Zuni rocks the halls for Toys for Tots

By Karen Francis
Diné Bureau

ZUNI — More than 100 fans turned out with donations for the ShiwiStyle Entertainment’s second annual toy drive Friday night at Bowannie Hall in Zuni.

Several local bands donated their time and talent to the cause, including Corrupted Vision and Dead Desire from Zuni, Left to Rot from Laguna and Gallup bands Foreshadow, Drazil and Séance.

Admission into the show was a toy or $3 to $5 at the door.
Farrell Siyutza of ShiwiStyle said that all the toys would be donated to the Toys for Tots program and the money collected would be used to buy more toys to donate.

“This is the best one we got so far,” Tiayana Romancito, who was taking admission at the door, said, pointing to a Tekno Robotic Puppy.

A small pile of toys had already been gathered early in the evening, including magnet toys, mutant machines, toy ninjas and sports balls.

“Christmastime is coming up and it’s hard out here,” Romancito said. “We’re taking anything to give the kids something to look forward to,” she added.

For Chris Laate, lead guitarist of Corrupted Vision, the show was an opportunity to jam out. The band played such songs as “The Darkest Part,” “Existence Unknown,” and “Figure of Deceit,” which is about President George Bush.

“We just like music,” he said explaining why the band was participating in the show.

Candace Chischilly, bassist from Drazil, said it was community service for the band.

“We always do this show for free,” she said.

Jonathan Silversmythe, guitarist for Drazil, said that some people don’t have much money to spare for Christmas.
“By doing this, at least they receive something rather than nothing,” he said. “In Zuni there were little kids and teenagers having a good time at the show. Just the appreciation they gave to us and all the bands means a lot to us.”

Drazil played several of the band’s crowd favorites, to which the audience responded enthusiastically.

Felix Arthur, the lead singer of Drazil, said that he had promised the Zuni fans that Drazil would play the show.
“I told them I would be back and they’re the best crowd I ever had,” he said.

Members of Foreshadow agreed that Zuni has good crowds.

“The shows in Zuni are always awesome. We love it there. The crowd response is always amazing,” Foreshadow stated.

Foreshadow played nine songs including a new one called “Violation,” which was well-received by the audience.

Siyutza said he puts on the show to collect donations to help out the Toys for Tots program, which he says has only been running for a few years in Zuni.

“He wants to give back to the community – involve the community in something that’s positive rather than negative,” Romancito said about Siyutza.

ShiwiStyle is Siyutza, his brother and DJ Kiss.

“We all grew up together and wanted to put up something for the community because we hardly get any jams out here – just country and hip hop dances,” he said.

He said that the promoters average about one show a month.

Romancito said that the shows give the Zuni youth something to do and keeps them out of trouble.

“There was nothing geared toward the metalheads,” she said.

Tonight at Bowannie Hall in Zuni, the metal band Hemlock will be playing. Admission is $7.

Information: www.myspace.com/dasm00thfamily