Soy Celesté is a Latin Feminist Punk music project from unceded Ute, Cheyenne and Arapaho lands also referred to as Denver, CO. Their emotionally charged sound melds Latin Folk and Riot Grrrl punk rock through creative imagery to ignite social change.

Celesté Martinez (she/her/ella) is the creator, lead vocalist, and guitarist of Soy Celesté. She is proudly supported by her bandmates stevie gunter (any/all) on bass, Saladin Thomas (he/him) on drums, Emmanuel Luna (he/him) on keys, and Joshua Trinidad (he/him) on trumpet.  

Celesté feels that her whole existence as a Brown, Fat, Femme, Queer, Chicana person living in the United States is political because of our mainstream culture. This is in part why she chose her artist name to be Soy Celesté, which directly translates from Spanish to “I am Celesté,” because it is a declaration of her existence. As a Chicana, Celesté embraces the complexity of being Mestiza, both indigenous of Cherokee and Nahua lineages and of Spanish descent, while being politically active in her Colorado community. She sees being Chicana as a meeting place of cultures and worlds. This is reflected in her music with the way Celesté blends both English and Spanish into her lyrics and fuses together a variety of Latin and Rock genres. Her music may come across as strange, which truly embodies Celesté’s Queerness, because it doesn’t quite fit into one genre but several simultaneously.

In August 2024, Soy Celesté released their debut album titled “Feminista Manifestó” which is a 15-track album that captures more layers to Celesté’s story, identity, and intersectional feminist politics. This collection of songs includes a combination of original works and intentionally selected covers that captures the band’s unique sound. 

Soy Celesté performed across Colorado in 2024 at a series of festivals like the Community Roots Arts Festival (Boulder), FoCoMX (Fort Collins), Lafayette Music Festival (Lafayette), Trinidad Arts Festival (Trinidad), and returned for a third year for the Underground Music Showcase (Denver). Soy Celesté also opened for international acts such as Ask Carol (Norway) and Descartes A Kant (Mexico). 

Soy Celesté was featured in Westword as “The Best Punk Bands From Denver and Beyond You Need to See Live” by Michael Mazenko in July 2024. Emily Ferguson later noted Soy Celesté as a “...standout performance” at the 2024 Underground Music Showcase and then in September released an article about their debut album titled “Soy Celesté is the Denver Punk Band You Need to Watch”. Soy Celesté was a featured band for Indie 102.3 Local 303 for July 2024, where their songs “Machista” and “Feminism is Intersectional” were played on the radio daily.

“Feminista Manifestó” was submitted for consideration for “Best Latin or Alternative” album for the Recording Academy 67th Annual Grammy ®. The primary single of the “Machista” featuring Joshua Trinidad was also considered for the 2025 Harry Belafonte Best Song For Social Change Award.