Could you introduce yourself to anyone who doesn’t already know you?

Hey I’m Daniel Rojo. I run Rojo’s Mexican Food. I love food, learning how to cook it, learning why we eat certain foods, where our ingredients come from, and the different cultures behind all of that. I’m interested in business, financial literacy, and building community through creative and entrepreneurial projects. 

What was your introduction to punk and hardcore?
My sisters introduced me to hardcore when I was about 15. I started going to shows with them after they had been going for a while and made it sound really cool. One of my first experiences with live music was Warped Tour in 2011. I don’t think I even knew anyone playing but it was really impactful to me at the time and started my journey with live music. After that I began tagging along with my sisters and going to shows more regularly. One of the first local shows I remember going to was in a barn in the middle of nowhere. I couldn’t tell you who played or where it was but I remember thinking about how cool and scrappy and DIY it was. That show left a lasting impression on me on how punk/hardcore shows (and things you want to do in general) could be put together. I went to Firewheel plenty of times and I even got to go to Red Room once around that time. A few of the first local bands that I got into were Motion, Cold Truth, and Red Scare. The thing that really stuck with me at the beginning of going to shows was the energy of and seeing the community of people come together to make something really cool happen. It seemed like everyone was friends with each other.

You opened a physical location of your restaurant, Rojo's last year. I remember prior to that you would do online orders and deliver to shows. How did the idea come to you of starting your own business?

The idea for the business came together after some years of getting into cooking/working in kitchens. Meanwhile also learning about business and what it meant to build and business and work for yourself. The thought of that was really appealing to me so I decided to put the two together and start my own food business. Mexican food obviously made sense to me because it was the food I knew the best and the concept started as vegetarian because I had been vegetarian for a long time and I definitely saw a lack of good vegetarian/vegan Mexican food in the area. 

I owned a small business for 11 years before I sold it a few years back. The first few years were rough like it is for most small businesses. Without the support of friends and even acquaintances I barely knew through the NWHC scene, I'm honestly not sure we would have survived. How has the support for Rojo's been specifically from the music community?

The support from the music scene around here has been incredible and humbling from the beginning. My initial practice pop-up I did was serving mostly friends I knew from shows that came out to support. I had plenty of friends and acquaintances from shows buy food from me when I first started doing deliveries. They were also the ones who shared a lot of what I was doing and still do to this day. Every like and share still means a lot, without that from NWHC I don’t think I could’ve reached people nearly as well. Joey also hosted me for my first pop-up at a merch swap he was having at his house. I think more than any money I ever made (which wasn’t much or any at all), having people support my project kept me motivated to keep going and find the next move. I definitely had moments where I felt like I’d let people down if I didn’t keep trying.

Have you always been vegan? From my understanding, not a ton of Mexican food is made to be vegan. The food is always great anytime I've had it, especially as someone who is not vegan. Has it been difficult to specialize Mexican food to be fully vegan and have a good amount of options for people to choose from?  

A lot of people assume that I’m vegan but I’m not and never have been lol. I decided to make the restaurant vegan to not confuse people with the ingredients. As far as creating the recipes for the menu, I don’t find it too difficult to make the food plant based. Maybe because at this point I’m so familiar with the ingredients after being around them for so long, but it did take a while. I’m able to see a food I want to make and swap out ingredients for vegan ones. Although it does take a lot of trial and error sometimes. I find things to improve on recipes over time too, I’m always looking for ways to do better. 

Have you always had a passion for cooking? Or was that something that came to you later in life?

I started cooking out of necessity as a teenager and always had a level of curiosity with new foods in the kitchen. I think the passion developed over time and especially after finding my first real job in a kitchen, I learned that I liked working in professional kitchens too.

Coming from a hardcore/punk background has that influenced the way you run your business at all? Coming from a DIY approach and background I know helped me promote the shop and also shaped the way I wanted things to run business wise as far as my own personal ethics, treating people (both coworkers and clients).

Hardcore/punk has definitely influenced the way I run my business. First, I think seeing the DIY aspect of the music scene showed me how much you could really do yourself. Putting on shows, forming a band, making merch, and building connections were all things I saw regularly. Whether it was on a conscious or subconscious level, those things instilled in my mind that I could start my own thing. I think it also helps me see things differently than most people in my industry. I’m very open to risk. I’m also very open to trying things that I’m personally not used to or that other people might think is weird or unusual. For example, going on the news, having people film me for social media content, pop-ups at music shows/art shows/any event really, hosting a show at the restaurant, and the list goes on.

You hosted a show in August with Apex Predator, Cujo, Adipocere and Cherub Chains. It was a good time and cool to see a show in a different type of environment. What made you want to have a show there? It seemed like the turn out was good, are you thinking about having another one at any point?

It’s been a dream of mine for years to host a show at my restaurant, even before I had it. I always knew that whenever I got my own space that I’d put something together when I was able to. NWHC has given me so much and I always want to give back when I can. There will definitely be another show at Rojo’s. I would like to host things that are at least somewhat personal to me though, so it wont be a regular thing at all. We could be planning something bigger for next year right now but time will tell when it all comes together.

Who are some of your all time favorite NWHC bands?

Gag, Ill Intent, Ingrown, Odd Man Out, Red Scare, Power, Lower Species, Crooked Cross, Cherub Chains

Who are your favorite current locals or bands you think people are sleeping on?

 Cherub Chains, Apex Predator, Elimination Squad

Is there anything you’d like to leave people with?

Support your local scene, support each other. Also I want to say thanks to you Matt for reaching out with these questions. I don’t think I’ve talked about most of this very much or at all so it was nice to have a place to get it out there.