Weapons Of Mass Creation

Interviewed by DJ Nestalgic of Verano Eterno, 2 March 2019 at 8 pm. Transcribed by Naomi Asrir and Photographs by Pam Ramos.

DJ Nestalgic sat down with the members of Weapons of Mass Creation to discuss their creative processes and experiences as a familial collective.


DJ Nestalgic: What’s the story behind your band name, “Weapons of Mass Creation?”

Weapons of Mass Creation: We came up with it together in 2014. We were just thinking about a way to encompass the way that we… use our music and our art as some kind of weapon or tool to attack different issues and systems of power that we feel are relevant. It was in a verse before [it was our title]: ‘Weapons of mass creation, we stay strong in the face of violence…’

What is it like to be in a band that is also family?

WMC: Initially it was a bonding experience for us to be able to create with people that we’ve suffered with, cried with, and grown with… it’s a different level of intimacy and commitment. I feel loyalty to this band—I could never envision us splitting up. As for our dynamic, I feel that this is for life. They are my family, so I cannot abandon them. When we write music, both lyrically and instrumentally, we implement our feelings and incorporate our shared history together. It’s a healing experience for all of us. We break bread together, we always clown. Being in a family band, half of it is work and half of it is having a good time as siblings.

How would y’all describe the creative process of the collective?

WMC: It’s propelled by the main instruments of drums, piano, and bass. Songwriting takes a different shape for every song and every project. We’re all contributors, we’re all songwriters, we’re all co-creators in the idea that is WMC and in the content of the music that comes from WMC. We’re always working in cycles; there’s always someone creating… carrying the torch, as we pass it around to each other. That [accountability] drives our fire. We are continuously inspired and motivated to create by each other.

Does home influence your style of music?

WMC: The vacuum of Anaheim has created a certain identity for us. We want to be a legacy for the city [that] has given us a home. When we write, we write from our experiences and the lessons we’ve learned. Anaheim has taught us a lot—it does not define us, but it has influenced us. And we create everything that influences us.

Has there been any personal experience that has shaped you into becoming community activists?

WMC: Being black. Being queer. And also having privilege. We feel an obligation to use our privilege to make some change. We are lucky enough to have grown with a tradition of community involvement; an understanding that you are your community, and that your identity is directly fueled by the people who surround you. Your strength is the strength of your community. The safe, micro-communities that we have created are more impactful than pre-existing systems.

One of my favorite songs of yours is “Bounce.” We can all resonate with encompassing identities that are often contradictory. Could you share a bit personally about what is behind the song? Any advice you would give folks who experience such internal afflictions?

WMC: I was introduced to intersectionality as a student, here at UCLA. Intersectionality changed my life and my outlook about my place in the world. It taught me that myself and every person is multifaceted. I am not just a woman; I am Chicana, I am first-generation, I am poor-middle class. There are so many things that are part of my identity. For me to deny myself that reality made me feel frustrated, underrepresented, invisible. Intersectionality represents every single facet of every person’s identity. It roots for everyone’s justice, no matter how complicated your past is, no matter how complicated your oppressions and your privileges are. Intersectionality is for everyone. I am not a one-dimensional being. It’s okay for me to be complicated. There are certain labels that help me to come to terms with who I am, but at the end of the day, I am whatever the hell I want to be.

As a collective, where do you draw your inspiration to make music?

WMC: Damn—I think I draw inspiration from trauma. When I feel like I’m not enough, music makes me feel like I’m enough. It’s therapy… I was addicted [to making music] after my first song. I’m constantly chasing the feeling of ‘this makes me feel good, this makes me feel powerful’ and that keeps me going. Writing is my medicine… I draw a lot of inspiration from music, my experience, my history, my family, my identities: being Afro-Latino, being first-generation, being broke. All of those things stem into music. But I also read a lot [bell hooks, Frantz Fanon] and want to [translate] the theory… into something that everyone can really digest and understand… I am constantly inspired by our circle. Even when I feel like I’m not really giving a lot, I think that’s when I try to deliver as much as my family is delivering.

How would you define community? What role do artists have in creating community?

WMC: Community is the reason we create. We [lacked] community growing in Anaheim. It is important for us to create it on a larger scale. Community is also cracking a 40 with your boy and listening to music with your people, just kicking it and growing as humans. Sometimes community is just enjoying a space together. - UCLA Radio

BEST HIP-HOP ACT - 2017 OCWeekly's Best Of

By: OCWeekly Staff

Anaheim’s Weapons of Mass Creation stand out as a rarity in Juice County. The six-piece band bring live instruments to the local rap scene, creating a sound reminiscent of the Roots. And they keep it all in the familia: Five members are siblings, with the lone holdout, Afro-Latino rapper Solitude, practically being kinfolk. Together, the group weave woke rhymes with relaxed grooves in creating musical conversations about police brutality, identity and feminism. Rapper Joules is another rare jewel—not just as a Chicana in a male-dominated scene, but also as someone with a dual deftness as a rhymer and crooner. More soulful than preachy, Weapons of Mass Creation craft songs of freedom adept to move OC’s musical masses in more ways than one. - OCWeekly

11 Rising Acts To Watch This Weekend At Tropicalia

By: Jeanette Diaz

WEAPONS OF MASS CREATION

Composed of 5 siblings and one family friend, this band is in every aspect of the phrase a family affair. The OC band is composed of a group of young emcee’s that have found a way to reinvigorate hip-hop with relevant takes on social justice. With sounds carrying the influence of the smoothest beats and rythyms of the past, lyricism reflective of modern day issues and a resulting vision foretelling the future of new age hip hop; WOMC have all the big shoes to fill with no desire to fill them. They lead their own paths, ensuring their sound and mission stay rooted to their own truth the whole way through. Catch the family function at the Modelo stage from 11:30-12:00 pm. - HighLark Records LLC

Weapons of Mass Creation’s song ‘Hard to Admit’ addresses sexual abuse in our own communities

by Tom Nguyen

In an era where we have a president who got elected despite boasting about “grabbing p*ssy”, it’s been heartening to see at least some powerful men in entertainment and politics finally having to answer for sexual violence as women bravely come forward. I hope the media attention, national dialogue, and women sharing their #MeToo stories results in real policy changes and legal protections in every workplace against people using their powerful positions to sexually exploit others.

Besides the rich and famous though, where is the much needed spotlight and attention on the sexual harassment, domestic abuse, and violence that is happening everyday in our own communities? Julia Franco, of Weapons of Mass Creation, sings poignantly about her own struggles against sexual harassment in their latest video “Hard to Admit”.

Weapons of Mass Creation are outspoken in their music and one of my top local bands to watch — they sing about police violence, racism, and gentrification happening in our marginalized communities. And in “Hard to Admit”, Julia says on top of all the issues she has to contend with as a woman of color, self-care doesn’t mean hugs and kisses in a safe space…it means carrying mace and always being on guard against men in her own communities.

So let’s address and challenge the sexual harassment, misogyny and toxic masculinity that happens everyday in all the spaces we occupy. Women have been doing the work and leading the charge. Men, we need to step up and be accountable for our actions as well as challenging men around us when we see abusive behavior, and not being complicit and silent. Get involved and support the work of these organizations in our communities: Peace Over Violence, Justice For My Sister Collective (Julia’s older sister Hilda Franco is involved with JFMSC), AF3IRM, and TheRealTalkProject, which currently offers a self-paced course on how to be a better male ally.

Weapons of Mass Creation performs tomorrow Saturday, November 11, at Tropicália Music and Taco Festival, and “Hard to Admit” is the first of a series of live performances shot at Sanctuary Sound, a grassroots DIY community and performance space in downtown Santa Ana. Amidst the rapid gentrification of the area, the space is so vital and essential: “Sound is a safe space for dangerous sound. In the state of our communities the main stream considers our arts of expression dangerous. But this is not the reality. Our working class communities find amazing creative and ingenious ways to create expression from our experiences using art, music, dance and the power of power of our words. Our mission is to give our communities a space to create and build their skills so they may be prepared to benefit from then in the world that is consistently taking from them.” - EnclaveLA

Weapons Of Mass Creation Are Stockpiling Song Of Freedom

By: Gabriel San Roman

Weapons of Mass Creation like to keep their music almost all in the family. The live hip-hop band from Anaheim counts five siblings among its six-member crew. The Franco kids first came together as Franco Funktion, a jam band zigzagging through reggae, cumbia, and hip-hop. Being youngsters with dreams, band members drifted apart to study in the UC system at Los Angeles, Santa Cruz and San Diego. But they all came back home in 2014, inviting family friend Josh Quiñonez, an Afro-Latino rapper formerly with the Analytiks, into Weapons of Mass Creation, their new group aimed at infusing innovative rhythms with deeper political knowledge.

Luis, Jacob, Julia, Joseph, and Moses Franco gather in the backyard of their family home in Anaheim to talk music. Weapons of Mass Creation’s political influences are just as diverse as musical ones. “Eduardo Galeano!” Quiñonez shouts the late Uruguayan writer’s name. “That foo’ has mad bars!” Jacob laughs. But before studying at universities, the Francos found inspiration in their mother, a strong woman involved in the community who taught ballet folklórico in the driveway of their home, and older sisters who grew up to be educated Chicanas.

Weapons of Mass Creation shine that guiding light out towards society on issues of capitalism, police brutality, immigration and sexism. The group released their debut EP Five out of Five in March showcasing the talents of individual members each track. Julia chose “Part of Me” to smash the patriarchy with her mic. “It was the absence of female emcees that made me feel like I had to do something about that,” Julia says. “I come in with feminism and it’s something completely new to a lot of people.”

The youthful idealists, ages 17-27, map out a hip-hop vision not trapped by the trap beats of their time. “For me to keep my job as a human, I need to do something different that robots can’t do,” Joseph says. He produces the beats for the band that interprets them live during performances with Luis on guitar, Jacob handling bass, Moses playing drums. Julia, Josh, Jacob and Moses serve as the group’s emcees. “We like to have the fun tracks, too,” says Joseph, who plays keys and DJs during live sets.



Weapons of Mass Creation wants to reach the masses, just not along the well-traveled paths of gaining exposure in OC. They’d rather build an audience base from the bottom up than sell tickets to share a bill with famous rappers at the Observatory. “I wouldn’t want to put ourselves in front of a group of people we didn’t earn,” Joseph explains. That philosophy brings Weapons of Mass Creation to Música en Movimiento this weekend at El Centro Cultural de México in Santa Ana.

But shows at conscious venues in their hometown are harder to come by. They call out Anaheim’s Packing District for gentrification, but the band’s attempts at recreating hip-hop park jams in the city caught heat for amplified sound. None of that stops Weapons of Mass Creation from telling the real tales of the city.
“One of the songs that we have that’s coming out is really dear to us because it’s dedicated to Gustavo Najera,” Quiñonez says of the unarmed youth gunned down by Anaheim police in February. “I had known him, we used to tag.” Inside a makeshift studio in the Franco home, Joseph cues up “Rest In Paint.” The Najera tribute track is a soulful mix of skillful rhymes and vocal harmonies, a different approach to the usual rage-filled anti-police brutality anthems.

Like every upstart hip-hop group, Weapons of Mass Creation wants to display their talents on full-length albums that springboard into touring everywhere. When that happens, they’ll be bringing their message along. “We want to start a movement around our music,” Quiñonez says. “We want social justice to be sexy and the newest thing for you to be a part of,” Julia adds. “Let’s talk about some real shit up in the club.”

Weapons of Mass Creation performs with Steady 45s, Esencia Verde at Musica en Movimiento Music and Arts Festival at El Centro Cultural de Mexico, 313 N. Birch St., Santa Ana, www.facebook.com/musicaenmovimientosa; Sat. 1-9 P.M. $5 suggested donation. All ages. - OCWeekly