Javier Sandoval and his younger brother grew up in a homeless shelter created for single mothers. He loved it there, especially on Thanksgiving, when he got to enjoy tacos, jambalaya, and some Indian dish he can’t pronounce. Inspired by his mom, he earned a full-ride to Brown University, but dropped out his second week to build a tech company invested in by Microsoft.
Javier has co-authored 2 Billion Under 20 (St. Martin’s Press, May 2015) and has had fiction published in The Clarion Content and Silver-Tongued Magazine. However what we’re really interested about here is the audio story and original sound track to, “The Cock Fight”, adapted from the recently published novella, “Cicada, Ladybug”, written by Sandoval himself. “The Cock Fight” is narrated by Javier Sandoval, while the music is produced by Jake Spitzer.
CICADA, LADYBUG is about teenaged Santiago and seven-year-old Izzy’s fear of being separated after their grandfather goes missing. In order to raise his little brother, Santiago sacrifices a scholarship to Duke and often outwits Immigration Control. But when Izzy fights a classmate, Santiago struggles to teach him that real men avoid violence – without revealing his secret: to provide for him, he has joined MS-13, America’s most dangerous gang.
Though the storyline is broadly extracted from CICADA, LADYBUG, “The Cock Fight” is an entity unto itself, able to stand alone as a creative expression. Moving between synthesized and organic instruments the music plays like an ever-changing ambient backdrop to Javier’s spoken words. Much like a movie soundtrack accompanies the visuals, Jake Spitzer’s music ventures through lightly attenuating rhythms, moods and sound sculptures. Never inundating the aural spectrum but always supporting Sandoval’s voice expressions. The creators are also proud of the fact that they used only one sample in the entire score – a cricket sound – that is subtly evident throughout the soundtrack.
Javier Sandoval’s narration is a realistically gripping and emotional description of “The Cock Fight”. Littered with metaphors and sometimes gruesomely graphic detail, Sandoval’s teenage Mexican protagonist, takes us through an impassioned and highly-charged chapter of his journey. So the pronunciations, inflections and oral inclination reflect those of his protagonist.
Obviously the spoken word put to music is not everybody’s cup of tea , but Javier Sandoval and Jake Spitzer do an admiral job of making it as enjoyable as possible. Everything on this audio story is very intense and this album shows a whole new dimension to the writer Sandoval, who honestly confessed about how he managed to successfully complete the narration. “I was so self-conscious about hearing my voice, I had to get tipsy to record!” said Javier.
Listen to this when you are in an introspective and reflective mood and appreciate what Javier Sandoval and Jake Spitzer have achieved for a genuine love of music and literature.
OFFICIAL LINKS: CICADA, LADYBUG – THE COCK FIGHT – TWITTER
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