Lava Room Recording’s Emerging Artist of 2012
Dunia
Cumanayagua, Cienfuegos, Cuba to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame City, Cleveland Ohio
We left off our story about an amazing discovery with a question…followed by an immediate reply!
The caller came back with his response, “Are you free tomorrow at 11am?”
I took a moment, checked my appointment book, and came back with an emphatic, “Yes, as a matter of fact, I am!”
The caller verified our address, I gave him instructions on how to best approach the building, and we said our goodbyes.
I have to tell you, at that moment I was intrigued and still a little skeptical.
Interestingly, I often experience the same sort of emotions many people experience after a major purchase. Do you know what I mean? They call it buyer’s remorse. Well, I experience the same sort of thing.
You see, years of experience, combined with a natural skepticism, has served me and the musicians I work with quite well.
The music business can be a very tough business, for anyone. So a certain amount of skepticism, combined with my years of experience, will often allow me to cut through a lot of the rough terrain. Young musicians, what we refer to as Emerging Artists, are bound to experience tremendous ups and downs, along with people pulling at them from every conceivable angle and for every conceivable reason, especially as they begin their careers.
Over the past decade, my particular skill set has served me quite well; my clients, often the above-mentioned Emerging Artists, too.
Anyway, by the next morning I was beginning to have my doubts.
But I knew one thing, the caller and his discovery would be at Lava Room Recording by 11am, if not a few minutes before.
So, at 9am I headed into Cleveland. It’s not a bad drive and, at 9am, rush hour has dissipated and I have a few minutes to think about the day to come and get into the proper mindset.
I arrived at Lava Room Recording at 9:15am, give or take a couple of minutes.
Lava Room Recording is located at 5000 Euclid Avenue, just west of E.55th St. When you enter Lava Room Recording, you are entering a building with strong ties to Cleveland’s music history. The entrance is at the back or the building. So we actually enter from what would be E.50th and Prospect.
5000 Euclide Avenue is also the home of The Cleveland Agora!
Interestingly, our neighbors also include the new and exciting 87.7 FM, WLFM-LP.
So we are indeed deep in the heart of the Cleveland music scene and Cleveland music history…and I love being a part of it!
Well, I was right!
Early….
So, at 10:50am on a beautiful Ohio morning, the caller, Alan Spitzer (CEO & Chairman of Spitzer Management), and his young vocalist, a young woman introduced to me quite simply as Dunia, walked into Lava Room Recording.
I could probably wrap this up right here by saying something like, “And the rest is history!”
But that wouldn’t be fair to you or to Dunia.
Imagine
I want you to go back to our little game of Imagine for just one more moment…if you will!
Imagine a beautiful, young woman walks into your office one day. You are introduced and she is charming, you are immediately impressed.
But this young woman is not only beautiful, she is mesmerizing!
Her charming manner and smile are an indication that there is something else underneath, something much more and very special. At once you realize that people will like her, at least long enough to listen, to give her a chance…the first time they hear her sing.
You also know, with absolute certainty that, if she is as good as the caller says, you may just have something here!
All of that happens in an instant!
Back to Lava Room Recording
As we head back to Studio A, the main studio at Lava Room Recording, Mr. Spitzer gives a quick recap of what was covered the previous day; and, he asks me to call him Alan.
I respect his wishes and listen attentively.
Alan continues by discussing his mission to feed million people and the
humanitarian mission took him to Cuba, he is clearly motivated to make a difference in the world.
Finally, he begins to talk a lot more about Dunia!
Dunia, speaks broken English and comes from Cuba, a country most of us really don’t know much about. And yet, as I looked at this beautiful and charming young woman, and listen to Alan Spitzer continue to speak, a very different picture began to take shape in my mind.
I discovered that, while growing up in Cuba, Dunia was immersed in acting, singing, and dancing.
Dunia loved to sing!
Significantly, Dunia knew that she was destined to become a professional singer and could actually see herself achieving her goal from a very young age.
While other children were happy to play and live their lives day-to-day, Dunia dreamed of something more…and her father encouraged it!
Imagine
Let’s go back for one final game of Imagine. Except now it isn’t so hard to imagine at all!
Imagine it’s weeks later.
Dunia is currently recording her first album at Lava Room Recording and we know much more about her.
Dunia traveled to Cleveland, Ohio from Cumanayagua, a small town in Central Cuba.
Dunia’s story is a cross between the story of Shirley Temple’s rise to fame and a true-to-life Cinderella Story. The fact that Dunia is in Cleveland, recording her first album, is nothing short of remarkable…the story behind it all is even more-so!
Dunia was born on April 29, 1991 in Cumanayagua, Cienfuegos, Cuba. Cumanayagua is like many small villages and towns throughout Cuba and Central America and Dunia loves her people and her culture.
By the age of four, Dunia had fallen head over heels for the arts. And most of all, Dunia loved to sing!
But what is it that makes Dunia special?
Well, Dunia has always dreamed of something more, something much bigger. You see, Dunia and her father were and remain very close. And it was Dunia’s father who recognized that Dunia was indeed special, that she had a gift.
And it was Dunia’s father who recognized and appreciated her beautiful voice, her flare and grace, and a certain charisma that belied her age.
As a matter of fact, by the age of six Dunia knew she wanted to be a singer…she wanted to make performing her life.
Dunia wasn’t dreaming of performing in her small town, or even in the larger city of Cienfuegos.
Dunia was dreaming about singing on a stage before thousands of fans who loved both her and her music!
Keep in mind that we are talking about Cuba 1995!
And we are speaking of a little girl whose dreams were so big that, had it not been for the loving support of her father, and later a handful of others, including Alan Spitzer, they would most certainly have been squashed. The fact that they weren’t squashed, but instead were nurtured and grew, speaks volumes about Dunia and her father.
Neither Dunia nor her father would to allow her dreams to fade. And neither would settle for anything less than Dunia’s vision for the future…as a solo recording artist!
So Dunia pursued singing, dancing, and acting with a singular drive that was quite unusual for a little girls growing up in Cuba.
While most of the girls in Dunia’s village were happy to run and jump and play, Dunia would do all of the things necessary to fulfill her dreams…a dream that became a quest, the driving force in her life.
While the other children ran, Dunia would dance.
While the other children played, Dunia would sing…playing along with them.
In fact, it was a rare occurrence when anyone came upon Dunia and she wasn’t singing!
And Dunia is singing still, envisioning the very same future…and that much closer to it!
It is for all of the reasons above, and many more, that we choose Dunia as Lava Room Recording’s Emerging Artist for 2012.
We could, quite literally, go on for many more pages…but we hope to impress you with her style, her grace, her beauty, and her charm…the essence that is Dunia!
But most of all, we hope to impress and convince you with her voice, what may be described some day as The Voice that is simply indescribable!
Lava Room Recording’s Emerging Artist of 2012 – Dunia!
For more about Dunia:
Dunia’s Facebook Page – Please “Like” it for her!
It has been a sincere pleasure to work with Dunia and all of the people associated with promoting her career, a group we have affectionately named Team Dunia. We expect great things from Dunia and we know you won’t be disappointed.
Watch for more here and at I Love Dunia’s Music.
Mike Brown
5000 Euclid Ave.
Cleveland, Ohio 44103
216-334-1172