WITH NANCY LAFLIN
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SFR: Were you surprised when the governor tapped you for this new position as the head of the new New Mexico Music Commission?
NL:
Was I surprised? No, because I approached him about it. I read about it in the paper, I think it was January, and then I started researching it. And then I started making phone calls.
What was his reaction when you first approached him?
Very positive. I didn't cover a lot of politics [Laflin was a news anchor at KOAT TV for several years] but I had dealt with him and he said all his experiences hiring journalists have been good. In my experience, you work your tail off as a journalist, so you're used to hard work.
The governor's office issued a statement that the main goal of the Commission is to "preserve, protect and promote New Mexico musicians…"
[Laflin's cell phone rings] Oh, I'm so sorry…
That's OK. What song is that on your cell phone?
I know what it is and I don't want to tell you…it's ABBA.
Excellent! That's going in the interview for sure.
No! It's not my phone! It's a borrowed phone!
Anyway, what specific ideas do you have in terms of fulfilling the governor's goal?
First thing we want to do-and this is just from brainstorming sessions that we've had and from talking to music commissioners from other states, New Orleans and Austin, Texas-you start with a Web site and find all the businesses that need musicians, and then you find all the musicians that need work, or that want to work, and you list them on your Web site. Any events that are coming up, you put that up, any recording studios, you put that on your Web site. And then I have some other ideas, and this is where the media part comes in. When I was working in San Antonio, there was a local musician there and he took this song-you know the song "Hey, Baby, Que Paso?"-and he turned it into a theme song for San Antonio and used it with the tourism industry. He changed all the words to fit to promote San Antonio. And I thought that'd be fun, to have a competition for a state theme song with all different cultures-Native American, Hispanic, just all different cultures. That's just one idea. And another was to have an artist of the week. And that's the starting point, just getting out of the gate.
Is this going to be a commission that's focusing mainly on traditional New Mexican music?
You know what the cool part of our state is? It's multi-cultural. So, look at the Clovis area, where they have such a country-western influence there, and then northern New Mexican music, and then southern-we have all different aspects. And we have some pretty big names that have come out of our state too. We're multi-cultural, there's no favoritism, at least from where I stand.
Have you heard of the Shins? If we take them as a case study, what could a music commission do for a band like that? For the next Shins that's just starting out and has the potential to be that successful?
Promoting them. Because they've been on some national shows. Letting the media know, so the media can get that out there. Letting people here know. And, you know, I'd love to talk to them and get their input. Because I know a lot of people who are musicians here who go elsewhere.
The Shins are also highlighted on the Garden State soundtrack. How we could swing that attention back to New Mexico, because everyone thinks they're from Portland?
No, they're from New Mexico. There's
so
much talent here. I've been doing this on the side for a long time, music on the side for charities, anyone who needed help promoting things. About a year and a half ago a social worker asked if I would make a CD of lullabies for pregnant teens, so when they deliver they can walk out with a CD and hopefully sing to their babies, and I didn't even know where to start [in New Mexico]. In Texas I knew what to do but here I didn't know what to do, so just through word of mouth I got in touch with a guy who owns a recording studio in the South Valley, and then he introduced me to all these musicians, and some of these people are so talented, and I thought people should know about them. And that's just one small group that I met.
You can probably tell from my hair, I'm kind of a rocker, I want rock promoted. So I'm concerned that since you're a singer of lullabies…
Oh no, that's just what they asked me to do. I normally don't sing lullabies. Normally I'm more of like a Bonnie Raitt-type-I have such an eclectic taste in music.
Do you have an iPod?
No, I don't-you know, all I did for the past 17 years was work! I do not have an iPod.
What do you have in your CD player right now?
Oh, I can't say that! You'd be mortified: It's a mix of '70s tunes a friend of mine made me.
But the '70s are back right now, so you're in good shape.
Yes, thank God.
