Salinas Underground

James Mena is a very creative and motivated content creator from Salinas. You have probably seen him on your Explore page. If you haven't, you will soon. He is also a co-host on the Stay Low Podcast, the sports show of Salad Bytes Media. This week, we turned the mic around on him and asked him about how he started his content creation journey and what was next for him. 

The election has changed the makeup of the city council, with some new and old faces taking the lead in Salinas. They take over a city on the brink of a significant transformation. One of the largest Amazon warehouses in the world is going up on one edge of town. Across town on the Northside, houses are finally being built north of Boronda Rd. Also, after hearing that the Parade of Lights might not happen this year, the city came together and is back on. This year's edition will wind through Oldtown on Sunday, December 1.

Cary Swensen is an educator who has ideas for making affordable housing more accessible to Salinas citizens. She plans to use her educational background and transparency to come up with unique solutions to problems for a city with a limited budget. She sits down with us to tell us those plans and what she has been hearing from the people of District 3.

In 2020, Anthony Rocha was new to city politics, but he was not inexperienced. He is back this year to tell us why he thinks he deserves another four years on the city council. He talks about the projects he is proud of and his plans for a second term. District 6 will soon be surrounded by thousands of new houses and has some of the busiest roads in town. Listen to his plans for the future of his district.

In 2020, Orlando Osornio was new to the local political scene. Four years later, he is running for re-election of the same position. He sits down to discuss his plan for another four years on the council. He also talks about what he least expected when he was first elected and the problems he hears from his constituents in District 4.

For several years, Artists Ink has been hosting a really cool event called "Artist Alley" during the monthly Art Walk in Oldtown Salinas. Long-time listeners of the show will also have heard some interviews we have done on location at the event itself. This event is much larger and is hosted at Sherwood Park. Dozens of local artists set up their work, bands are playing on the stages, and plenty of food vendors keep everyone's bellies full. It is a fun event that showcases how much local artistic talent we have. I ended up chatting with a Salinas-based writer named Ricardo Ibarra about his first book, "El Chico Infinito," trying to find other like-minded people in a small town and being a Mexican-born writer living in the United States. Most of the interview is in Spanish, so some of you might have to bust out Google Translate to understand it completely.

Nobody wants to talk about it, and everyone seems to have the wrong opinion, but election season is back in Salinas. Also, several new businesses are coming to the mall that will attract customers of all ages. How can Oldtown compete with the millions of dollars being poured into the mall?

Sal Rodriguez and his cousin Gabriel Barboza are on a mission to change people's lives in a unique way. Listen to their story, which started out in the Salinas Valley and then led them all over the world, all while they gained new experiences. Enter Scalp micro pigmentation, and Gabriel saw a vision of his future. He became a certified SMP artist and started a shop in Southern California. He soon called Sal, who enrolled in classes and became certified himself. They have a great story that has a lot of chapters left to be written. 

After his first sip, Fabian Torres fell in love with craft beer. That love of drinking it soon became a hobby of brewing at home. The step after the hobby was starting his own brewery, which he did when he founded First Gen Brewing. He recently came back home to Salinas after spending some time in Kalamazoo, Michigan, gaining more knowledge about the brewing industry. We sat down at a table at one of his pop-up events featuring his beer and food from Chef Alex. I talk with Fabian, his brother, and a couple of the attendees of this fun event on a sunny afternoon in Salinas.

Recently, the Salinas community lost a big pillar with the passing of Sergio Alejo, the owner of Stonies Taphouse. We were fortunate enough not only to know him personally, but back in 2020, we were able to get him into the studio so he could tell his story in his own words.  This episode originally came out on January 10, 2020.

Local journalism has been struggling for years now, and we have not escaped that issue here in Salinas. We certainly do not consider ourselves journalists, but we think it is important to talk about other issues happening in town that sometimes don't get the time they deserve. With that, we are introducing "SUP Independent" a once-a-month episode where we talk about the nuts and bolts of the city. From new businesses to sidewalk and road repair, this is all that stuff we don't talk about but is so important to the function of our city. In this episode, we discuss potential new restaurants opening in town and the revitalization of the old El Rey Theatre in OIdtown.

Colin St. John is an old friend of the podcast and a veteran of the local theatre scene. He will be directing Enchantrix Theatre's rendition of the classic Little Shop of Horrors for the next four weekends. They are transforming a circus tent-esque space in Moss Landing into their version of Skid Row, including the famous hungry plant. This is a great chance to see an American classic. If you have never had the experience or if you have seen it before come watch it again so close to the ocean that you can hear the whales arguing outside.

Ruby Esperanza started Sol Y Plumas after a career in social work as a way for people to get more out of their lives. Throughout her life, she has found herself in situations where she was able to help others. Sometimes, it was financial help, sometimes it was family help, and even other times, she was there to offer some spiritual help to those who needed it. She is a highly motivated individual who makes the most out of the 24 hours in a day. This conversation will have you wanting to go out for a hike or maybe start that business you have been thinking about.

Jose Luis Barajas and Ruby Salazar are the President and Vice-President of the Salinas Valley Young Professionals, a group that empowers local young professionals by connecting them and educating them on what it takes to grow as a leader. They put on networking events all over the Salinas Valley to bring together people with similar ideas to help bring them to reality. If you are a young professional looking for like-minded people to hang out with and brainstorm, check out their next event!

Sal, or Chava, is a local content creator that has tried more local coffee than most people in the 831. He took the social isolation of COVID and decided to go with an idea that had been kicking around his mind for a while, start a clothing brand. But what do you do when you have an idea that's bigger than your current budget? You hustle. That is where the idea for the one-sip coffee reviews came from. Two years later, he has added more shows and is covering more and more local events through Casa SBS Media.

The modern history of Alisal dates back to the first post office, which was built in 1866. It grew alongside Salinas until 1964, when the voters of Alisal joined their neighbors to the west and became East Salinas. This vote may not have passed were it not for the influential voice of a tough Italian lady named Virginia Rocca Barton. She came to Salinas as a 23-year-old teacher and transformed the Alisal School District into one of the most progressive in the state. This is the fascinating story of how two communities came together as one and how one person can make all the difference.

Some know him as Lombriz, others call him Werm, and others call him The Essence Music. We got him in the studio to talk about himself if you don't know who he is. If you want to see the artist at work you can find him every Wednesday evening at XL Publichouse hosting a weekly vinyl night. That event is one of the best places in the 831 to find and listen to rare music. 

Rose also known as DivineGoddess33 on TikTok does makeup tutorials, unboxing videos and so much more! She comes to the studio to tell us about her journey and how she went from the stage to making her own content to share with the world.

Mialana is a recording artist who first got a taste of the stage when her high school production of Grease needed another singer. Three years ago, she started writing and performing her own music. She writes from the heart, so many of her songs are more like journal entries that she shares with the world. She is a young singer with a lot of potential, and if you live in Salinas, you can probably see her live really soon. 

The story of Oreez started in the 831 and then took him around the West Coast but he is back home and is in the studio to tell us his story. From discovering Hip Hop to jumping on stage for the first time at the last minute, these are only the early chapters of his story.