Coupled with dynamic rhythms that somehow flow together like streams of water, their ripped-from-the-headlines lyrics of liberation struggle had the audience literally -- at least in the case of one wild fan in a Mexican wrestling mask -- hanging from the rafters.
-- Nick Turse, Village Voice
Miles Solay is the front man for a New York City band called Outernational, who open for Puerto Rican band sensation Calle 13 tonight at House of Blues. Outernational's album, Todos Somos Ilegales (We Are All Illegals) is extremely dope and refreshing; listen for yourself.
The high-energy quintet is now touring the border, and from Brooklyn to Phoenix to Los Angeles, has been drawing rave reviews about their performances across the board.
But let's get something clear.
Solay isn't some typical liberal Democrat. Wednesday, he called President Obama's support for gay-marriage "manipulative," and don't get him started on Mitt Romney. Furthermore, Outernational is not a political organization. They aren't waving a policy flag, Solay stresses. And he is not Mexican.
You might have a hard time believing this. After all, with the always-inflammable immigration dialogue that catches fire, loses steam, then regains its flame again like a playful forest fire, he has to have some sort of ancestry south of the border, right?
"I'm a New Yorker," he tells Rocks Off. "Fifth generation. I'm white."
It almost begs the question, "why?"
"The deeper question 'is why not?'" he continues. "I don't step out on any particular issue. I'm a revolutionary and I'm an internationalist. I'm a human being."
He's a human being who cares about humans, and his music revolves around that notion.
To understand Miles, you kind of have to get to his depth. His album, which features Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith and Grammy nominee Ceci Bastida, as well as Calle 13, is something deeper than what you see on the surface.
"The album is a microscope for what society is now and a telescope to what the world could be," he says.
Like any artist, he says he's making art.
"The power of art lies in the metaphor and taps into a distinctly human and seemingly endless need for amazement and awe," says Solay. "I can go places in a song where I can't go in the real world."
