Frontera Frequencies

Cumbia is Everywhere

By Roberto Avant-Mier,

Published May 29, 2026 at 5:00 PM MDT

In this week's episode of Frontera Frequencies, hosts Roberto Avant-Mier, and Ale Seanez reminisce to the times they have attended a quinceañera in the past and discuss cumbias. From Cumbia De Los Muertos by Ozomatli, to Cumbia A La Gente by Guaynaa & Los Angeles Azules, and of course Capullo y Sorullo by La Sonora Dinamita, cumbia is everywhere, and Frontera Frequencies knows it.

This episode, a special miner visits the Miner Music Minute, Chuck Fensch, who graduated from UTEP and now works for the Department of Marketing and Communication, visits the studios and brings along some hits like "Born To Kill" by Social Distortion and "Bocanegra" by Sonido Gallo Negro.

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Frontera Frequencies KTEP Programming

Roberto Avant-Mier

Roberto Avant-Mier (PhD, Univ. of Utah) is the Interim Chair of the Department of Communication at UTEP and host of Frontera Frequencies. Prior to returning to Texas-El Paso in 2010, he was a professor at Boston College, and he previously attended the University of Utah, UTEP, and the University of Hawaii at Manoa. His research analyzes the discursive construction of Latino/Hispanic identity(ies) and cultural issues in popular music and film.

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Ale Seanez

Ale Seanez is a graduate student and MTA who recently earned her degree in Communication. She is passionate about exploring how media, culture, border identity, and storytelling intersect, and plans to pursue a PhD after completing graduate school.

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Martin Leon

Martin Leon is a producer at KTEP, editing and assembling radio shows for the station. He engineers and records interviews, as well as being a Board Operator for Texas Standard once a week. Current shows include Jazz Night in America, The Latin Alternative, Classical Guitar Alive, From the Top, and Pipedreams.

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Daisy Morales

Daisy Morales is part of the on-air talent, and interview host, in charge of recording and producing shows such as El Paso Prime Time, Science Studio, and We Are UT El Paso; Daisy also manages the recently added Podcast division.

See stories by Daisy Morales