May was Latin Music Month here in Austin, but now the month has since past. So what now? Is the focus on Latino musicians and artists supposed to wait until next May? Here at Austin Vida, it is always Latin Music Month, Latin Music day, hour, minute, second, etc. Unlike other Latino Media, we make sure to archive it all for you online and supplement it all with great live video from my good friend and Austin Vida Music Editor, Ajay Miranda.

This summer we have sort of a Latin music drought in terms of a big, national headlining show. We have to wait for Austin City Limits to come around to see Los Amigos Invisibles. A personal favorite of mine, Nortec Collective, swings by Austin in September. There was a rumor going around for a minute there that suggested The Pinker Tones were coming to the East Side hipster hangout, The Scoot Inn. Again, that was just a rumor. Who knows what can happen in Austin in the next few months, but for now Latin Alternative music fans will have to wait.

Despite the lack of major Latin Alternative touring acts, there is plenty of local buzz to be excited about. Indie-Cumbia geniuses Maneja Beto will soon be back in full force and Brian Ramos (Kanko, formerly of Grupo Fantasma) will have some shows at The Continental Club on South Congress. David Garza will be headlining a show at The Parish in July, and every Sunday is Salsa Night at The Oasis on Lake Travis with The Brew. Be sure to check out our Do512 calendar on our Austin Vida MySpace or follow us on Twitter to keep up to date.

As the summer is now in full swing, we wanted to introduce a new hip hop series to Austin Vida. We have interviews with Rob G, B-Real from Cypress Hill and more great hip hop artists coming your way. We also have some great Austin indie artists we’ll be featuring and releasing new videos for. Right now we have our “Look Back at Pachanga Series” with great interviews and videos from some of the featured performers. Meet Gabby Moreno, Ocote Soul Sounds and The new Chris Perez Band featuring Angel Ferrer (formerly of Ill Camino) as the front man. As always you’ll want to be sure and check out all the new album reviews to see what to put in your iPod this summer, or what not to. Discover some great Latino artists of all genres, including U.S. Latino artists who don’t perform Latin music.

Oh, I almost forgot… We teamed up with Blastro networks to produce the amazing video interview with Mexican Institute of Sound’s Camilo Lara. He walks Ajay through his DJ set up while telling Ajay what pop music in Mexico should sound like. No one has been able to capture this kind of footage and interview from Camilo until now. We hope you enjoy this and our Austin Vida footage of MIS’s Pachanga set. “Cumbia!”

Ian Morales, Editor in Chief (AustinVida)