Sometimes unplanned opportunities present themselves in life. It is up to the person to latch onto these opportunities and make the most of them. When musicians Carlos Garza and Philip Baugh agreed to help Aaron Gonzalez with a live show back in 2015, none of them knew how much that would change their lives. Now, Corusco is coming back home November 30 to the city that brought them together.
Gonzalez refers to the forming of Corusco as an accident; Garza and Baugh were just random people he knew from the Bryan Music Center. From the moment they first played together, each member knew they wanted to do this for a long time. “These guys were helping me with a live show here in Bryan three years ago,” says Gonzalez. “We realized how much we love playing together.” The band consists of Gonzalez – lead guitarist and singer, Carlos Garza – drums, and Philip Baugh – lead bass. “I feel lucky I fell into this situation where I can play the way I want,” says Carlos Garza. Originally, Garza was planning on becoming an engineer, but he never felt right heading down that road.
Since then, however, the growth of the band has taken countless hours of hard work. “We’ve been on the road a significant amount of time going from city to city,” says Gonzalez. With all that time on the road, not only have they developed and grown as a band, they have grown as friends, too. Before 2015, Gonzalez described the relationship of the members as that of “acquaintances.” He says they have grown as people together more than anything else. This has lead Corusco to mold the message portrayed in their music.
“To hope when hope is not a proper response is an important message to put out to the world,” says Gonzalez. The name ‘Corusco’ is a Latin word that translates to “I shine, I quiver, I shiver.” Gonzalez feels that their music strongly portrays how the emotions of pain and love go hand in hand in life. In fact, the first recording Corusco ever did, “Don’t Give Up,” was written by Gonzalez when he had lost his best friend and found the love of his life in the same weekend.
“I have never been around a group of people that are as passionate about music as these guys are,” says Garza. The group is all about the intensity and vulnerability their music comes with. One second a song will be quiet and intimate, then immediately switch to loud and chaotic.
With the passion Corusco has for their music comes the joy fans bring to them. “My favorite moment was a basement concert we did in Lowell, Massachusetts,” says Gonzalez. “It was completely packed from front to back, and the crowds were just moshing to our music like crazy. That is the farthest we have ever been from home. It was unbelievable to go so far and have people interact with our music.”
Garza had a different approach to his favorite moment. He explained his favorite moment was the first time they performed in Bryan, and everyone knew the words to their songs. It was “humbling” to him that people from home really cared about what they were doing. “There is nothing like performing [in Bryan],” says Gonzalez. “It’s so nice to play in a place where everyone knows your name personally.”
Corusco will be performing songs from their newest LP, “WAKE,” at the Grand Stafford Theater November 30. Look forward to hearing deep, hard-hitting songs such as “Daughter” and crazy, energetic songs such as “Burn Out Loud.”
Tickets can be found on the GST website.
