Samuel Arriola: Guatemala Musician
Updated: 4 days ago
This blog was written by Rayna Viera, an intern for Grupo Cajolá this past summer. With her strong interest in music, we asked her to interview Samuel Arriola, who has been supporting Grupo Cajolá by playing his and his band's music at some of our events. You can find his contact information below.
Introduction to Samuel:
Guatemalan music and its Mayan origins have long created a lasting imprint on its people’s music today. I had the privilege of interviewing online a band member of Yaguarandi named Samuel. The instrument that he mainly plays is the guitar, though he found his true love for music with the drums. Like many other musicians, Samuel discovered his love of music through school, specifically by playing the snare drum in the school marching band.
On Becoming a Musician:
Being introduced to music as a child would prove to be key when it came to Samuel’s career. For Samuel, becoming a musician was the best way to be a critical thinker and express his thoughts freely. He learned that music would allow him to be fearless even at the young age of 6, when he performed in front of everyone in his school even when the music stopped. Being a musician, however, was not solely decided by his experiences with music but also due to the fact that he had role models that inspired him to pursue this career. Hearing music from certain artists that he looked up to, which Samuel described, showed him how music has a way of creatively invoking deep emotions, thoughts, and feelings, and increased his interest in music and the curiosity that comes with that. While he was unable to get an academic experience with music, Samuel clearly exemplifies how one’s childhood and role models can teach and inspire a musician to lead a career in music.
For Samuel, the most rewarding part of his journey is knowing that music will always be a permanent fixture in his life. He thrives on the constant curiosity and discovery driven by this ever-evolving art form. He shared in his own experience that “I'm a very visual person, so for me, being able to connect the visual world of thought and imagination with sounds and rhythms in songs is something that really excites me.”
About His Music:
His band, Yaguarandi, has a main style of music that can be described as Spanish rock, which is quite literally what it would sound like: the blend of rock with region-specific sound. He feels it is often based on multiple facets of expression such as poetry and socio-cultural criticism.
Being born in Santo Tomás La Unión, Suchitepéquez, would become a strong influence on his music today, shaped by multiple formative moments. Growing up hearing the marimba and having “access to musical expressions of Mayan origin that [he] used to hear at the patron saint festivals in the town” emphasizes how the strong Mayan culture in Guatemala positively impacted his music and musical journey. Of course, where you live can profoundly impact what music you listen to and, if you do, make. For Samuel, moving to the United States at 25 increased the amount of Western influence in his music, but he shared that Western music had already shaped how songs were structured even when he lived in Guatemala.
Some Final Thoughts:
“Believe in yourselves and your ideas, without forgetting that there's a very diverse and varied community on the other side, to avoid frustration. Play and share your music whenever possible. Take advantage of the tools available today to promote your work; this implies a bit of responsibility to learn to be versatile and multifunctional.
It's important to adapt to new forms and systems. Benefit from the access to information available today to gain more useful knowledge and practical tools to produce and share your music with others. Value what truly motivates you to want to make music. And most importantly, use every opportunity and experience as a learning model, without the urgency of reaching a specific point, because in the end, all paths are beautiful and productive if we learn.
Where to find Yaguarandi’s Music:
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