Anthony “The Kid” Chavez figures that he has played music around the CSUMB campus more than anyone except maybe the once ubiquitous Erhman Hall of The Nancy Boys. As a member of the extremely popular seven-piece Flojos Nos Visten, the baby-faced trumpeter performed at the college’s Black Box Cabaret an estimated 10 times. “We were big on campus,” he says.

The band, which played a new genre of music called eskanol—which combines ska with English and Spanish lyrics—even got the chance to tour Mexico with the like-minded La Plebe. But six months ago, the band crumbled at the peak of its powers and popularity. “It turned from ‘Why don’t we record?’ to ‘Why don’t we break up?’” Chavez says. “It was really kind of sad.”

Before joining Flojos Nos Visten, Chavez was already known around campus for playing with the Salinas Christian ska band What About Jimbo? The band played five times before disbanding during Chavez’s sophomore year.

Luckily, when Flojos Nos Visten split Chavez had already joined San Rafael’s La Muñeca y Los Muertos. His new group, which translates as “The Doll and the Dead,” is another eskanol band. Led by female singer and guitarist Muñeca Osorio, the band comes on like a Latina No Doubt on original numbers like “Chica.”

Chavez is hoping to get his new outfit playing in the Monterey County area more often—the group has played CSUMB’s Black Box Cabaret and appeared at Salinas’ Trackstock, but there is one thing holding La Muñeca y Los Muertos from more local gigs. “To play shows here, we need to get paid enough gas money for the band to get down here,” Chavez says.

Chavez sees his newest musical venture as his most unique. “I’ll use a word like ‘ethereal’ to describe our sound,” he says. “Compared to the other bands I’ve been in, it’s on a whole other plane.”