Today we’d like to introduce you to Roger Del Pino.
Hi Roger, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
At the core of my story is a kid who loved making things. When I was 16, I began shooting a series of home movies with my Dad’s Super 8 video camera with a group of close friends for kicks. I was the guy who took it seriously, keeping track of the production and filming. I was also the kid staying up late watching late-night MTV music videos, soaking in some of the music videos of artists I’d never heard of. Producing, writing, and directing with my friends came naturally to me. Thinking back to it, those were formative days of my creative story. In college, I spent a lot of time hanging out in the art circles on campus, studying experimental video art. I tapped into video artists like Bill Viola, Bruce Nauman, and Nam June Paik, which led me back to my love of the music video and music as an expressive art form.
I’d go on to be a Trance/House DJ, then a session bass player in several bands over the years, including an early manifestation of what would eventually become Jai Alai. Somewhere in that timeframe, I started writing and recording my own songs. I made the decision to leave the band to pursue recording as a solo artist. Writing and using computers came pretty easily to me, and having a somewhat obsessive Synth Pop fascination, I wrote a song titled “Play Along” that became the Genesis of my new sound. Laced in 80s Synth Pop, the song featured me on vocals, something I was not very comfortable with. Those songs would become the early songs of Monterrey, a mid-2010s two-piece indie/electronic music act. Most of my music videos entail real-life stories and characters in unsettling and unexpected situations. Many of the storylines I often concept before bringing them to other local artists in the scene to either help me realize or co-produce them.
As I performed more shows locally in Miami, I eventually enlisted the help of some friends from the music scene to grow Monterrey into a full 4-piece band. Like many other local bands in Miami, there were only so many venues to perform at that time. In 2018, we took Monterrey on the road to Gainesville, Tallahasee, Atlanta, and New Orleans, with local act Firstworld opening for their headlining shows in the Southeast US. In 2019, Monterrey received a Miami New Times Best Of award for ‘Best Electronica Act’. We were invited to play at III Points Music Festival in 2021 as part of the Toyota group of artists.
After the performance, I was offered an opportunity to work in New York and left Miami to experience a faster-paced life, living away from home in the city. From Brooklyn, I was exposed to even more music, but performing would take a backseat for a few years. It was then that I began writing some of the songs from my upcoming EP titled ‘Future Relic’. In that timeframe, I was finding ways to cope with not having a band to perform with, so I reverted to my original solo artist persona. At the time, I didn’t realize the influence the big city was having on my personal tastes until I moved back to Miami to start a family.
With the help of producer Firstworld, I was able to finish recording the songs. We captured those feelings of helplessness in Future Relic, often dark in their tones, but taking a different approach from my usual musical style. The EP is set to release in late Summer 2026 with five songs, accompanied by music videos.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The road was not always smooth. Struggles with music video production have always been the most challenging and costly. However, I’ve always felt that a music video is a living, breathing visual counterpart to any song or musical composition. Some of the struggles I felt as a creative as an individual came with the harsh reality of time itself. Time is a recurring theme in my music, especially going on your tenth year in any musical endeavor.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a recording artist who records under the alias “Monterrey” based in Miami. I have been writing and recording as Monterrey since 2015 and performed at many Miami staples over the years. I am a music producer/songwriter, but dabble in cross-disciplinary forms of performance art and visual experiences. Usually entailing outsourcing local AV artists for collaborative shows for my performances.
I am most proud of my upcoming release titled ‘Future Relic,’ which is set for release this Summer (2026) on streaming platforms, vinyl, and CD. It includes 5 new songs produced with Firstworld, a long-time friend who has backed my vision of the project since its early years. I am not your usual artist/musician in the sense that my music is not the most conventional music. It also never keeps to one genre, which is an aspect of my music that I’ve always been interested in. Not having to be tied to any genre allows me to avoid being caught in writer’s block. I have been coined ‘Cerebral Pop’ in the past, which I thought was kind of cool.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
I do not consider myself a ‘great’ singer. Monterrey was originally intended to be a female vocalist-led music project. Some of the early songs I wrote and produced didn’t include me singing because I just didn’t think my baritone voice was the right fit for what I wanted for the song. Early songs like “Reach” and “Rubies” were sung by artists like CID, Krystal Ariel, and Alexandra Cordovi of local Darkwave act, Laboratory. People often describe my voice as ‘sounding like’ this or that artist. I am always humbled by the semblances, but still think I’m not very good. Singing as myself, nevertheless, became how I felt Monterrey spoke to me, and how I decided to continue with the act.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://monterreytunes.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/monterreytunes/
- Facebook: http://facebook.com/monterreytunes
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVVLy7E-jIU_CKIqgmyHToA
- Other: https://www.toomuchlovemagazine.com/article/video-premiere-monterrey-shares-dreamin
