Bio:
Son of a jazz guitarist, El Poeta's love for music began as his father serenaded his pregnant mother with "Quiet Nights by Quiet Stars."?

Musically driven by his family and encouraged to take piano lessons as a child, Poeta managed to perform at several recitals before his teachers discovered he did not know how to read and had in fact been playing by ear the whole time. ??

A self-taught guitarist, El Poeta spent his teen years wood shedding with an acoustic guitar and in the tradition of his native blood, studied percussion under a Santero; striving to understand the dynamics of rhythm's ancient frameworks in order to one day incorporate the secrets of clave in his own music. ??

After a period of DJ and live P.A. performances in the '90s, El Poeta focused on his own music by exploring the fusion of recording random sounds with instruments, then layering them with computer edited sequences. ??With no formal outline or approach he retreated to the bedroom studio for several years...patiently cultivating his own distinct sound; a melting pot of jazz-funk, nufolk with lush avant-garde minimalism and off clave beats. The fruits of this journey can be heard in the indie-electronic swirlings and flamenco sketches of El Poeta's debut EP Musically Speaking, released in June of 2005 by Imputor? Records.

El Poeta moved to Tijuana in the winter of 2005 and immediately joined the ranks of the RadioGlobal DJs, performing at several monthly events and collaborating with the locals. With more and more artists reaching across the international divide, El Poeta and friends formed the Borders Collapse movement --- a non-profit organization dedicated to the cross-pollination of musical culture through a series of events at venues in San Diego & Tijuana. This has created a porthole into the US specifically for cutting edge electronic musicians from Mexico to share their music. After a period of over a year and several memorable events, Borders Collapse was put on hiatus in late Summer 06'.

Now, due to popular demand, Tom Burbank / El Poeta / dj Jon Baker / vj Shikaku and Borders Collapse is back as the BC Sound System. Their Visit borderscollapse.org for more information.

Now back stateside, he has taken a more influential role in the brokenbeat network as they continue to provide alternative night life experiences for the people of San Diego.

El Poeta is currently working on Dub Traffik Control; a dub dream team comprised of Eddie Turbo (re:up), Tom Burbank (planet-mu), Cochemea Gastelum (Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, Budos Band, etc) & reggae luminary Euvin Spencer aka Don Carlos. The 1st in a custom cassette tape series; 'Dub Traffik Control: Dub One' about to drop in support of the samurai.fm podcast & the Dub Traffik Control.

El Poeta is putting the finishing touches on the avante-folk expedition formatively titled, Save Changes?, a homage to the grueling lessons behind love lost, hard drive crashes and the importance of backing up data. The cd was selected by RE:UP Magazine
He can also be heard live every Friday 12-2pm pst on radioglobal.org for the 'El Poeta Presents' with in-studio performances, artist interviews as well as a mix of past, present & future music. If you missed the show, it will be podcasted from elpoeta.org