Four Latino musicians raised in the U.S. - Froilan Sosa, from the Dominican Republic (vocals, guitar, keyboards); Juan Luis Diaz, bass (Cuban); Robert Slade LeMont, drums (Cuban); and Jorge Barcala, lead guitar (Cuban), were discovered as a band by John Tovar, who would go on to become their manager and be instrumental in their success. 

Tovar recently approached the band members about an idea presented to him by an old friend of John and the band, regarding releasing these tracks as an album on Record Store Day, which since 2007 has celebrated and spread the word about the unique culture that permeates independent record stores across the country, and the guys agreed.

Of course, it was only natural that Sinical Records would release such a gem, since it was former Nuclear Valdez manager John Tovar, president of Tovar Music Group (TMG), who helped set up the exciting new record label along with his partner Roland Alvarez, that is distributing this music. This partnership proved to be an interesting synergy of diverse musical backgrounds for both.   

About Roland Alvarez and John Tovar 

Roland is owner/chief engineer at Colada Mix. An audio engineer with experience in mastering, mixing, sound design, recording and studio design, and guitarist, in 1989, he went to work at A&M Studios, where he started as a runner and worked his way up to mastering and where he ultimately met Nuclear Valdez and John Tovar. He was awarded gold records for productions ranging from Neil Young's Sleeps with Angels to a Platinum record for The Chipmunks' In Low Places. He has engineered for many artists, including Marcus Miller, Better Than Ezra, Stephen Stills, and Moby.

  John Tovar has been in the music business more than 35 years. A music fan all his life, thanks to his musician mother, at a very early age he was a music collector, thus his desire to work in the wholesale and retail sectors in the music world. While he was going to school, he worked in his early years at Specs Music, Peaches Music Corporation, and Y & T Music Stores, as a chain product music buyer. These experiences laid the foundation for his future endeavors. John has the gift of always finding artists that have become extremely successful international acts, regardless of their musical styles. This is a reflection of his musical ear that has granted him his greatest success.

His greatest achievements were to find, develop, and sign artists that have become Gold, Platinum and GRAMMY award-winning stars such as Marilyn Manson (Interscope), The Mavericks (MCA Universal), Nuclear Valdez (Sony/Epic), and The Goods (Island records), among others. He also worked with the all-girl freestyle vocal group Exposé (Arista), becoming the first group to have in1988 four top ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart from its debut album, and collect Platinum and Gold albums.

More about Nuclear Valdez:

 

In the early 1990s, the band released two critically acclaimed albums on Epic Records. Their debut album, I Am I, produced the radio hit, Summer. MTV were early believers in the band and proved critical to their early success. Early on, Summer was put into active rotation. The band then filmed a promotional clip for MTV with director Paula Grief and were invited to appear on one of the early episodes of their groundbreaking show 'Unplugged" with The Alarm. Featured guest performers on the album included Bruce Brody of Lone Justice, Benmont Tench of Tom Petty's Heartbreakers, and Meredith Brooks.

The band's song Summer,  which received substantial MTV airplay, was a soaring commentary on the Cuban revolution of 1959 (Diaz, Barcala, and Lemont are Cuban-Americans).

 

The "Nukes" opened for big music names bands/artists such as Living Colour, Jane's Addiction, The Smithereens, Ronnie Wood and Bo Diddley, Hoodoo Gurus, and The Mavericks, among others. The band marked a moment in Miami's modern music history, days of creativity and fusion the likes of which have rarely been seen since. Their music spoke of a generation and a cultural exchange that emerged from the streets of Miami.

 

After touring extensively throughout Europe and the United States, Nuclear Valdez went back into the studio to work on their second album, Dream Another Dream, with producer Steve Brown (The Cult, George Michael). Many critics commented that this album sounded more like a third or fourth release for such a young band, because it showed their ability to arrange and produce beyond the basic guitar, bass and drum roots of their first album. More experimental and diverse, this album highlighted the cultural and musical diversity of the band and showed off the percussive and rhythmic melodies of their Latin roots. The single Dance Where the Bullets Fly aired on a season finale of the popular television show Melrose Place, and was the bands foray into commercial Top 40 radio.

The four guys achieved high praise and critical acclaim in international markets as well, and with this upcoming release of never-before-heard tracks, they are bound to gain new fans and kick a new door wide open!

 

Present from the Past is proof that good rock music never ages.