Back in the early ’90s, singer/songwriter/lay pastor Gil Flores came to the U.S. from his native city of Guadalajara armed with a business scholarship from Fresno State University. He brought with him a prodigious musical talent that was nurtured in the church, and it has been that talent that has shaped his life ever since. “My father’s a pastor of a Pentecostal church, and at least in our family, we were all part of the ministry,” says Flores. Music was needed, Flores was designated the musician, and of necessity, he picked up the guitar pretty quickly. Living in the city that was the birthplace of mariachi, Flores also picked up popular mariachi tunes and boleros. “It’s in my blood,” he says. Music and the church have gone hand in hand through the course of Flores’ career. His first job in California was at a Black Gospel church, where he played organ. “There was never any charts or even a set,” he says. “It was just show up and see what happens. It was never a trainwreck.
It was somehow beautiful chaos.” Flores counts Gospel as part of his musical foundation, along with the Latin genres. With no formal training, he says that he plays “from the heart” and always leads with that. Also in California, he worked as the worship arts pastor at the Worship Center, a mega church, and toured and recorded with a gospel choir as musical director, keyboardist, and vocalist. (He picked up piano, drums, and bass as needed, not to mention a working knowledge of sound and lights. He came by his rich, warm baritone naturally.) He also taught contemporary piano and ensemble at Instituto CanZion, the world’s largest Spanish-language Christian music school, with more than 100 campuses globally. Celebration Baptist Church in Rio Rancho was so impressed with Flores’s résumé that it moved him to New Mexico in 2010. He now works at both St. John’s United Methodist Church and Asbury United Methodist Church. At both, he is in charge of the music for the contemporary worship services, and with more than
Gil Flores is a musician and pastor who has moved his services online during the pandemic.
200 compositions to his credit, he has plenty of material to draw from. He also serves as the pastor for the contemporary congregation at Asbury. During the pandemic, he has been producing these services online. Flores’ dedication to his work—and his high-energy personality—may best be illustrated by the video he produced for his song “Agradacimiento” (“Gratitude”). He traveled to Texas and California to record the musicians he wanted on the project. “Then, I mixed it in my studio and edited all the video in my studio,” he says. That would be Qantares Music Studio, which Flores started in California. “I had a little recording studio basically just to do projects for me and my friends,” he says, “and I kind of still have it.” He’s helped some local artists record at Qantares, and he’s now working with an artist from Austin, as well. The studio has also proved a godsend for the production of the online contemporary services. His skills came in handy at South Broadway Cultural Center, where he was the technical manager for a time. He conducted a choir at La Mesa Elementary, which has a significant population of immigrant children, as part of a UNM study on the correlation between music and learning language. He’s also taught in the guitar workshop at Mariachi Spectacular. Busy as he is, he always has time for his four-year-old daughter Olivia. “She is my life,” he says. They enjoy hunting for real Mexican tacos. (He recommends the El Taco de Mexico, The Last Call for Baja style, and El Cotorro for Mexico City style.) Stay in touch with Flores on Instagram (qantares), Facebook (qantares music), and You Tube (qantares1).
Be sure to check out Musically Speaking, Mel’s online music journal, at www.melminter.com. If you’d like to share something with “¡tiempo!” readers, e-mail tiempo@abqthemag.com.
SEPTEMBER 2020 | ALBUQUERQUE THE MAGAZINE
PHOTO BY MICHAEL JACOBS/ATM
FROM GUADALAJARA WITH LOVE
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