Meet the Uproar 2019 artists

Victoria Abella/Staff Writer

With Uproar just around the corner, here’s some background information to get to know some of the opening acts before you see them live, as well as some expectations for what’s in store.

Cesar Santalo

He’s no stranger to Uproar. Cesar Santalo is back after performing at Uproar 2018 at just the beginning of his career.

“I’ve definitely gotten a lot better from the last time,” said Santalo.

With hundreds of thousands of streams of his music on Spotify and over 40,000 monthly listeners, attendees can expect him to sing his top hits, latest singles, and possibly even a teaser from a new unreleased song.

“I had always grown up around art when I was younger because my dad is an artist and my mom is a teacher, but she’s a writer too. I had always drawn, so that was my first love for art,” said Santalo.

Santalo always wanted to do music, but only had the courage to do at 18, during his freshman year of college. His friend had a mixtape and inspired him to pursue a musical career.

He’s also excited to be on the same lineup as Bazzi.

“It’s an honor because he’s such a big artist right now… It’s really great sharing the stage with someone that great and that big in the game right now,” said Santalo.

With a new deal in the works, Santalo is ready to take his career to the next level, with his end goal to be a musician professionally and heard around the world. His music reflects his ability to relate to others.

“I am just like the listener and I try to use my perspective in the things that I’ve done to tug at people’s heartstrings and actually make them feel what I felt,” said Santalo.

He also can’t wait to see everybody and singing along at Uproar.

“It [performing] definitely feels amazing because I did it last year and it was so much fun… I got to see my friends and family from FIU come and support me which is always the best feeling,” said Santalo.

You can find him on Instagram at @cesarsantalo and check out his music at Apple Music, iTunes, Spotify, Soundcloud, and Google Play.

Jekasole

Known as Jekasole, Jessica Camacho is a hip-hop Christian artist. You may have seen her perform at FIU’s Panthers Got Talent in 2017 and 2018.

She started writing when she was 12 and wanted to join her cousins’ frequent rap battles.

“I didn’t know how to put words with music together so they just coached me a little bit till I got the hang of it,” said Camacho.

She also said what makes her music different is her lack of profanity.

“I don’t speak about anything that I haven’t gone through myself. So I try to keep everything within being relatable…I like to talk a lot in stories, so like a lot of my songs are stories that I’m telling,” said Camacho.

Last year, Camacho went to Uproar and thought about how the local acts could be a part of the event.

“I was like, ‘that’s pretty cool, maybe one day I’ll find out.’ And then, they [SPC] found me so I was happy,” said Camacho.

She’s excited to be performing, and she looks forward to interact and engage with the crowd. However, Uproar 2019 also holds special significance to her.

“I also have, for my set, a special guest with me, he’s actually my little brother…My sister is also performing but she’s a separate artist, Vicky C, so it’s the three of us,” said Camacho.

Graduating in Spring 2019, this will be Camacho’s final semester at FIU. She sees this as a chance to leave her mark.

Uproar attendees can expect a good time, original music and some freestyle covers to songs they know during Jekasole’s set.

“[I most look forward to] having a good time and just being able to share what I love to do with the FIU student body, and then most importantly with my friends and hopefully make some new fans,” said Camacho.

You can find her on Instagram at @jekagotsole and check out her music at Apple Music, Google Play, iTunes, Spotify, Tidal and Soundcloud.

Savannah Cristina

Savannah Cristina is a R&B and neo-soul singer/songwriter who started her career as an independent artist two years ago.  Part of her performance history includes nationwide poetry slams.

Her favorite part of performing is “just being able to express myself and having an audience willing to hear how I feel.”

She’s excited for the theming for this year’s festival, ready for everybody to be on the same vibe.

Somethings that can be expected are “lively performance, lots of excitement, lots of soul, lots of singing.” Some songs she just confirmed to be performing are Afro and Step by Step.

“I’ll definitely be representing for the ladies that night,” said Cristina.

You can find her on Instagram at @savannah.cristina and check out her music at Apple Music, Google Play, iTunes, Spotify, Soundcloud and other streaming services.

Mid-Day Moon

The indie pop and alternative rock band Mid-Day Moon is made up of two pairs of brothers – D.J. Gonzalez and Di’Angelo “Dingo” Gonzalez, and Andrew Gil and Alex Gil. The boys met in high school and have been in a band together since then.

“Us four have a really strong bond, we’re all really close friends so I feel that it makes us different than any other band,” said Di’Angelo.

When it comes to their set at Uproar, Andrew guarantees fun.

“You’re not coming to a Mid-Day Moon show and leaving without a smile on your face… we’re entertainers, we want people to see we’re having fun and have fun with us,” said Andrew.

Crowd engagement is important for them, so the band has planned out different ways to interact with fans for different shows.

Performances will include music from the EP as well as unreleased music.

“We all have big dreams, we’re definitely in it for the long run,” said D.J.

You can find them on Instagram at @middaymoon_ and check out their music at Apple Music, Google Play, iTunes and Spotify.

Firstworld

With two singles released in 2017 and one EP in 2018, Firstworld’s “chillwave” music has thousands of streams on Spotify and over 3,000 monthly listeners.

“I feel like a good show is a team effort between the performers, the crew managing it and the audience,” said Kris Alvarez, the man behind Firstworld. “We like to throw shakers into the audience and have them join in the fun. Sometimes we’ll do conga lines, have people sing along. The aim is always to have as much fun as possible, both us and the audience,” said

Aside from Alvarez, Firstworld’s live band includes Joey Prats on bass, synthesizers and percussion, and Daniella Chamorro on drums.

Like Uproar attendees, Firstworld has been listening to other Uproar artists to count down to the event.

“[I’m] really excited to see Savannah Christina live, she’s collaborated in the studio a lot with my friend Kaixen, who is a talented producer. She has a great voice and I think it’s a great opportunity to finally see her live set,” said Alvarez.

They are most looking forward to meeting people after the set, per their usual post show merch table visit.

“We always love talking to fans after our set by our merch table and just hear everyone’s stories. Meeting new people is part of what makes being a musician so much fun,” said Alvarez.

Alvarez is also looking forward to visiting his alma mater again and checking out the new additions to campus.

“We’re honored to be given the opportunity to share the stage with other talented artists and musicians. I’m grateful for the opportunity to be able to perform my music in front of new people and hopefully show everyone a good time,” said Alvarez.

You can find them on Instagram at @1stwrld and check out their music at Apple Music, Google Play, iTunes, Spotify and other streaming services.

Featured photo courtesy of FIU Campus Life on Flickr.