Interview with Laz Pina (Broom Hellda/Ill Niño)

Oral history with Laz Pina, bassist/guitarist for Broom Hellda and Ill Niño, recorded on December 9, 2024, as part of the "Uptown Rumble: Heavy Music in The Bronx" project at The Bronx County Historical Society. The interviewer is Steven Payne, director of The Bronx County Historical Society.

In his oral history, Laz speaks briefly about his family's background in the Dominican Republic and about his time growing up in Inwood/Washington Heights/Upper Manhattan. Diverse musical genres were always a part of his household, but his oldest brother, Roland, was the first of the three siblings to get into heavier music, and Laz and Ric soon followed him. Things really took off, however, when the three started attended John F. Kennedy High School on the border of Spuyten Duyvil and Marble Hill. Here is where the three began hanging out with the rocker crowd, learning about new bands, and even performing their first show as Broom Hellda at a high school talent show. Laz recalls playing this show not even a month after he obtained his first bass guitar. Broom Hellda went on to play back-to-back battle of the bands shows for two years at the Riverdale Y, winning the second one. Shortly after this point in time, Broom Hellda began booking shows at various clubs around New York City, and Laz speaks about some of these shows. He also remembers in great detail the metal crowd in the northwest part of The Bronx at the time. Interestingly enough, the first underground show he attended included the first-generation NYHC band The High and The Mighty, another band of Kennedy alumni, including @stonefilmsnyc. Laz shares what it was like recording with Broom Hellda and speaks about the band's eventual dissolution as well as his decision to start playing more with Ill Niño, a band he has been a part of now since 1999 and that has taken him touring around the world, as recently as Fall 2024.

Видео Interview with Laz Pina (Broom Hellda/Ill Niño) канала Uptown Rumble