Once in a while, a band comes along. And they may not be a part of the rich and famous, but they still manage to become a piece of childhood, of life. A Malta, which is Portuguese for “the group” or “the gang,” is a Portuguese band from Artesia, who is all about promoting who you are and valuing where you came from.
The 11-member band is all of Portuguese decent and feels that part of itsresponsibility as a band is to keep its culture alive. Chris Lucas, who plays guitar in A Malta, feels that “as the son of an immigrant, there’s a tendency for the culture to die out and for every one to homogenize to American society and as American born citizens, it’s really important for us to keep our culture alive.”
A Malta started to pave it’s own road when a group of friends all got together at a party and thought it would be fun to start a band. Although most of them were already involved with the Portuguese community with folklore (Portuguese folk dancing), and the band at the Portuguese Hall in Artesia, they all felt that they wanted to do their own thing. Eddie Quaresma, a Cerritos College student majoring in International Business, was among the original group of people invited to start the band. “I was at a party and one of the guys came up to me and said, ‘hey we’re starting a band! You should join.’ I was pretty proudthat they even thought of me,” Quaresma said.
“I’ve played the saxophone since I was nine years old. It just made a lot of sense to be involved in something that has always been my passion,” Quaresma said.
And so it began that in January 2000, A Malta began to practice for what was intended to be, just for fun. But as time went on, things began to get a little more serious than any of them planned. The band realized that some members were more dedicated than others. So a decision was made to replace some members of the band. Jason Machado, one of the lead singers for the band, said, “It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. We were friends first and we didn’t want to hurt our friendship.” But they took it all in stride and continued on with the music.A new addition was added to the band in December 2001. Julie Santos, asuccessful transfer student from Cerritos College who is now a Geriatric Nurse Practitioner in training at UCLA, joined as the new lead singer for A Malta.
Julie, a trained singer, was asked to perform at Jason’s sister’s wedding. And although Malta had just gotten over a turbulent time, they couldn’t help but be amazed at Santos’ voice. “She definitely was the element that completed us,” said Quaresma.
“I agree,” added band member Abel Dutra, “We were established, but Julie just put us over the top! She gave us a chance to add more diversity to our music.”
For Santos, this was something she always wanted to do. “Being older than them was a little intimidating. I kind of worried about what people were going to say. They accepted me very well though. They welcomed me and made me immediately feel like I had always been a part of the group.” A Malta continued to grow, playing at weddings, Portuguese festivals (called “festas”), and at conventions.
They even started a successful website and started to sell T-shirts. Yet along with popularity came rumors. People started to say that the members of the band were “conceited” or had “bad attitudes.” All band members make it very clear that this is not true. “We are not in this for the money and we are not into ourselves either. We aren’t out to hurt anyone, we are just in this to play music and have fun,” said band member Wesley Freitas.
Erica Mendes, a Cerritos College student trying to accomplish her teaching degree, was among the first to hear the band at a festival in the Portuguese Hall in Artesia. “They are a group of musically talented guys who’s energy and enthusiasm have resulted in the crowd having a good time at their performances,” commented Mendes. Although the groups main priority is to keep their culture alive, the glue that holds this band together is friendship. Mostly all the members have grown up together.
“We’re more of a family than we are a band,” Quaresma says “we’ve been friends for years before this. Friendship is key.” That is the one word that is repeated from all 11 members mouths when asked how this band was started. Friendship.
So what does A Malta hold in store for the future? “I hope that we stay friends and that none of this turns for the worst. It’s all for the better and the right reasons. Hopefully we’ll continue to be a group of friends until we’re all career oriented professionals” Lucas says. “While you’re young, live life to it’s fullest. For us music is a release. We love performing. That’s it. We just love it,” said Santos. For more information on A Malta, you can go to their website at AMaltaMusic.com
