Made In America: Katzu Oso
Special Feature by Sergio C. Muñoz at Intelatin, LLC
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In this special Made in America feature, I sat down with Katzu Oso, aka Paul Hernández, for his zillenial perspective on Prosperity. As one of the Cosmica Artists, I was interested in understanding Paul’s story as an entrepreneur and his vision for his business. When asked if he was ready to scale, Paul said, without hesitation, “A Toda Madre!” When asked to expand on the thought, he said: “All Gas and No Brakes!”
Wil Dog, as one of the co-founders of Ozomatli, has generated tens of millions over the course of thirty years as a business. He has also been able to invest his gains in other businesses that have made hundreds of millions. Gil Gastelum, as founder of Cosmica Artists, has also generated tens of millions for artists worldwide like Lila Downs and Carla Morrison. Oftentimes, when young musicians start out, the world doesn’t see them as entrepreneurs with a guitar in the same way that they see Silicon Valley types with their keyboards. I hope to change that perspective with my work. To watch the video on Youtube click here.
Katzu Oso
Sergio: How do you identify?
Mexican American. Latino. My dad was born here but raised in Cuernavaca and my mom was born in Michoacán. I wasn’t born in Mexico. I wish I was born in Mexico. I was raised in Montebello and I live in Long Beach now. I want to go to Cuernavaca to record in my grandma’s house. Cuernavaca is the land of eternal Spring and I like that, my music is like that, even when it’s sad, it’s still happy music.
Sergio: Please describe your childhood home?
Growing up, I was raised in a two bedroom home in Montebello. Two younger brothers, an older sister and an older step brother. We are all different. There is big age gap between us. There was nothing out of the ordinary in my childhood. I lived up the street from my school. it wasn’t a wealthy home growing up. We struggled a bit. At the age of twelve, my parents got a divorce and we began moving around a lot and at one point we started living in a garage in the city of Commerce. I think it was those times, now thinking about it, that really made me who I am. I think that’s when I started to vent and since I couldn’t afford therapy, I vented in my music. Instruments and Ableton became my way of expressing myself.
Sergio: Where did you find yourself on the economic spectrum?
There’s been a lot of ups and downs. My dad was in the Union. After the divorce, it was just my mom. We went from middle class to just above poverty. In the recession we were hit pretty hard. I am comfortable now but I always strive for more. I am not stressing right now and I feel like I am in a good place. After covid, I started my business, my company, for my music.
Sergio: What do you perform as a musician?
I used to just focus on guitar at first but in high school, I began to play everything. I was in high school indie bands but we didn’t do much beyond backyard shows. When I was 17, I decided to go full throttle. I want to write all my songs, record them and release them without having to wait on anybody. Both of my first songs were picked up by Soundcloud. When I started Katzù Oso, I played all the instruments and I liked doing it all. It’s not that I don’t need other musicians but I like not having anybody tell me what to do and I don’t like having people cripple my creativity. Amantes is the second single off my second full length album that is coming out next month. It is called La Conexión. I can’t wait to try these songs with a live audience. I’m going out with a seven piece band.
Sergio: With the release of your next album, are you ready to scale your business?
I want to expand. All gas, no brakes. I really want to work on my marketing. I don’t want to just be comfortable. I am ready to scale. I want to tour more and release more music. Go a toda madre. There’s a lot of different genres on my album, Ska, Latin Pop, Cumbia… I used to be in different scenes and they all contribute to all the different sides of me. The songs may be different but they flow really nicely together, like an extension of me.
Sergio: Tell me about your home now?
I needed to get out of Montebello and LA in general and I moved to Long Beach. I have a big creative house. Long Beach has really nice neighborhoods and it’s super chill but oftentimes, I feel out of place.
Sergio: I want to come back to us, Latinos, as an economic community, tell me your thoughts about us….
Latinos, we are very prideful, very, cómo se dice, we might not be rich but we have the amor and the community to back it up. Economically, especially in deep East LA and Boyle Heights, we don’t get much love. When I am in Boyle Heights, there is no Trader Joes or Whole Foods. There aren’t a lot of healthy options for us and I remember growing up, since we had limited money, we had to settle on McDonalds. There are little pockets throughout LA where you can see that there are placements in society that forces us into poverty, or at least in not so rich areas. Growing up, I felt that way. It became a part of me. I almost don’t want to leave it. When I am in East LA, in Commerce, I see modern struggle and people hustling on the street. Seeing that is what made me write these songs. I am very hopeful romantic. I am all about longing. It’s about wanting something that you may not be able to have.
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