Found wistfully playing a Spanish-esque melody, completely engrossed in his music, Jonathan Aldaco raised his head at the end of the song and gave a startled, but cool smile to an onlooker.
Musician and sophomore LBCC student Aldaco has been playing guitar for eight years and already shows signs of being a maestro of his craft.
His most earnest passion though is for music and is currently in two music acts, Máquina de Roquera, Spanish for “Rock Machine” as well as Six Finger Hand which is Aldaco’s solo project.
Heavily inspired by metal and blues music, two genres that are intertwined with each other, Aldaco’s play style reflects as much.
While his music can be the fast-paced dissonant sounds of metal, there are also much slower sections that are self-reflective and honest, elements closely tied with the blues.
LBCC student Jonathan Aldaco is a psychology major with a special talent for playing the guitar. He finds that when he plays guitar he is calmer and less stressed. (Emma Lloyd)
Aldaco can attribute these influences to his parents, although separated and moving between households, Aldaco’s taste and love for music was shaped by them.
While not being from a musically inclined family, Aldaco inherited an acoustic guitar from his father.
His choice of acoustic guitar was initially a matter of convenience, but during a tumultuous point of his life the ease of portability brought him joy and a sense of meditation.
Aldaco’s second passion is psychology. He developed an interest in the field during high school and decided to pursue it as his major.
Originally a student at Cerritos college, Aldaco began attending LBCC to major in music, he has since switched back to psychology due to aspects of the music curriculum that Aldaco was not interested in.
“There was some stuff I didn’t want to do, I’d rather be a psych major, plus I miss the psych classes which is weird, I didn’t think I would miss it,” said Aldaco.
With his interest in Psychology and music theory, he has become more analytical in his listening to music, he tries to understand the mode of thought of the artist and what they are going through.
“I started to try to get into the head of the singer or even the guitar player if they are two different people. What kind of headspace do you have to be in to write a riff like that? Or what kind of headspace do you have to be to write a song like that…. As a musician if I learn their song on the guitar I can kind of access that headspace,” Aldaco said.
As a coping mechanism Aldaco utilized music to give himself peace of mind during the Covid lockdowns.
However, after seeing a high school friend lose his passion for skateboarding after an injury, the fear of a similar loss for music began to manifest, especially during his transition into adulthood and college life.
“For a time I got really busy with work and school. I was getting grants, which is awesome, but part of the grant was like you have to take four classes, so I was really busy and my home life was like, I don’t go home to relax, I go away from home to relax,” said Aldaco.
With a hectic schedule of school, work, and troubled home life, Aldaco had to cram in an hour dedicated to playing guitar, which he found were his happiest moments.
At home, he was dealing with an alcoholic stepfather and a strained relationship with his parents.
For a moment Aldaco had thought he would not only lose his passion for music, but his coping mechanism during the most tumultuous time of his life.
However, since then Aldaco has managed to reconcile with his parents and despite balancing work and school, he has managed to find more time to play guitar and write music.
He has also joined the Rok Academy to further hone his knowledge of guitar and music theory.
Music was of such a vital importance that it gave Aldaco the strength to continue his life with passion but also furthered his academic career.
Aldaco believes he did the music instead of the drugs, where his life could have spiraled into a life addiction, he went down the path of music and passion.