Yazmin and Beat Zero has a unique blend of sounds kind of jazzy, kind of folk and pop with bilingual lyrics. The new album, The Truth Is…, feels like an introduction to a cast of characters in a musical. It got me out of my head for a while and just imaging the world of these new folks. There’s a 1970s positivity to the album as well, which is a nice contrast to live in 2026. You can hear the whole album live live at the Hook & Ladder on Aug 13, 2026.
Please tell us about the band.
I originally created Beat Zero 15 years ago with my father and musical collaborator T Bruce Bowers. Over the years the lineup has changed many times. After my dad passed away, I brought together the latest version of the band for a tour in 2023 and the energy felt so good that we decided we wanted to record. The powerhouse lineup includes Andrew “Dizzy” Gillespie, a multi-instrumentalist percussionist who has made his mark for decades on the Minneapolis and New York City music scenes, and Grammy-nominated bass player Álvaro Benavides who lives between New York City and Colombia. This collaboration expands when we’re joined by the incredible Havana String Quartet hailing from Cuba, now living in Minneapolis, MN. It’s an eclectic group that really serves the vision I’ve always had for a band that can cross between worlds with ease.
I love the use of English and Spanish in the songs because I think it draws in two audiences but also draws two audiences closer to each other through language. Why did you decide to use both? Was it an intentional decision or just never a thought to not do it?
It wasn’t a conscious decision to use both Spanish and English, it’s just what comes out when I write. I started studying Spanish when I was 13 because I wanted to play Cuban music and I knew that I needed to be able to communicate with the people I was working with. I’ve spent much of my life since then speaking Spanish with communities that I’m close to. When I write a song, the language that comes out depends on who I’m communicating with in my mind. A lot of times I will switch between the two languages in the same song because I love the fluid feeling a being able to flow back and forth.
I feel like each song introduces me to a new character in a full-production musical. There’s the “pain inside” (Working in the Shadows), the idea that everyone has to be a Salesman, but the woman who wants to meet her soulmate (Plastic Grass) intrigues me the most. What was your inspiration for the album?
Yes, each song creates its own world and characters within it. That’s because each one of them speaks to a different truth within myself and the world around me. During the making of this album I was facing all these layers of myself, and in the process learning to love each part a bit more. Plastic Grass is all about questioning the strange fakeness of our human-built world. I’m very grateful to that woman. The whole song unfolded after meeting her.
Over the two years it took to finish this record, many of us faced deeply challenging experiences. We all got Covid while we were recording, our producer Bruce Kaphan had heart surgery, my dear dog of 16 years died, and those of us in Minneapolis were here during Metro Surge. But through it all we persevered, never giving up on the dream of seeing this through. Together these songs tell a story of rebuilding things after they crumble, of walking through the darkness of grief and stepping back into the light to leap into the unknown
You are also an artist and traveler. How do those talents feed into the music and vice versa?
I’m very lucky to have had the opportunity to travel to a number of other countries and I’m always eager to add to that list. Whenever I’m traveling, I feel more open to the world and able to receive unexpected inspiration. Creativity is all about letting the world in through our senses, collecting random treasures and then creating something out of it. So any time I’m experiencing and letting in new information, this will inevitably spark some new creation.
Visual art is another facet of my creative self, another way to express my inner world that feels completely different. Painting is quiet, introspective, meditative. It helps me slow down. The life of a musician can be very fast-paced and complex, and I need both to stay truly balanced.
Please tell us about the upcoming release show.
We’re performing at Hook and Ladder on Thursday August 13 (7pm doors, 7:30pm show) and it’s going to be a fantastic lineup. Lady Midnight is opening and Havana Quartet is playing with us. We’ve put together an expanded version of the band with folks coming in from New York and New Orleans. And of course there will be room for dancing. I’m beyond excited. It’s amazing to be able to share this music after so much hard work and it’s gonna be quite the party!
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