Francis Mercier's conversation with MOPERC Collaborative artist, Poncho Sanchez.

Francis

Hey, Poncho, welcome to our interview series that we're making with a couple of Moperc artists. First of all, I want to thank you, man, for all the support you've given me. I remember the phone call four years ago from Chris Hart at Remo when he told me that you were trying to reach us at Moperc, and once you and I connected, the advice you gave me over the next couple weeks has proven to be an incredible boost to my career. So thank you very much, Poncho.

Poncho

Oh, thank you, Francis and it's an honor and pleasure to be with you. And yeah, don't forget about Joey Sevilla, man. Joey is the one that actually showed me your drums! I forgot that I had met Michel Ouellet in Canada. 20 years ago! I even visited the factory in Danville after Michel saw me play at the Montreal Jazz Festival. I told him that I had never seen his drums or played them and he reminded me “ Remember, I brought those bongos?” And I said: “Ohh man, now I remember you!” So that was way back when, at least 20 years ago, you know, maybe longer. And so it's really great that now we're family and I'm very excited to be with the great company of Moperc and and every time I turn around you're doing things better. I remember the very beginning. It was you, by yourself. Well, I felt sorry for you. You used to work from sunup to sundown. You know what I mean.

So I'm glad those things are coming together a lot better for you.

Francis

Well, you know, you’re proof that collaboration is not just about business, it's about friendship. And personally, when you look at this, so many great things have happened to me, like going to California to meet with you guys, and Joey becoming one of my best friends. We've been to REMO, “the motherland” that started all of this. We've been to many places together and that's just the beginning, man. So I'm really, really happy.

Poncho

Thank you. Thank you very much. You're welcome.

Francis

Poncho, you've been doing this for a long time, what's the most important thing you want to share with people when you play? What message do you want to share through your drumming, through your music?

Poncho

Well, for me, Francis, it's important to me. I never got into this business to be famous or to be rich; most jazz artists are not rich, you know. I'm considered to be a Latin jazz artist and we do a little bit of salsa music and a little soul music too, that's just part of my life. I've been playing congas for many, many years. I started playing when I was in 10th or 11th grade in high school and I just turned 71 years old last month.

Ever since I was a little boy I loved the sound of the conga drums, the timbales and the bongos, and so as I got older and got into high school, my father and I went in together to buy a set of pawn shop congas. They were cheap and not very good, but they were new and they were mine, and even though I didn't know much more than one conga was tuned higher than the other, the feeling that I got when I first played them was so natural. It felt natural on my hand when I hit the drum, and once I learned to get the pop or the slap out of it, it just all fell in place. Doom. Doom. TAAA! I felt it in my body when I hit the thing right. You know what I mean? It only took me about a week to figure out just how to get those sounds out of the conga drum. And, thinking about it, I guess that was pretty fast! I love the way it made me feel and it's important that people know that the conga drums have a spirit. They have a spirit in them. There is a Soul there and you need to respect it. Treat it correctly, it can take you to amazing places. It's how I got to where I am today.

The drum is alive, especially MOPERCs. You guys are using natural wood, real wood drums with real rawhide heads and that is important. But the other thing that is very important to me is that you use stainless steel. Stainless steel will last forever, you know, and like I said, MOPERC congas have a lot of soul and if you treat them correctly and nurse them correctly, they will grow with you and they'll never let you down. Even in bad times when you feel low and down, you can play the conga drum and it brings you up. It gives you good energy.

So yeah, to me, all those things are important but then, then to play for a crowd! To play for an audience! Of course, when I first started, the crowds were small, young people. You know? And then we started getting bigger crowds, older people, and nowadays I play for everybody. I play for every race, color; I play in many, many different countries, from Thailand to Japan to Africa to Mexico, we play all over the world and there's no better feeling than to see and experience a satisfied audience. They're excited by the feelings in the spirit and the soul of the drums. It makes everybody happy.

You know, I got to tell a story that has happened more than once to me. I was back east somewhere at a concert we played in Philadelphia. Big concert hall. It was on a Friday night and after I performed and all my concert people had left the concert hall, Larry Sanchez, my sound engineer for 35 years, came up to me and said, “Poncho, there's a guy out there asking if he can meet you.” I asked Larry, “what does he want?” and he said that “he just wants to talk to you,” so I said “OK, bring him in.”

So he brought him to my dressing room and the guy said “Poncho, thank you so much for allowing me to talk with you. You don't know me, but I just want to tell you one thing. I started a new job a couple of weeks ago and I’ve got a boss who's been horrible to me. He's been riding me for two weeks and I'm miserable, but I need the job and I gotta stay there. I bought these tickets to see you a month ago but I was so frustrated and depressed from work that I was not going to come to your concert even though I had tickets already.

”But somehow I got myself together and I went to your concert.” He goes “Poncho, I just want to thank you. Thank you! This is the best concert I've ever been to. I was so depressed when I walked in and now, I'm happy as can be, and I don't care about my boss right now.” So that's the spirit. That's the soul, the positive energy of a drum. Stories like that happened more than once to me and it lifts your soul, lifts your spirit. And so these are the things that are important to me, that the audience is receiving this energy and that they're happy and they leave happily. And so I think I've done pretty well with that.

Francis

Well, I guess that you already answered my next question because it also has to do with what keeps you motivated to continue doing this. Because you could probably just say, “I've played enough and now I'm going to retire.” But there's more to it, you know, it’s more than your business or it's more than your job. You need to keep playing to keep this thing alive, to keep receiving and transmitting the vibe.

Poncho

Yeah, you're right. That's exactly right! I can't stop playing even if I wanted to. You know, I thank the Lord above that me and my wife, Stella, are well off enough to where I could stop playing if I wanted, but I can't right now, and I won't because like I mentioned, even though I'm 71 years old now I still feel strong and healthy enough to perform.

Still, I've told my management that I want to slow down. I'm only doing two or three gigs a month now where before I was working five days a week - traveling all over the world, one airport to the next. I did that for about 45 years and that's a lot! You know it's a lot! So I'm trying to slow things down. I'm handpicking the gigs that I like, the festivals that I like and and trying not to do too much traveling. But you're absolutely correct, it’s the spirit of the drum and the feeling I get from playing drums. That's what keeps me going, that, and the satisfaction that I get from seeing the audience being satisfied when I perform.’

Francis

Your style is very recognizable. Which style do you incorporate into the music you write?

Poncho

I like all the old playing styles like the early Rumba stuff from the 50s and 60s and that great stuff that Mongo Santa Maria would do, Ray Barretto, Tata Guines, Patato Valdes, people like that. I like the traditional salsa music from the 50s, 60s and 70's, I really liked it a lot, you know. Ray Barretto's band. And Fania All Stars, I really like that period. Johnny Pacheco, all that stuff I really liked, you know. Follow Johnny Pacheco from when he first started with the charanga sound in the 60s into where he went into the conjunto sound with the trumpets and changed his style. So, you know, I have followed that music my whole career. Those are the styles that are important to me musically as well as Latin jazz, Cal Tdjader, Willie Bobo, Mongo SantaMaria. People like that I follow all those traditions and that's why I keep my band in the traditions of the Fifties, 60s and 70s. That's the tradition and style that I like, you know. All these things keep me going and I thank the Lord that I'm healthy enough to still perform right now. I still feel good.

Francis

That's great! Your stories are priceless! So I'm not sure we can talk about it, but I heard that you’re writing a book?

Poncho

Thank you, Francis. That's what I'm doing right now. There's a gentleman by the name of Ruben Hernandez who just so happens to be from Laredo, TX, where I'm from. I didn't meet him in Laredo but his father used to work for my father’s dry cleaners business in the late 40s and early 50s. We moved to California and I never met Rubin while I was in Laredo. But he came to one of my concerts and introduced himself and we found out what a small world it really is and we got along ever since. That was 30 years ago.

About four months ago, he came to one of my concerts and asked: “Poncho, have you ever thought of writing a book?” And I said “Yes, several times in the last 30 years, but I've always said ‘no’ because it's such a hassle. It's a lot of work, you know?” I told him that both my management teams had asked me if I felt like I needed to do a book, but I always declined. I just never liked the idea of some guy from New York calling me every day on the phone, you know, bugging me and getting in my business. I would get bored in a week and say, forget it.  

But Ruben persisted and asked if he could have a license to write it. I knew he was a school teacher but I didn't know he had the authority to write a book, but when he said, “Poncho, I would love to help you write a book." I agreed! Ruben is my friend. He's almost like family. That was four months ago and I haven't looked back.

Last night, we had a Zoom call and he told me we have 46 stories! That means 46 chapters in four months! So this thing is moving along like a steamroller. And it's coming along better than I thought and I'm excited every day to tell Ruben another story, you know? We're very excited. It'll probably be out late 2023, because there's still a lot of work left, pictures, publishing, printing and distribution, which Ivory Daniel, my manager, is working on. So there's a lot of things happening between the book, performing with my band and being part of Moperc congas.

Francis

What a great idea. I think it's the best thing you can do because just like your music, a book will stay forever for the next generations to come. And that's that's the legacy you're giving the music industry and to the Latin percussion scene. It's very important and I can't wait to read it.

Poncho

Thank you, man. Of course you know you got a book coming. I'll send you a couple of them, man, when they're done. But yeah, it's coming out excellent. I'm very, very proud to say that Ruben Hernandez and myself and my manager work every day to put this thing together and we're hoping to have it out late this year.

Francis

So now Poncho, I know you've been working with many great producers, artists and record companies. You've done what, about 30 records with one of the greatest record companies, Concord Records? And you've been in touch with many important people in the business and my question is: what's the best advice you've received in your musical career?

Poncho

Well, you know. That's a pretty difficult question, Francis. When I first started out it was much different than it is today. So I could only tell you the way I did it.

But when I first started, I was lucky enough to learn to play the drums well enough to where I got the gig with Cal Tjader, which was a dream come true for me because my older brothers and sisters had all his early recordings. They would see Cal Tjader play in Los Angeles when I was a boy, so for me to end up playing with his band was a dream come true for me and my brothers and sisters, they couldn't believe it. That I actually got the gig with Cal! So that was a blessing in itself.

But through Cal Tjader, I also got to meet the great pianist Claire Fischer. Claire was a harmonic genius, and he worked with everybody in the business. He was a great composer, writer and conductor, and he got me my first record contract with Albert Marx at Discovery records, here in Hollywood. I did my first two records with Discovery Records and I learned a lot on those, especially how to put a band together. When I recorded those two records I also learned a lot just by watching.

I also got very close to Mongo Santa Maria, Tito Puente and Willie Bobo. I used to ask them questions all the time when I would perform with them. I either played with their bands or they played with my band or we all played with Cal Tjader’s band, so I knew all these great giants in person. I developed a lot of knowledge through the masters. I didn't learn too much out of a book, especially in those days, they didn't have many books about playing or Latin jazz, but I learned through those great players and I’m grateful for that education!

It's important to say that Cal also got me the record contract with Concord Records six months before he passed away. I was still in Cal Tjader's band when he passed away from a heart attack in Manila. But he had already signed me up,and as of today, I've done 27 or 28 albums with the Concord Picante recording company, so you're absolutely correct, I've learned a lot from some very great people since 1975 when I joined the Cal Tjader band and you can hear many of them on my own records: Eddie Harris is on my records, Dianne Reeves us on my records Mongo, Santa Maria's on my record. Tito Puente is on my records Chick Corea is on my records. Ray Charles, he’s on my records. Billy Preston is on my records. I mean, Sam Moore from Sam and Dave, soul music. There is a wide variety of different artists that are guests on my record, and I learned something from every artist.

So it's been a long haul and it's been a very fulfilling life and career, and I've been blessed to perform, to meet and know all these people that I mentioned and so many more. But it was very different coming up the way I did than it is today. So the most important thing I would say to a young and upcoming musician is: you got to know your instrument. Whatever instrument you play, you have to know it very well. As a matter of fact, you got to know your instrument very, very well. I never learned to read or write music, and I do not advise anybody to try to do this without learning because it makes things much harder. There is a good chance of failing if you don't go to school, get private lessons, learn to play piano, learn the whole score and how to put a chart together. That's the way you have to go. Don't try it like me, because it's going to be too hard.

I was very lucky and blessed. Nowadays there's a lot of stuff that you can learn on the Internet, but be very careful because there's a lot of stuff on YouTube that's not right either. So you got to be very careful what you choose to listen and to learn from, but it's important that you learn, because if you do well enough to put your own group together do you have to be able to write charts, do arrangements and get your ideas onto paper so the other musicians who perform with you know the direction you want to go. So, you either do it yourself or have to have somebody to help you with that. Fortunately, Francisco Torres, Mark Levine, Charlie Ottwell, David Torres all helped me to chart out my ideas, And thank God I had a lot of them!

The other piece of advice is to get a good management team. It's hard to manage yourself. A professional management team knows the movements and the ways to go to build your career. And last but not least, if you have a nine-piece group like I have, and if you’ve got to travel all over the world, you better make sure you have somebody to help get good airline tickets, hotel rooms, meals and ground transportation, the list goes on and it's not easy but if I did it, you can do it. You know?

So these are some of the important things I would think about if I was gonna put a group together. Now a lot of people, to save money and to help them in their career, will hire a band. If, say, they're going to play in New York or in Canada or something, they'll hire a band there and, as a leader, then they'll come in and rehearse them for the show. And that's good if you want to do that, but I never liked that because there’s a lot to be said for having your own band, your own unit, your own way, very well rehearsed. It's just going to sound much better than getting a pickup band somewhere else, because when that happens, it ends up being a jam session on stage. I don't do jam sessions on stage, I have charts. I have tunes. And, I can perform for two or three weeks without even repeating a song. I have over 200 tunes in. My traveling book right now and you can’t do that with a pickup band.

Francis

Great repertoire

Poncho

I have a traveling book and I have another set of books here at my home with about 150 tunes. I have over 300 tunes to choose from so we won't play the same show night after night. You want to keep yourself happy and alive. You want to do new things and different things with each other. You know what I mean?

Francis

That's for sure. Well, personally the one of the greatest pieces of advice I received was from you one of the first times we talked on the phone. You told me that I gotta take it one step at a time. And a short phrase like that meant a lot. It meant Francis stopped working 12 hours a day, Francis started enjoying life by taking breaks, just chilling and taking care of my family and getting healthier because you can't do it all. And you also told me that if I don’t have a team I’ll be doing everything by myself which will only make me tired and liable to miss something important.

Poncho

And then the worst thing about that is that you could get sick. You know what I mean? Stress is not good for you, you know? So you've got to be careful because you could end up in the hospital because it was too much for you, you know. Then what? Now what are you going to do? So you take a step at a time, work on it, try to get people that gather around you like family. People, even if it's just one more. That person could help you a great deal and you can bounce off each other. That's how you do it. I I did that with my wife Stella. We just celebrated 50 years of marriage in July, so my wife still would help me a great deal to calm me down when I get upset over something. I had Charlie Otwell as a musical director for my band for 12 years, then David Torres for 20 years and now Francisco Torres is my MD. I bounce a lot of things off of my musical director because good stuff happens when two people collaborate.

Francis

And then I think the key is to get organized because when things are not organized it's really hard to give work to the people around you. There may be a lot of work, but if you're not organized enough to give part of your job to other people you end up doing everything by yourself. So I think that if you put everything together, organize,, take your time and be on top of it, you know you will get a lot more done.

Poncho

You have to be careful with the people you choose to be in your group, too, because, you know, some people could mess up your group. You know your thoughts or your career and the people you choose need to be on the same page. You know what I mean? There's good and bad out there all over the place, so you have to be careful. But I I think with those things said, that's how you develop something that's going to be successful and something that's going to be good.

Francis

My last question is the funniest one because it's impossible to to limit, but I'm asking each MOPERC artist to list their three favorite percussionists? Any kind of music. But it's kind of impossible for people to only mention three. When I asked (Poncho’s bongocero) Giancarlo (Anderson) how you might answer, he said: “That’s easy, I'm sure Poncho will say Mongo, Mongo and Mongo.”

Poncho

You're pretty close. Yeah. You know, of course, you know Mongo is number one with me because I love the way he sounded. He had a solid sound. I used to sit right in front of him at the Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach to watch him play when I was in high school. I was 4 feet from him and I could feel it. The power. When he hit the drum it was real, I could feel it in my body and I'd say: “ Wow, man, what a sound!” But you know what else? He had style and I love the style of music he played because he played a cross between Latin jazz, salsa and Afro Cuban music, Guaguancó and Rumba. Beautiful Latin jazz. So Mongo is. Is my all around number one, I would say.

I met Mongo when I was growing up and we became very, very good close friends and I named my oldest son after him. I have a son named Mongo. How much respect is THAT? And Mongo knew Monguito since he was a baby!

After that, it's hard to pick, but I love all the Cuban conga drummers that were in my time which were: Mongo, Candido, Patato, the great Armando Peraza on bongos, man! What a great bongo player, you know? Francisco Aguabella. I mean, I became friends with all of these people. And they were either special guests in my performances or I played with their band. It worked both ways with all these people.

So all the great Cuban percussion of my time. I respect and love, but Mongo is first. And then if I had to pick another one I like it would be Ray Barretto, you know. Ray, the New Yorican from New York and all the things he did. He always had great bands. Ray could organize and he knew music very well. All Ray’s bands were very professional, very tight. So, Ray Barretto is another one that I respect and like very, very much for many years. I got to know him well. He would sit in with us and I would sit in with his band, you know?

And then the other one, would be Patato. Little, small Patato man. Beautiful guy, but the guy was hard to understand, he spoke so fast, he spoke really fast. Even the guys in New York, like Dandy Rodriguez, who used to hang out with Patato, had a hard time understanding him. Sometimes when he would tell me something, I would ask Dandy what he said and Dandy told me nobody understands him. “Just say yes, just say “yes."

He was a great melodic conga drummer, very melodic. He was the first one to use two and three congas here, in the United States. He was very melodic, and Patato Valdes taught me how to tune my drums to E-G-C. Starting with the low Tumba at E, the middle to G, and the conga to C. Patato taught me how to do my drums that way, and he also taught me how to wear the Kangol caps correctly!  

One time we were playing together here in California. It was Tito Puente’s band, Cal Tjader’s band and Willie Bobo's band at same outdoor concert and Patato saw me wearing my white Kangol cap, and he was wearing a white one that day, but his look real puffy on the outside, like it was nice and full looking, very puffy and I thought it looked beautiful. It fit perfectly and it was nice and puffy. Mine was all blasted out, you know, it was all crushed to the sides and it didn't look as nice as his, but it was the same hat!

So I told him, “Man, how do you fix your hat to look so nice?” and he said, “Oye, Poncho, Come. Come,” and I go. Where are you going? He goes: “Come. Come.” So I started following him through a crowd of people. He was going to the restroom on the other side! And I'm going, “Why is he going to the restroom?” And he said “Poncho, Come. Come.” And I'm following and he went to the restroom and then he goes: “Come” and he goes to the restroom and goes into the stall, in where the toilets are, and I said: “I'm not going in there, man. What are you? What are you doing? I just asked you how do you fix your hat and you're taking me to the restroom?” And he said, “Give. Give me your hat. Give me your hat.” And he got the toilet paper out and he stuffed it all around the inside of the hat and he goes, “Put it on, put it on,” so I did and the hat looked beautiful! Man, he taught me to wear my hat correctly by stuffing toilet paper. So anyway, not only did he teach me how to tune my drums, he told me how to wear my hat correctly.

Francis

Yeah, man. Nice, nice stories. I mean, we could go through 40 chapters from your book and 40 more and that wouldn't be enough. So that's why it's a good thing that you're writing the book. Maybe a documentary will also be something else to do, man, because there's so much, so much footage out of shows from all around the world, there's plenty of material to do something. All those drummers and percussionists you mentioned. It's right there. You got so much information to listen to and to study for someone who wants to get into playing and learning about conga and percussion right there. There's a school right there.

Well, I've got a very, very last, and quick question and then we gotta go ‘cuz we got something else to do. You know, you're a busy guy.

Well my my question is what do you think sets Moperc apart from other companies, and I don't want to necessarily talk about other companies, but just what's the difference between the drums we make and the drums people can find in the stores?

Poncho

Well, of course. Very first thing I could say is: It is a Moperc drum! They are made to last. They’ll probably outlive you because they're put together that well. The drums are made correctly. You use the finest quality and that's why I'm with Moperc. You use the top notch quality wood and wood glue. Got to have the right glues to keep that drum together. We have experienced over all these years many other drum companies’ drums fall apart, you know, I mean, they crack easily, they come unglued. But not with Moperc. Moperc uses the highest finest quality equipment and woods and glues and skins and metals - stainless steel. That right there tells you that the drum is going to be very, very good.

And I know you've learned a lot, Francis, in the four or five years that you've been in charge, you've learned a lot how to make the drum correctly. And I know you're not going to go back to make a mistake. You're going to keep it top notch quality. You have fine quality control. You check the drums personally to make sure they're great before you send them out. It's very important that people know that Moperc only uses the finest quality materials and know-how to put a drum together and that is what makes the drum sound great. It has a natural, not synthetic, sound, because it's made with natural wood. And also, people can choose what wood they want. Every type of wood has a different sound. Some people want ash, some people want oak, some want mahogany, some want black walnut. They all have a little bit different sound, but they're all a professional quality sound and people have a choice.

Francis

That's true. I've learned a lot in this process, in almost five years. And I'm lucky to know that I I took over a company that was already making top quality. And I mean, Moperc had been making congas and bongos for 25 years before I took over. Michel Ouellet used to make very good drums from the very beginning so when I came in and took over the company all I could do was just keep doing the same quality or improve it. But I've been very careful with that. I'm changing certain things, but just to get more precise and more accurate and to make sure that if it's not the same, it's just better than it was. You know, there's always a place to go. I won't step back. I always step up, you know.

Poncho

We have to.

Well, like I've said before, I'm glad that Michel Ouellet picked the right guy to continue the company because he could have picked the wrong guy. Nobody knows what's going to happen. Nobody sees the future. You know, he could have picked the wrong guy and it could have been a mess, you know?

Francis

There's always room for improvement.

Poncho

Yes, and I'm sure that Michel is very proud of you because, Francis, I'm very proud of you. I'm glad and I know that you're doing an excellent job running the company and moving it forward. Michel started off with an excellent product and now you're continuing forward.

Francis

Well, thanks Poncho and all I can say is I wish you the best. I wish you good luck and success with your new book. Can't wait to hear the result. And I guess you're preparing an upcoming record and some other projects, so you never stop and that's what keeps you on the fight, man.

Poncho

Yeah, I'm not ready to stop yet. I got a few more years left, you know. But I'll let you know when.

Francis

Alright, thank you, Poncho. And we'll talk soon, man.

Poncho

Thank you, man. Thank you.