Outsiders Journey

Some Of Us Can't Do "Normal"

OJ Pod: EPI-23: Oz And Orlando-Art For Puerto Rico

Oz And Orlando: Songs For Puerto Rico

Puerto Rican brothers Osvaldo and Orlando Marmolejos crossed paths with me at a less than desirable moment in each of our lives.

We all made it out of that situation but not before we became friends.

We became friends because we each realized that there was a depth of thought and a sharing of life purpose in the others that made us fellow travelers.

Fellow Outsiders.

The very last time I saw them in that setting, we decided that this podcast interview should happen.

These young guys have far reaching plans that focus on personal evolution and love of community

They come from an interesting background:

  • Homeless for a time
  • Separated from one another for almost ten years
  • Raised by a dad who hammered sales techniques into their young minds
  • Taught strict discipline by their mom
  • And have lived in both their homeland of Puerto Rico as well as the States, giving them a more worldly view than many the same age can attest to

They’re hard workers with huge dreams!

The name of their musical group is Silver Back Noise and they coproduce it with their cousin, Antonio Marrero

I feel very fortunate that I got to meet and then interview them.

The talk went well, all things considered:

  • This was Kenny’s first podcast guest(s) interview
  • The technical side of things was not in order
  • One recording device failed me yet I was smart enough to have a second one running alongside it
  • I didn’t properly figure for voice loudness, be it too much or too little
  • My throat was destroyed from screaming at my son’s football game days earlier
  • In post production, where I could have improved upon the loudness issues…I forgot to
  • I still spoke more than I meant to
  • I forgot to get a picture of me and the boys while we were all together (for this blog post)

But I/We Did The Damn Thing!

And that’s a giant victory!

This was a first for us both and we made a run at it, shitty technical results or not.

I stress the tech portion of that complaint because the human side of the story telling was pure gold!

The Brothers Mamolejos of Silver Back Noise
The Brothers Mamolejos of Silver Back Noise
We had a great warm up meet before the machines got turned on and I swear, we should have started recording right from the beginning.

Each party was a little self conscious about doing the interview well. I could sense it from them and felt it clear as fuck in me.

But we did it. And great info and emotions were shared.

We all parted ways feeling we’d done some great work. And I’m proud of us all.

You listen and see if you feel the same. And come back later because we’re already planning to share not only more of their story, but their friends’ stories as well!

Sponsor:

Family Network Chiropractic: NSA Chiropractor Kingston, NY

Key Points:

  • Stay open and say “hi” more often. You never know who the people are who can move your whole game forward, or where you’ll find them.
  • Never give up on your dreams
  • Design intelligent business templates but feed them by focusing on helping others instead of making the sale
  • Even when life’s bad, there is good that can come from it
  • Don’t waste time. It’s all you really have.
  • Some people are fortunate enough to build a really great thing with their family as team members
  • Hurricane Maria just recently took their grandfather away from them (The whole island is still hurting as of this date)
  • Oz and friends crashed in the penthouse of the man who signed off on the design of the largest shopping mall in Puerto Rico
  • Orlando builds out this dream in large part to be a great dad to his daughter (I met her. Scary smart little girl for her age!)
  • The brothers are all about art, giving back, and community growth
  • In comparison to what I was doing at their age (stellar work in the dual fields of alcoholism and drug use), the boys are decades ahead of me in the race to success!

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