
Emiliano Rios-Leon
Over the summer, Somos Watsonville in downtown Watsonville opened up its space to local D.I.Y. musicians/bands as a space to host live performances.
Somos, a non-profit community gathering space and cafe, is a place where anyone of any identity is welcome to gather. It’s a place for people to go and receive support, learn about spirituality, religion, or just hang out.

Julianne Porras-Center serves as the Organizing Pastor and Executive Director for Somos Watsonville. In 2023, after she was ordained as a pastor in the United Church of Christ, she obtained the job to discern how to use an old church building to serve the community of Watsonville. Which is how Somos Watsonville came to be.
With the old church building being empty for some time, Porras knew she wanted to bring a space for the art/music community of Watsonville.
“Music is a beautiful way to connect with people, with art, and with ourselves, and so since I got the keys to this old church building, and all of the music equipment left inside of it, I knew I wanted to have live music in the space,” said Porras.
With the addition of hosting music performances in their space, Somos has opened its doors to opportunities for people to volunteer and experience what it’s like to be in a venue setting.
Eliseo Medina, a student at Cabrillo, had the opportunity to be in charge of sound for two previous shows that were hosted at Somos.
“It’s been pretty great so far. Everyone at Somos is awesome, and they welcome everyone of all races, genders, and religions. As for me, I feel alright being myself there,” said Medina.
The surrounding towns, Salinas and Santa Cruz, house a larger D.I.Y. music scene than Watsonville. With the new addition of this venue, fans and musicians are excited to see just how Watsonville’s music scene grows.
“As a musician from Watsonville, I’m glad Watsonville finally has a venue for the local scene,” says Daniel Galaviz from the band Callous. “We’re in between two big local scenes, so for Watsonville to finally have a venue to host local talent, I believe it’s a great
thing for the 831 community”.
May 10th was the first show hosted at Somos, and had a lineup of different talented bands from Santa Cruz County.

Roberto Ayala and Octavio Valerio, both fans of the local music scene, also expressed the importance of Watsonville finally having a safe and reliable venue.
“I think it’s great that Watsonville finally has a good, reliable venue. Most of the time, a show is hosted in someone’s backyard or in an abandoned place, with the risk of it getting shut down by cops”, said Valerio.
“It’s nice having a dedicated spot for bands to play and for the community to come and enjoy the scene of Watsonville, with so many genres of music”, said Ayala.
With this space opening up to Watsonville’s D.I.Y. music scene, the opportunities for musicians from Watsonville or surrounding towns to grow their music have increased. Somos Watsonville provides a safe and reliable venue for the youth and fans of Watsonville’s D.I.Y. music scene.