The new wave: Rock en espanol
Call it ska, hip-hop, R&B, jazz or bilingual punk, Latino
rock bands' sound a far cry from mariachi
December 14, 2003
By PATRICK SULLIVAN
FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Alonso Camacho remembers how it started. Back in 1997, the
Sacramento guitarist, then a teenager, and his brother Jair launched
a cover band to play songs by their favorite rock groups.
Six years later, the brothers and their three band-mates are
playing their own original songs -- and often sharing the stage with
big-name bands they once idolized.
Camacho's band, named Cambio de Piel (or "change of skin" in
English), has even inked a deal with Budweiser to represent Northern
California's Latin alternative music scene on the beer company's
True Music Live tour.
Cambio de Piel, which mixes rock with ska and punk, is playing to
growing audiences. And though most of the band's songs are in
Spanish, its music is attracting an increasing number of
English-speaking fans.
"I had a guy come up to me after one show and say, 'I didn't
understand a single word you said, but your music rocks,'" said the
23-year-old Camacho.
Northern California has long produced important Latino musicians,
including the legendary Carlos Santana. But as the area's Latino
population grows, Sacramento, San Francisco and San Jose are
yielding a new wave of Spanish-language rock bands.
"A lot of people say Los Angeles is the rock en español capital
in the United States," Camacho said. "But there are plenty of bands
up here, too. And the movement keeps growing."
By "the movement," Camacho means bands playing something rather
different from traditional Latin music. The exact definition of rock
en español is often hotly disputed -- but it doesn't sound much like
mariachi music.
The artist in this genre most familiar to English-language
audiences may be Colombian superstar Shakira, though purists often
groan at the mention of her name.
In terms of major acts, rock en español encompasses sounds
ranging from the polished pop-rock of Maná to the blistering
rap-metal of Molotov, a Mexican band that scored four awards in
October at the Latin Grammys in Miami.
The North Bay harbors few local rock en español bands, but fans
of the music abound. "There's definitely a market for that sound in
Sonoma County," said Tom Gaffey, manager of the Phoenix Theater in
Petaluma. "We have a large Latino population, and it's growing."
Gaffey says he's just begun talking to a Bay Area promoter about
staging rock en español shows at the Phoenix. Currently, some of the
bands play the Sonoma County Fairgrounds and at El Club (formerly
Planeta Furia Musical), 528 Seventh St., in Santa Rosa.
But such shows are sporadic, and many North Bay fans head
elsewhere. Petaluma resident Miguel Flores, 21, says he and his
friends drive to San Francisco, San Jose and Sacramento to catch
performances of both local bands and touring acts like Molotov and
Control Machete. "We even drove down to San Diego a couple times,"
he said.
Flores was born in the Bay Area, but both his parents are from
Mexico, and he grew up in a Spanish-speaking household. Flores
enjoys English-language bands like Green Day and Tool, but he says
rock en español hits home on a deeper emotional level. "It's just
mas fuerte -- you know, much stronger," he says.
Among the bands Flores has traveled to see is Le Plebe, a punk
band from San Francisco. Anyone who thinks Latino music consists
solely of traditional ballads and sugary pop songs might be a bit
startled by the subject matter of La Plebe's songs.
"We don't candy-coat anything," explained Alberto Cuellar, the
band's trumpet player. "We sing about love and hate and pain and
injustice and drugs."
Formed two years ago by a group of childhood friends who grew up
in the Mission District, Le Plebe is a five-piece outfit that
includes a trumpet and trombone.
The horn section confuses some people, according to the
27-year-old Cuellar. "They want to call us a ska band," he said.
"But our music is probably best described as bilingual punk with
horns."
The band has released one EP, titled "Conquista 21," and is
preparing to sign a record deal.
Cuellar says one key to their success is the ability to appeal to
diverse audiences.
"We just played a show at Roccapulco with two headliner acts from
Mexico, and I'd say 98.9 percent of the audience was Latino," he
said. "Then, the next day, we played a ska event in Berkeley and the
crowd was very mixed."
"But whoever we're playing for, we move and we sweat and we have
a really good time," he added.
Increasing diversity of both audience and styles of music are
signs of rock en español's growing strength, according Gabriel Meza.
The 35-year-old Meza, who lives in San Jose, runs a Spanish-language
Website called PuroRock.com that offers news and information about
rock en español in the Bay Area and across the United States.
Meza started PuroRock.com about five years ago because he felt
the media were ignoring rock en español. Even Spanish-language radio
stations haven't paid much attention to the genre.
"Even established bands have a hard time getting air play," Meza
said. "But that's starting to change."
As an example, he points to Viva 105.7 (KEMR), a San Francisco
radio station that recently changed its format to offer pop and rock
in Spanish.
Meza, who describes himself with a laugh as "an aging rockero,"
has followed the scene for decades. The biggest change he's seen is
the quality of the music.
"Before, there wasn't much innovation," he said. "A lot of the
bands sounded the same. But now, you have some amazing new styles
and fusions that don't even have a name yet."
One reason for the upsurge in rock en español's popularity in the
Bay Area is obvious: the growing Latino community.
"Partly it's because of the sheer number of people we have," Meza
observed. "But the other thing is that some really good music is
coming out."
One of Meza's favorites is Los Mocosos, a nine-member band from
San Francisco that plays a mixture of Latin ska, hip-hop, and jazz
and offers songs in both English and Spanish.
Los Mocosos recorded its debut album, "Mocos Locos," in 1998 with
Aztlán Records, a now defunct San Francisco-based label dedicated to
Spanish-language music. After the demise of Aztlán, the band was
scooped up by Six Degrees Records, another local outfit.
But the band's biggest break came just a few months ago: Los
Mocosos was invited to open for Carlos Santana at his four Northern
California gigs in November.
That invitation was a pleasant shock, says Los Mocosos lead
singer Manny Martinez, 38.
"We were blown away," Martinez said. "As far as we're concerned,
we're an underground band. We're definitely not in the mainstream.
But apparently (Santana) has been a fan of ours for a couple years."
The Santana shows aren't the first time Los Mocosos has performed
before large audiences. The band has played music festivals across
the country -- which has given Martinez an appreciation for the Bay
Area music scene.
"We have one of the most open-minded audiences in the country,"
he said. "People around San Francisco are ready for anything, which
is why so many great bands come out of here."
But interest in rock en español and other forms of Latino music
is spreading quickly, Martinez says.
"Absolutely it is," he said. "Latinos are the fastest growing
population in the United States. There's an interest, and why
shouldn't there be? Because we are a part of this country's fabric
now."
Patrick Sullivan is a Bay Area free-lance writer who occasionally
contributes to the Q section.
ROCK EN ESPAÑOL
BAY AREA VENUES
El Club
528 Seventh St., Santa Rosa; (707) 578-4445
Bottom line: This club offers Spanish-language music and some
rock en español bands. Cambio de Piel plays Feb. 16.
Roccapulco
3140 Mission St., San Francisco; (415) 648-6611;
www.roccapulco.com
Bottom line: The club frequently features rock en español bands.
Cambio de Piel plays Dec. 18.
Slim's
333 11th St., San Francisco; (415) 255-0333; www.slims-sf.com
Bottom line: This club occasionally features rock en español
bands. La Plebe plays Dec. 4.
Club Monaco
769 N. Mathilda Ave., Sunnyvale; (408) 245-8777
Bottom line: This club frequently features rock en español bands.
OTHER RESOURCES
PuroRock.com
This Spanish-language website offers extensive listing
information about rock en español acts in the Bay Area and beyond.
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