Vicente Trejo

Vicente Trejo

Vicente Trejo was born and raised in Ukiah. His family came to the area in the late 1960s, and in the 1970s his grandfather, Nicomedes Vera, began organizing social dance events in to raise funds through Concilio Latino Americano. In the 1980s and 1990s my grandfather continued to organize dances through is organization Promociones Vera to raise funds for the Raul Vera Memorial Scholarship in memory of his son. The scholarship is available for Ukiah High School seniors to continue their education. Vicente remembers helping his grandfather set up Carl Purdy Hall for events, exited to see the bands show up with their sound equipment and do their sound checks. Watching them dial in that sound system until it sounded perfect was particularly inspiring. Vicente also developed a love for playing music, originally using his mom’s pots and pans as drums. Rather than let him continue to ruin her cookware, she found a drum set at a garage sale and surprised him with it. Accordion and piano followed, instruments he learned to play by ear. In 5th grade at Yokayo Elementary took a music class, started playing trumpet, and and learned to read sheet music. In high school his love for music tech blossomed, and Vicente began setting up speakers and mixing on the sound board for the bands in which he played. In recent years he’s worked as sound tech for some of the shows at SPACE, an opportunity he feels honors his grandfather as it both supports community and reflects their shared love of music.