Born to Miriam Alcivar Arteaga, a business accountant and Freddy Aveiga Argandoña, a farmer and textbook wholesaler, Fernando was born in Quito, Ecuador on November 10th 1982. Fernando has an older brother Osvaldo, a younger brother Andres, and a younger sister Katherine. Fernando has a son, Julian who lives in Alpena, Michigan. Fernando started entertaining the family playing the organ at the age of 5. His first solo school concert was at age 11. Music and dance was Fernando’s dad passion who kept playing a large collection of vinyls of music from Mexico to Brazil which exposed him to all different styles of music growing up. Soccer allowed Fernando to study abroad in Europe at the age of 14. At 17, a week after graduating from High School, he arrived in West New York, New Jersey USA to stay with family with the goal of learning English and preparing for music school in Boston. Instead he was given a spot in Northern Iowa Area Community College’s first soccer team and lived in Mason City, Iowa as a freshman, thanks to a family connection at Iowa State University. Fernando earned his bachellors in Economics and masters in science from Iowa State University while being a Resident Assistant in the dorms. As a sophomore, Fernando joined the “Tarbash Exchange” band which was a mix of Jazz, Punk, Indian and Latin Music, a popular college garage band that split after members moved away from Ames. In 2006, Fernando built a college band called “Remendados” after the name coined by his family at Christmas improvised band jams. Again, when the members graduated Fernando was a full time professional at Masters Builders of Iowa. The Des Moines Register wrote an article about Fernando’s training methods for construction crews which won a national award. That’s how Max Cardenas, a graduate from Grinnell, learned about him and cold-called him demanding to meet him. Max persuaded Fernando to write business plans part time for the Women Business Center and the Targeted Small Business program and during this time Fernando met Ryan Mullin, one of Iowa’s music prodigies who had just returned to his hometown, recently married and with a vast curriculum in World Music. Fernando joined Ryan’s band projects until 2012 when they met master musician Eddie Colon and together founded Parranderos Latin Combo (PLC). In 2014 PLC recorded their first album in San Juan, Puerto Rico with 9 songs thanks to community donations and a grant from the Iowa Arts Council. The same year, Fernando began a new career as a real estate agent. Eight years later on January 1st 2022, PLC released their second LP with 13 songs and a collaboration of over 35 musicians worldwide. In his journey Fernando has also been faculty at Iowa State University, Des Moines Area Community College, Evelyn K Davis for Working Families, Community Foundation and has been involved in the local Des Moines soccer scene as a volunteer, player and by directing F.C. Hacha & Machete. Fernando is married to Dream Iowa’s director, finance advisor and business accountant Monica Reyes and they live in East Des Moines. Fernando also enjoys putting on mass events which include bull-riding rodeos, music concerts, and soccer tournaments. Either by composing or performing music, working on business deals as a Realtor or promoting events Fernando is passionate about serving immigrants and building bridges and connections between cultures and people.
El Gran Chantaje is Parranderos Latin Combo’s new album available today exclusively at www.parranderosmusic.com. The overall theme of this album is the conquest of the mind, body and soul as well as the social structures through joy, positive energy and spiritual courage. Throughout the album you will find metaphors that emphasize the carrot over the stick approach to changing the world, relationships and life for the better. “Travesuras” is PLC’s first single from El Gran Chantaje, a collection of 13 songs created with over 40 collaborators recorded in Des Moines, Medellin, Kansas City, Mexico City, Paris, Council Bluffs, Minneapolis, and Santo Domingo. Travesuras can be enjoyed today for free at https://youtu.be/Meo27vfhqCg.
Please support Parranderos Latin Combo, a band which has been supporting the diversity of cultures and music in Iowa and beyond for the last 12 years by purchasing their new album or merch today at https://parranderosmusic.com/merch/ols/products/digital-download-el-gran-chantaje
You can learn more about Fernando at www.parranderosmusic.com; www.realtorcowboy.com; www.ia80builders.com; www.facebook.com/fchachamachete/