Jose Hernandez Diaz powerfully explores themes of identity and culture in his resonant poetry collection Bad Mexican, Bad American.
“Overdue” by The Get Up Kids
This song is from one of my favorite bands from high school. Even though I don’t really listen to a lot of music from my high school days, this song has lasted throughout the years. I think it is one of their more mature tracks from their folk album which at the time it came out in high school I hated. Lol. Anyway, I think the song represents the long process of writing and publishing a book which almost feels like I spent my whole life waiting for this moment.
“Bulls on Parade” by Rage Against the Machine
Rage was the soundtrack of my high school days and since this book has a lot to do with growing up, I must have a track by them. Rage was the first artist who introduced me to poetry. I remember reading Zach de la Roha’s lyrics in my room as a teenager and trying to imitate the style. Don’t listen to Rage as much anymore, but they played a huge role in my adolescent years. I think we both have an edge and are trying to make poetry that is political and honors our ancestors.
“Cycles of Existential Rhyme” by Chicano Batman
There is a series in the book about “A Man in a Chicano Batman Shirt.” This band was very influential to me in my late twenties, early thirties and even today. A lot of the band members are Chicano and from my side of town. The music is eclectic, mixing soul, funk, rap, psychedelic rock, and oldies. I think if there is a soundtrack to my book Chicano Batman would have to be playing loudly somewhere in Southeast Los Angeles. I also like the mixture of philosophy and poetry which I think mirrors some of the gestures in my book.
“Time” by Pink Floyd
I know it is one of their most famous songs, however, unlike other famous songs it doesn’t get old to me. I think it is a true masterpiece and classic of a song. Love the mixture of philosophy and poetry, which, again, I try to do on the page as well. Also, the first series of prose poems I ever wrote was “The Man in the Pink Floyd Shirt.” I admire Pink Floyd’s combination of poetic lyrics and sophisticated music which I try to accomplish in my book: smart but kind of rock and roll and edgy, too.
“Borders” by M.I.A.
My work relates to M.I.A.’s interest in politics and borders from the first-gen artist experience. I think her resistance is passionate and she incorporates a lot of creativity into her message and art. I think a lot of hyphenated Americans can relate to my book, not just Mexican Americans, and I think M.I.A.’s work has this influence and range as well.
“Madness” by Deltron 3030
This song and album take me back to a difficult point in my life before I really discovered poetry on the page. Before that, I was mostly listening to underground hip hop. I think to this day a lot of my attention to musicality and flow of language is influenced from appreciating/studying underground hip hop in my twenties. I think Deltron is always uniquely himself and that is something I try to do in my work as well.
“Pothlderz” by MF DOOM featuring Count Bass D
I listened to this song so much in my twenties. Maybe one of the best beats of all-time on this track. Have been influenced by MF DOOM’s associative leaps in his raps and his word play, musicality, and play with persona and aliases as well. I also have a series of prose poems called “The Man in an MF DOOM Shirt.”
“Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” duet by Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty
I had to add a love song or heartache song as well. I think this song represents my heart getting battered around like a piñata. Lol. I think there is also a lot of “sprezzatura” in their work, which Simic talks about in prose poetry, and I think is relevant in my work as well.
“Easier Said than Done” by Thee Sacred Souls
This is the most current music I listen to. I like the combination of oldies and making it contemporary. This is something I think my work does: acknowledges, honors, celebrates the past, however, also looks to make it new, the future, imagination and beyond.
“Arboles de la Barranca” by El Coyote
This is one of my favorite Spanglish language, Mexican songs. Like my work, I think this song carries on tradition, as the song is not originally written by El Coyote and is his version of the song. I admire the folksy setting and aesthetics, singing with passion and duende. I have written all my poems myself; however, I think they are a current manifestation of Chicano and American poetry, part of a lineage which will continue long after I am gone.
“Inertiatic ESP” by The Mars Volta
I think this band really influenced me and At-the-Drive-In, their earlier name, as well. I was inspired by Chicano kids with three names, that’s when I started using the Diaz in my full name. Also, I was drawn to the experimental quality of their work, something I think is reflected in my surrealism and absurdism. I think The Mars Volta is interested in the interior and my work has a lot of those obsessions as well. It was great to see these guys representing as experimental Chicano artists in the twenty-first century.
“The Times They Are A Changing” and/or “Subterranean Homesick Blues” by Bob Dylan
Both of these songs mean a lot to me, and I think they are reflective of the book’s obsession with modernity, making it new and counterculture. I’m a big fan of the poetic flow of “Subterranean Homesick Blues” the beat style and counterculture swagger of Dylan’s words. It’s also nice to see Allen Ginsburg in the video to the song. “The Times They Are a Changing” again reflects my book’s revolutionary nature and motivations; however, like Dylan, my work is still done in a very American or folksy voice.
Jose Hernandez Diaz is the author of The Fire Eater and the forthcoming book The Parachutist. A 2017 NEA Poetry Fellow, his work appears in American Poetry Review, Border Crossing, Cincinnati Review, Circulo de Poesia, the Hooghly Review, Huizache, Iowa Review, the London Magazine, Missouri Review, the Moth, the Nation, Poetry, Poetry Wales, the Progressive, Southern Review, TriQuarterly, Witness, Yale Review, and in The Best American Nonrequired Reading. He teaches generative workshops for Hugo House, Lighthouse Writers Workshop, The Writer’s Center, and elsewhere. He serves as a poetry mentor in the Adroit Journal’s Summer Mentorship Program. He lives in Norwalk, California.