Music of Dominican Republic. Hard and Heavy

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Hard and Heavy Dominican Music-Hard Rock-Heavy Mental-Thrash

Leo Susana and JLS | Darkmiracle

When he returned to NYC in 1981 he was introduced to the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Leo found a guitar teacher and took lessons. He played in a few different bands in NYC end even recorded a demo with the band Broom Hellda. He again moved to Santo Domingo and started writing tunes and formed the band Toque Profundo in 1989 with cousin Max Gomez, and friends Tony Almont, Lorenzo Zayas and Osvaldo Peña. After 2 years in the band he (1991) and formed JLS + Cousin Max, which at first experimented with all sorts of styles, including instrumental and acoustic tunes.

In 1993 the band officially became a hard rock power trio and changed it's name to just JLS. The band released 4 albums including a live tape from 1993 to 2005.

Along with his business partner Allan Leschhorn, he formed Estudio 828 in 2002 in Santo Dominigo. This was an upstart production company and experimented with many different solo projects. The songs available here are web exclusives and form part of his recent solo work.

The songs reflect recent changes in his life, views of frustration, death, and perseverance.

More information on the band JLS check out their web site.

Get JLS music at iTunes

"Leo Susuana is quite a busy man with all his projects he has going. He even helps our web site with information. Thanks Leo!"

Leo Susana and his band JLS which stands for Jodio Loco Sucio and also Mr. Susana's initials are true rockers. Leo born 1968 in Brooklyn, NY.

At a young age he was introduced to all types of music by his father who listening to just everything. Sent to Santo Domingo at the age 4 to live with an aunt whose kids ( my cousins) studied in the conservatory. There were instruments in the house, and choir in church. His father loved sending him records, (Sesame Street, Motown, the Osmonds, all types of music) and gifts from USA. He even sent a Wurlitzer organ ( with the letter keys) and a drum kit. His desire was to be a drummer. Leo returned to NYC in 1976. He wanted to study piano but it never worked out for the young Leo. Returning to Santo Domingo in 1980 he went for 1 year to an Adventist school. Here he got the urge to play guitar.

Leo Susana playing guitar

"We have been making music since fall of the year 2000; exactly 6 years this November, and it's been fun. However, it requires a lot of hard work and dedication because it's really hard to spread the word and be known abroad. We admit we are very far from achieving our goal, but we know we have what it takes to get there" Explains Gabriel Febles , Guitarist Of The Band.

"We feel grateful for all that has happened , we have learned that if we don't step up on our own , nobody its gonna do it for us , who better know the music that we do than us ,so basically self-promotion its been our first tactic to get our music out of our country" Explains Roberto Cabral , Vocalist Of The Band.

Their newest album A Better Tomorrow has opened many doors for them since its debut gaining them more international attention. The band has been thankful for this because of the difficulty of being in a country where the culture its totally different and rock its not the main genre.

Darkmiracle has been featured in television , magazines , websites & compilations all over the world including:

FUSE TV Steven's Untitled Rock Show Unsigned Band Finalist (USA), MuchMoreMusic's ClipTrip (CANADA), Numberonemusic.com Top Artist Of The Week (AUSTRALIA), Black Velvet (UK), Popular 1 (Spain) & many more.

Darkmiracle is a Rock / Alternative / Metal band from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. In the heart of the

Caribbean trying to bring recognition to an unknown music scene taking the country by storm. At the moment (4/07) the band is in the studios recording their new EP for 2007 and soon will be hitting a couple festivals in the states for this upcoming summer.

The band members, Robbie (Vocals), Gabriel (Guitars), Salvador (Bass) and Ariel (Drums), make up this very busy and hard working band. With their raw distortions yet crisp metal/ alternative sound the lyrics are hard yet positive. Their recent work "A Better Tomorrow" has aided them in opening the doors to Dominican Republic and to a much larger worldwide audience.

(As we find the festivals where Darkmiracle will be playing we will post it here and in the calendar)

To hear more of their music and if you would like to buy their dics go to:

http://www.myspace.com/darkmiracle

See more of their videos at YouTube:

Darkmiracle - Roulette

Pictures put to music

Listen to the single from the

album A Better Tomorrow

"The Drama"