La Movida Radio Has Been Madison’s Spanish-Speaking Station for 21 Years: Broadcasting Diverse Community Voices
Over 25 years ago, Luis and Lupita came to Madison with a dream and little else and after 21 years, La Movida Radio is going as strong as ever.
Part 2 of 2
By Jonathan Gramling
While on some levels, Luis and Lupita Montoto, who run La Movida Radio, are self-made people, pulling themselves up by the proverbial bootstraps, they readily admit that they didn’t do it on their own. It was through the support of groups like Centro Guadalupe — now the Catholic Multicultural Center — the support of the community that their hard work translated into personal and commercial success.
They’ve come a long ways since they arrived in Madison from South Texas with their vehicle and little else. Now La Movida radio has an incredible reach. While the airwaves are still their primary way of delivering their programming, La Movida has kept abreast of social media and even utilize Facebook Live to reach their listening — and watching — audience.
“With the new technology and social media, Spanish-language radio has been evolving a lot,” Lupita said. “Back then, radio was accessible in the car and the computers. Now cell phones have been one of the main components of people having access to music. It’s been a little challenging because you can download the app and listen to the radio on your phone. And you have other options. The beauty of La Movida is that we are 100 percent local. Whatever happens in the community is on La Movida. It’s not like you are going to download an app and hope that it’s not going to have local content. You replaying a song that we play in Madison, it’s not going to give you resources or information that matters to your own community. That’s what makes us a huge difference and why it’s important to have your local outlet stable. We feel proud.
Technology or new sources of music or information are never going to supply what you have locally here in Madison.”
Like any good communications company, La Movida is about the Latino community and the people who count on them to provide information and music. The Montotos are very serious about ensuring that the radio station is not about them.
“I don’t consider us as purveyors of Latin culture,” Luis said. “We’re just one of many voices. I’ve been told, ‘Luis, you’re a big voice for the Latino community.’ We don’t consider ourselves the voice for the Latino community. I consider myself a voice, which is a big difference. We just have this platform. We have a 5,000 watt microphone that we can provide to other people and organizations to come out and reach out to the community. We’re just the bridge. I’ve said that many times. It’s a two-way street. It’s a bridge where people can come and outreach to the Latino community and for the Latino community. They provide information about where they can get services.”
La Movida serves as a bridge on many levels including giving a voice to national acts who want to attract the southcentral Wisconsin market.
“We have been part of the national music system in the past,” Luis said. “There are several organizations and they compete against each other. There’s one organization that brings in bands, international shows to Chicago, Milwaukee and Madison. They want the southcentral Wisconsin because that is the area that we cover and we are the first and only Spanish-language station. They promote their concerts and events on La Movida. People will drive to Chicago. Sometimes the Latino community first arrives in Chicago or Milwaukee and then they move to Madison. That’s the kind of situation that has been going on historically with the Latino community. The big promoters or big organizations promote their events on La Movida. Fiesta Mexicana promotes on the station. The big concerts like Los Bukis who came to Milwaukee a couple of weeks ago promoted on La Movida. They gave us tickets to give away and whole bunch of stuff.”
But it has always been about the local community. While La Movida cannot give back to the community through every individual and organization that asks for support, they have been involved, whether it is taking on a performance stage at the Sun Prairie Corn Fest of the Dane County Fair or conducting radiothons for local Latino organizations. The Catholic Multicultural Center is close to their hearts.
“This year, the radiothon is going to Friday, December 8th,” Lupita said. “We always begin the radiothon with a Spanish mass. The Bishop is going to be saying the mass in Spanish at noon. And then from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m., we will be broadcasting live from CMC raising funds for them.”
“Before it was CMC, it was Centro Guadalupe and St. Martin House,” Luis added. “That’s where we got to meet Bishop Bullock many years ago. He’s one of the persons who was very instrumental in building the CMC. When we first came here, I would take computer classes and Lupita would take English classes at CMC. They got to become our immediate family practically, Romelia and Antonio and everyone who used to work there. They were very instrumental in our growth. They helped us out and that is why we give back every year doing the CMC Radiothon. It’s part of who we are and what we do and we just want to give back. We consider ourselves not a special couple, but one of many couples who have come here. We want that very same institution and services that we received when we first came here to continue. When we came here, they gave us a hand. It helped us. We want that same hand to be there for other couples when they come here so that they can thrive and succeed at whatever job they want.”
For almost the past 25 years, the Montotos have been working night and day to make La Movida what it is. Family is also important to them and so whenever possible, they would involve them in the events that La Movida was sponsoring in the community. Family is the first priority.
“Our kids, that is what we were put on this earth for, to provide for them and that is who we live for,” Luis said.
A little over a year ago, their oldest son Louie was diagnosed with cancer. It turned the Montotos’ world upside down and on some levels, the continuous hard work came to a halt. Their lives were no longer in their hands.
“We’ve learned to live life one day at a time because that is the curveball that was thrown our way,” Luis reflected. “You think you’re fine one moment and 10 minutes later, in a blink of an eye, your life changes and you’re calling the ambulance because something happened. You think you’re okay. You’re planning for dinner tonight. And all of a sudden, all of those plans for dinner go out the window. You can’t plan for dinner. And that has changed our life. To a degree, you live life one day at a time. We don’t think about what is going to happen in five years or 10 years. Yes, we have our job. We have our goals. But they are put aside because we’ve learned that the most important thing that we need is our health. And if you don’t have health, as I said, you’re planning for dinner and all of a sudden, your son has a certain reaction to some type of medication that they gave him in the morning and here you are calling 9-1-1 so that the ambulance can come pick him up because he is bleeding through his eyes, nose and his ears and his mouth. That’s how we have learned to live one day at a time.”
Lupita took four months off from the radio station to care for Louie. She learned that she wasn’t indispensable.
“When this happened, for me it was like we had done enough,” Lupita said. “I wanted to quit. I didn’t know what to do. I had those moments. Now that I am back to a normal situation now sitting at my desk at the radio station and working on my clients and my proposals and Viva and the Hispanic Heritage Luncheon, once you start coming back, things again begin to consume you again and again. And you keep going and going. And I think, ‘What about those moments when I was feeling that I couldn’t do those things anymore or feel that you have to slow down a little bit and have a better quality family life?’ It’s hard to describe. If you don’t live it and you don’t go through all of it, there was so much pain. When you ask what our next project is, to be honest, I don’t know. We’ll keep doing what we are doing right now better every day.”
Their son’s struggle with cancer and the death of a sister-in-law and the death of Juan José López has had an impact on how the Montotos think about their future. Is there life after La Movida? The Montotos don’t have an answer to that, but all of these developments have gotten them thinking.
“With what happened with our son, our sister-in-law and with our beloved friend Juan López, things like that make you realize, ‘Okay, what am I doing,” Lupita said. “Am I really living my life the way that I wanted and doing the things that I really enjoy?’ It’s a lot to think about right now. A few years after we stop, people will forget about us. That’s how life is. We’re not indispensable.”
“Where are we going to be in five years,” Luis added. “ I don’t know. Where are we going to be next week? We don’t know. Let’s hope we are still alive next week.”
The Montotos have lived with a lot of success and now a lot of pain. While their son is healing, it still makes them think about the future in different terms than they did just a couple of years ago. And while they go through their pain, they still continue their commitment to the community through La Movida and events like the Mexican Independence Festival and the Hispanic Herencia Luncheon at the end of Hispanic Heritage Month. They have big hearts and their love is undying.
