Mexico
is a country best known for its traditions, sombreros and, well, tequila but
lately it’s been making quite some noise surrounding its music scene and I’m
not just talking about mariachi bands. With a C.V. of several Mexican bands
performing at international festivals such as SXSW, Coachella and even
Glastonbury the up and coming Mexican bands still have a long way to go but
they’re getting there.
In
between great Mexican bands such as Cafe Tacuva, Molotov, Rodrigo and Gabriela,
amongst others and amazing music festivals with headliners as big as
Suede, NIN, Pixies and even Iggy and The Stooges, the Mexican
music scene has been determined to continue growing in the
last six years.
It all
started back in 1998 with the first edition of the Vive
Latino, a three day long festival which mainly involves
Latin-American bands and just a couple of international acts. This festival
has been going since the late nineties until nowadays with the exception
of 1999 and 2002, giving exposure to bands of different genres such as
rock, rockabilly, surf, ska and reggae. In 2005 came the Corona Music
Fest which was held right outside the Estadio Azteca, the biggest
football stadium in Mexico City. On its first year it had a total of
ten bands from which, only two of them weren’t Mexican. The next edition on
2006 had a total of twenty three acts with five international bands. It’s in
this exact year when you can start getting an idea of what was about to happen
in the next six years to come. On 2007 two great festivals happened in the
city, first off, a newcomer had its chance, it was
called Motorocker Fest and it had bands as internationally
acclaimed as The Bravery, The Killers and Incubus. Next up was the
third and last edition of the Corona Music festival bringing down massive
cult bands as Iggy and The Stooges and The Futureheads.
With
the continuum festival rage, the extensive growth in different
Mexican music bands and genres and the great amount of influence from
the indie and hipsters subcultures, it all started happening. On 2008 the
second edition of the Motorocker Fest happened, showcasing bands for
the likes of all people. Nine Inch Nails, MGMT, Stone Temple Pilots and The
Kooks are just some of the big names on that years and final line-up.
This is when it all started. From this point on, it was only a matter of time
before Mexico had festivals as big as this year’s two day long Corona Capital
in which a total of seventy bands performed with more than fifty percent of
them being international acts and around seventy thousand
attendees. Having now the international press looking down to
Mexico as a new music platform as important for international bands as it is
for the national ones.
As for
the Mexican sound that I believe would appeal to anyone as much as it appeals
to me, well, I would have to recommend the likes of The Plastics Revolution.
This band was formed in 2007 and has already played at Vive Latino,
this year’s Corona Capital and SXSW. With a peculiar sound that
could be described as pop meets electro beats with a couple of weird
instruments in between. They will for sure make you want to put on your dancing
shoes and dance away to rather happy melodies. But don't be fooled by the nice
and easy going sound of their songs, for they also have some rather obscure
lyrics.
By Ximena Gonzalez
Romano
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