A Look at the Cuban Death Metal Scene

LuisTrelles, recently traveled to Cuba to look into the country’s heavy metal scene in the island. On his trip,Trelles met with Maria Gattorno, the woman who made this rock and heavy metal scene possible. She opened the doors of a community center she ran in Havana to young rock musicians — known asfrikis — at a time when nobody would accept them. The community center became known as “El patio deMaría” (Maria’s patio), and it quickly turned into the epicenter of the rock scene in Havana.The government closed down the patio in 2003. Trelles says the reasons for the shutdown are murky.

But despite the setback, the frikis continued to fight for a space in Cuban society. Years later, the government created the Cuban Rock Agency, an entity that promotes and represents professional bands and musicians. The agency has seen several directors come and go, but the frikis mobilized to convince Gattorno to lead the agency. Earlier this year she finally accepted the position, ending her self-imposed exile from the rock scene in Cuba after the patio’s shutdown in 2003.