.com

The event known as the Bay Of Pigs was an attempt by Cuban exiles (Cuban exiles are people who decided to leave or were coerced by the government into leaving) with help from the U.S. CIA to begin a guerrilla war against Fidel Castro's government. Many of these exiles were previously Castro supporters, some were from the previous government's army.

When Castro took power he said he was going to reform government, but a few months after the Cuban revolution he announced that he planned for Cuba to be a Marxist-Leninist republic. In effect Castro switched Cuba from being supported by the West to being supported by the Soviet Union. This was extremely controversial in Cuba. Eisenhower initially approved of the CIA operation, but when Kennedy was elected president the U.S. support for the operation was greatly scaled back.

When the exile troops landed at The Bay Of Pigs (known in Cuba as Playa Girón), Castro's government had been informed where the landing would be, and his army was ready with newly-arrived Soviet tanks and jet planes. There was no U.S. air support as had been planned. It can be inferred that the CIA pushed forth with this doomed plan to provide a reason for or to pressure President Kennedy into an invasion of Cuba. Cuba was governed by the United States from it's independence from Spain in 1896 up until 1916. There is a large naval base in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, leased for another hundred years under the protests of Cuba's current government. The Cuban army was not well trained, but it was well armed and vastly outnumbered the exile soldiers (who were trained by the CIA). About a hundred exiles troops were killed, the rest were used as hostages in exchange for U.S. aid. About 3 thousand Cuban army troops were killed. This is a very sad day for U.S./Latin relations. Castro's hold on power was secured by a victory over the U.S. and it added greatly to his international prestige--prestige that would persevere even through thousands of killings by firing squad, and immeasurable suppression of human and civil rights by the Castro government. And it set the tone for mutual hostility between Cuba and the U.S., and a cut off of communication that would nearly lead to World War Three (during the Cuban missile crisis) and last until the present day.

How we feel: We know that being called "Bay Of Pigs" brings up a lot of painful memories for Cubans and for older N.American’s who remember that time. We don't want to hurt anybody's feelings but we feel somebody has to stir up these painful memories if we're going to move forward. You can't just bury the past, because our relationships today--between the U.S. and Cuba, and between Latinos and Anglos generally is influenced by the Bay Of Pigs invasion.

Riq's parents are Cuban exiles who left after the Bay Of Pigs. His Dad was an electrician for the phone company, and his Mom was a telephone operator in a Hotel in Havana. They didn't like the name. Riq has 2 half-sisters working, and two nieces and a nephew in school in Cuba now. They didn't like the name either. The way he tried to explain it to them both is like this: We know "Bay Of Pigs" is a painful memory, but we can't just never speak about it. We can't continue to ignore each other. The reason why our countries still can't talk to each other is this seething pain over perceived offenses from the past. We're real sorry if we hurt someone's feelings making them think about the Bay Of Pigs, but maybe we're better off being a little hurt if it will get us communicating. Being isolated from each other has been a disgrace for the United States, and a tragedy for Cuba.

Q₇. Are you guys a bunch of commies?

A₇. We could go on and on for pages about why communism in Cuba sucks. At the same time, we could also go on for pages and pages about why capitalism in the U.S.A. sucks. We're not here to promote a particular economic or political system. They both suck. We're here to promote communication. The greatest problem facing the future of Cuba is isolation. Isolation has made the Cuban and U.S. governments’ political positions inflexible and unrealistic. We have demonized each other. Until we understand each other's point of view there will be no progress. We encourage everybody to learn more about these issues, go to the links page for more info.

Q₈.What do you think should happen in Cuba?

A₈.The future of Cuba will be decided by Cubans and it may look nothing like anyone has imagined. The difficult part of good governance in Latin America is balancing strength and stability with freedom and tolerance. Castro has narrowed the political discourse in reference to Cuba by executing, jailing or exiling over one million dissident Cubans. Official statements from the Castro government have attempted to shape the discourse about Cuba as a choice between Castroism and U.S. dominance. We hope Cuba chooses a path beyond both Castroism and U.S. dominance. Cuba needs a strong government protected from corruption, and a tolerant government of laws with respect for civil rights. And we're not holding our breath.

Q₉.What do you think should happen in Puerto Rico?

A₉. There are three popular views on the future of Puerto Rican political status: (1). Stay the way it is (it is a "commonwealth" nation associated with the United States, they get social security and welfare, but no senators); this is the most popular view that won narrowly in the last plebiscite. (2). Statehood (PR would be the 51st State of the union, 2 senators, congressional representation; but many feel this would diminish the traditional Puerto Rican/Spanish culture. Many people feel the U.S. already has too much influence in PR. (3). Real Independence (that means removing the commonwealth political links between the two countries, leaving PR to be a more independent nation like any other nation, but it would also leave PR as broke as any other nation).

We don't really know. We don't live in PR. We feel like it should be up to the Puerto Rican people in Puerto Rico, whatever they choose. Our pride wants PR to be independent, but our family there needs support that you get from the U.S. government in commonwealth or statehood. Maybe if the Puerto Rican government was a stronger government, PR wouldn’t need help from the U.S. or anybody else.

Q₁₀. What makes you guys think you can talk about politics? You're just musicians.

A₁₀. Everything you do has a political impact on your community. Whether you talk about it or not. If you hate politics and never think about it--that's a political statement. Cut me a slice, I've been talking about politics at dinner since I was too small for the table. I saw Fela live once. In between 20 minute jams he would talk about Nigerian politics, African, World politics--also for 20 minutes. Then he said "I'll bet you all want me to just shut up and play music, right?" Some people applauded. He said "Well get your own fucking stage then. This is my stage. I'm gonna talk all night long." When people die and stuff, politics is more important than music. But a lot more boring if your life isn't at stake.

We're working on a model where corporations run the country. And as long as we continue to be extremely productive, we can have such a high standard of living that no one will complain that they have no power. We are happy pigs. Working people have less money now than they have had since WWII. And they wonder why people shoot people up. These are the good times mostly for the wealthiest. You don't like it get your own damn webpage. the world

Note:We welcome legitimate questions and comments, and also good jokes. We strongly encourage everybody to check out some political links or some music links--you'll learn more than you do watching Sex in the City. We don't pretend to know the answers to some of the very difficult questions we raise; we're always learning, maybe you can teach us something too. We will not, however, respond to flame--don't use all caps, that's shouting. e-mail your comments. Maybe I'll put up a bulletin board.