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The Volcanic and Eclectic Crossover of LILIANA By Robert E. Martin Liliana Rokita (professionally known simply as 'Liliana' and affectionately as 'Lilli' by those closest to her) is a stunning Hispanic artist with a lilting and buoyant vocal ability that conveys the clarity of a bright sunny day and all the passion that life has to offer. Living in Saginaw for 10 years now, she was born and raised in Toluca, Mexico, an industrial metropolis of one million people situated a short distance from Mexico City, high in the mountains near a dormant volcano. The setting is significant given the soaring textures to her music, which often explodes into brilliant flourishes of 'crossover', combining a wide array of styles ranging from Calypso, Pop, and Tejano with a touch of Mariachi thrown in for good measure. As a little girl, Liliana was influenced greatly by her father, Valentin, himself a singer/guitar player in a traveling bolero trio and her mother, Elvia, a homemaker. Indeed, she can still remember singing her first song on stage while her father was performing. "I've been around music all my life," she explains. "And my father would take journeys to different places to perform all over Mexico. I would sit around watching him play and practice and one day asked him to teach me to play guitar. Of course, I was very young and he looked at me kind of funny. But around the age of 4 he was playing at this big restaurant and called me up to the stage and said 'Let's sing a song'. I was singing acappella and it was very magical." Around the age of 17, Liliana began singing professionally with local bands in and around her hometown of Toluca. Stints in 'Mass', 'Lider Show', and 'Onda Corta' helped to fuel her desire to follow a musical path. "What began as a hobby slowly grew and I would perform at weddings, bars, and discos," continues Liliana. "A friend would take me to band practice and one day asked me to sing and they hired me. I performed with a few different bands for about three years, and then I got married." Liliana's marriage to her American husband/manager/ producer Chris formed a pivotal turning point in her life. In 1993 she met her husband and moved to the United States, settling in Saginaw, Michigan. It was here that her aspirations as a singer/songwriter began to be realized and Liliana started performing at various functions such as the Latino World Festival at Detroit's Hart Plaza, the Bay City Fireworks, the Caribbean Festival, and the Cinco de Mayo Festival. "It was very competitive in Mexico because where I came from is a big city and there is lots of work for musicians," she explains. "In the United States I discovered so much crossover in music, but there are differences in each country, even with Hispanic audiences." "American singers are familiar in Mexico, but it took me a couple of years to get before Hispanic audiences in this country. I found out they have their own style and love Tejano, which took me a while to get familiar with because it is not as big in Mexico as it is here. Of course, after Selena everybody learned more about it, but I had no idea what Tejano actually was when I got here." With a new marriage and a newborn child, Liliana expressed to her husband her desire to sing and involve herself in something musical. "At first it was more like a hobby, but then things started moving little by little," she notes. "When Selena died everybody wanted to hear her songs, which I sang for awhile, but then developed the desire to do my own thing, so started writing my own songs. I didn't know I could write songs until I had to and it is something I learned here in the States." With original lyrics and melodies to over 60 songs, Liliana is looking to complete her first CD slated for release in a few more months. Fortunately, she found a musical ally in the form of Bobby Balderama from the Robert Lee Band, whose group accompanies her on the CD and at live performances. "It was a fortunate experience to work with Bobby," states Liliana. "Generally when working with him I have something down in terms of melody and lyrics and he will ask what type of music or feel we are looking for and will develop and add it. He does his own thing and we like the way it turns out. It took a long time to find someone to work with." In terms of her debut CD release, Liliana says that she has 10 songs completed and recorded and needs to master it. "The title will be called 'Fusion' because it is a mix of people and cultures," she explains. When asked what the biggest challenge in pursuing her musical career is, Liliana explains that "Here, I think for me, because I sing my lyrics in Spanish, the biggest difficulty in performing before Hispanic people is being a woman. Audiences have their favorite male artists that they like and love and when a woman comes up and sings, generally they don't get the same response as guys." "But that is gradually changing because our music is so unique," she continues. "Usually when we perform live in this area it is at Whites' Bar." Liliana also continues to learn more about the entertainment business on a daily basis as a co-host/VJ of HMV (Hispanic Music Videos) a music video and information program which airs throughout Michigan on local cable channels. Interviews she has conducted on the program have included Paulina Rubio, Paul Rodrigues, the Texas Tornadoes, La differenzio, La Tropa, Eddie Gonzales, and Fama, just to name a few. "I've been doing the show for about 7 years now," she notes, "and a lot of people know me as a singer and others only as a co-host of the show, but they are learning more about me." With a new music video in the works and the pending release of her CD, she is hopeful that "people will learn more about me and it will show there is more to me than co-host." "I think the local music scene is just starting," states Liliana. "People are trying to be more aware and little by little people are coming around to my music. There are so many Latin artists out there that it can be a challenge to get noticed." "I'm a very romantic person," she continues, "and tend to write about the moon and the stars. I'm not too much into the social commentary, though I enjoy it, but it is not my style." "We'll see what happens and I hope that I can get the support of Hispanic people here, as well as Americans. I've been living here ten years now and consider myself a part of this town. Hopefully one day I will make it big, but we'll see what happens." With Liliana's meaningful lyrics and inspirational style of fusion music, she adds a new dimension to the Latin Music scene. Look for much more of her in the very near future.
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