Meet Dante Villagomez

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dante Villagomez.

Hi Dante, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
Spices Peculiar started performing in Pittsburgh in 2014 and 2015, the last few semesters for me at the University of Pittsburgh. The live shows and early albums were always completely improvised and consisted of myself and drummer, Steve Ippolito. I usually played electric guitar and the Critter and Guitari Pocket Piano through a looping-oriented pedalboard. Throughout the next few years, my percussion collection grew and I began focusing on more “produced’ albums.

The album “Regañado” in 2018 was a turning point for my sound and production quality. “Regañado” consists of solo synth/percussion tracks and a blend of improvised recordings with drummers Steve Ippolito and Zack Mester. In 2018, I also started the Night at Sea Podcast which is improvised avant-garde recordings with musician friends in the Pittsburgh area. With this podcast, I was able to still have a place for improvised jams while I could raise the production quality for album releases. The last album I released from Pittsburgh was “Glasses Off”. “Glasses Off’ was recorded over two days in late March 2019 in Pittsburgh, PA. All the recordings are improvised. This album is the culmination of Spices Peculiar’s time and creativity in Pittsburgh from 2014 to 2019.

In 2019, I ended my time in Pittsburgh with a one-way ticket to Thailand for my third visit to Southeast Asia. I brought a small mobile looping setup and was able to play late-night looping sets at the Sunset Bar in Tonsai thanks to my friend Wat. These live sets were long-form ambient improv and helped shape my confidence for longer solo sets. After five months of traveling/ biking Thailand and Vietnam, the pandemic began and it was wise to fly back to the States. My friend Gabe in Kingman Arizona was happy to host myself and two friends for what I thought would be a few weeks at most. As the weeks turned into fourteen months, I was able to utilize all my synth/percussion gear for livestreaming hour-long ambient improv sets. Again, these long-form improvs helped solidify my unique blend of looping synths and percussion.

Since 2021 and the move to Colorado in August 2022, I have focused on meditation-based improvements with my looping setup. Thanks to Hannah and Kait of Conscious together, we have hosted several cacao ceremonies followed by a sound bath. Since June of 2023, I have been collaborating with Hylo Sync and John Scharfe of E8Yoga in Longmont for “Inner Immersion” events. These meditation events are a blend of Yoga Nidra, Breathwork, and Sound Healing.

My latest self-produced album is “The World is a Button”. While it is music for kids, it still maintains the distinctive Spices Peculiar sound that fans have come to know and love. The album is a solo effort by Villagomez, showcasing his immense versatility as a musician and producer.

Featuring an array of percussion layers, synths, guitar, and looping effects, the tracks on “The World is a Button” are both playful and mesmerizing. The album heavily features the Steel Tongue Drum, a unique instrument that produces a soothing and melodic sound, perfect for young ears. The track “Hear to Help” has a music video created by visual artist REW.

Overall, “The World is a Button” is a heartwarming and enchanting album that will capture the imaginations of both children and adults. With its unique blend of percussion, synths, and looping effects, it is a testament to the limitless potential of music and the power of imagination.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
My time in Pittsburgh was blessed with being surrounded by musicians above my level to learn from. From 2014 to 2019 in Pittsburgh, I lived with the majority of the jam band “The Clock Reads” while regularly touring with them to different venues around the Northeast.

My friends always supported me and through them, I was able to meet a lot of musicians in the local scene and more University of Pittsburgh music alums. It was inspiring to see my peers form new groups, lock in weekly gigs, write great songs, and tour but I struggled with the confidence in my musical abilities as a self-taught player. I love jazz but not having the level of competency on guitar or jazz standards made me feel childish at times compared to my peers’ especially while mostly playing an instrument that many people thought was “a toy”.

Most of my friends had music degrees and were years ahead of me on their respective instruments which weighed on my ability to be seen as a legitimate musician in the scene. I ended up shying away from the guitar and focusing more on expanding my percussion instruments and looping ability with the Pocket Piano synth. It took me years to grow the confidence that my production and music genre was more than just “ambient noise”.

Starting in 2018, the Night at Sea Podcast was a way to not only upload improvised recordings in a more organized manner but a way to improvise and record with peers in the local Pittsburgh scene. Thanks to my friends and the growth of the podcast, I was able to directly collaborate with musicians that I would have considered out of my league. The podcast grew my confidence that my style/instrumentation could create more than just cool sounds but real music.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m most proud of the Night at Sea Podcast which is about to reach 300 episodes. I’m looking forward to hosting more Denver-based musicians for future episodes.

My latest album “The World is a Button” is a level up in my unique looping style as well as being self-produced from top to bottom.

Any big plans?
Since my move to Colorado in August 2022, I have focused more on music for meditation events. I have found a lot of joy in collaborating with E8Yoga in Longmont for the “Inner Immersion” events and want to put more energy into that event and sound baths in general. Since 2019, my percussion collection has grown to include more singing bowls and other sound-healing instruments. I want to continue incorporating my unique looping style with these instruments to create a one-of-a-kind sound bath/meditation event.

John Scharfe and I, thanks to Kyle Donovan of Hylo Sync and Cinder Sound Studio, have recorded a handful of guided meditations that we will be releasing in a few weeks to help promote the “Inner Immersion” events. We have one scheduled at E8 Yoga in Longmont on 10/28 and one at Samadhi Yoga Sangha in Denver on 11/11.

Since moving to Colorado and setting up my humble home studio, I have been recording several unique solo and collaborative albums and will be focusing on slowly mixing and producing them. “The World is a Button” (my latest self-produced album) is my first solo album where I feel my gear and production style have solidified and I’m excited to bring that to future releases.

Pricing:

• “The World is a Button” album $10
• “Night at Sea Podcast [Horns]” compilation album $10

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.spicespeculiar.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spicespeculiar/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6-iDTox_VQYtDJRKb9jGlg
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-707117249?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
• Other: https://spicespeculiar.bandcamp.com/