What happened to rock en español?

The first cover piece I ever wrote (many moons ago) was for the SF Weekly, on a Mexican rock band called Maldita Vecindad, which was going on its first US tour, and on the (then) growing phenomenon of home-grown Latin American rock. This predated the marketing term "rock en español" by a couple of years.

The blooming of RNE scenes in the early to mid-90s in Latin America and the US was a heady experience to live through. I'd grown up a Dominican rockera/punk, which even in NYC made me a freak. So hearing Mexican kids worship the electric guitar and sing in DF slang felt like home.

I became part of the SF rockero scene, befriending bands, writing about them in the alternative press and in a local zine, going to every show from Berkeley Square's Rockola on Sunday nights to warehouse shows in San Jose. I even wrote a piece in Spin that claimed that RNE was one of the ten harbingers of the future in rock. 1995 was a good year.

More than a decade later, though, aside from Aterciopelados, Café Tacuba and Kinky, few Latin American bands (and no U.S. Latino bands) are known outside of a small subculture. Part of that is the fact that the U.S. music public has pretty much splintered into nothing but subcultures -- with the exceptions of globalized hip hop/pop -- but part of that was the colony collapse disorder that hit the U.S. RNE scenes starting about 1997.

What made me think about this was a recent Mun2 piece forwarded to me by Enrique Lavin trying to retrospectively analyze what happened to Latin American rock. The writer interviewed several folks who were in the trenches from the get-go, like Elena Rodrigo, who was a manager, show organizer, and worked at the first Latin rock indie in the US, Aztlán Records, and Ed Morales, who at the late, great Village Voice was like me one of a handful of Latino writers championing the "movimiento"; label peeps Tomás Cookman and Camilo Lara and other scenesters, organizers and promoters.

Their basic post-mortem is: RNE was a niche music, the term was a marketing imposition, reggaetón/hip hop is more "universal" and easier to market, the industry never properly supported the genre.

Of the comments on why U.S.-based bands never blew up the way Latin American bands did, I agree the most with Ed Morales' comment:

As much as I liked bands like Pastilla, Volumen Cero and Maria Fatal, I think the bands that developed in the U.S. didn't have as much quality and grassroots support as bands from Latin America. When bands like Caifanes, Fabulosos Cadillacs, Tacvba and Aterciopelados toured the U.S., I saw tremendous enthusiasm. I also saw them play in Latin America and there was even more enthusiasm. These bands represented the passion of Latin American kids who, for the most part, have a more difficult life than kids in the U.S. They also represent an organic part of a local Latin American culture. The U.S. bands did not represent "community" in the same way, despite their talent and passion.

Here are my dos cheles of analysis. It was basically a failure of infrastructure.

The industry: Definitely there was never the proper support, bc labels saw Latinos as a niche market, and Latin rockeros as a niche within a niche. They're just barely catching on to how big Mexican regional (another marketing invento) is. And as Morales points out, by the time RNE arrived, the major label ship had already sprung a big leak. With few exceptions (usually on public/independent radio), neither rock nor Spanish-language radio ever made any space for RNE. Only places like Tower or Ritmo Musical carried the stuff. And the mainstream music press fell into the "perpetual novelty" syndrome. Even into the early 2000s, I was asked by editors to explain that, yes, Latin Americans and Latinos listened to and made rock music.

Venues/touring: In the halcyon days of the mid-1990s, SF had several weekly/monthly spaces that booked bands from abroad and local bands. LA had even more. And NYC had a few: Brownies, the Spiral, La Kueva (which I always despised), and a couple of others. La Kueva still exists, in a seriously diminished form, and D'Antigua in Jax Hts has some shows but finding a show takes a lot of active effort. When there is a regular venue where you can expect a certain kind of show to happen, you keep up with their bills. Even in the email list/MySpace age, it takes a lot of effort to find where and when shows are in NY. Only LA really still has a vital scene. But even back then, few bands toured beyond their immediate area. Lack of venues made it difficult to put together a tour, so bands lost out on one of the tried-and-true ways to build a public.

Scenes/Audience: While there were significant regional differences, I don't entirely buy the idea that East Coast, West Coast, Miami, Chicago and TX were too dissimilar to amount to a cohesive "scene." Witness the punk/hardcore "movement" of the 80s. There were massive regional differences, yet people felt connected to a larger thing. I had that same feeling at the start of RNE (btw, I hate the term too, but it's a convenient shorthand), but I never saw the level of DIY I had seen with punx.   

Musical quality: This is a big bugaboo, which a couple of the Mun2 interviewees mention (esp. re: Pastilla, Maria Fatal, Volumen Cero). A lot of US-based bands either stayed safely within the confines of their subgenre (power pop, heavy metal) without making their music as polished as a glass marble, or took on the mestizo aesthetic (Latin American traditional rhythms plus electric guitar or ska) and never fully digested all their influences. As I think Kiko has said to me, the seams always showed. Most gave it up before making a breakthrough. Remember when Luaka Bop signed local heroes King Changó and we thought that was it? RNE needed its Malcolm McLaren, its Bernie Rhodes, its Ian MacKaye.

When people say that the Latin American groups were better, they forget that what we saw here in the US was the cream of the crop of the entire continent (that's where MTV Latin America and the Latin American subsidiaries of labels come in).

Maybe it's that old desire for "transcendence," to fit into an international market, that ends up compromising the sound/vision of the groups. I'm thinking of No Wave which was tiny, tiny movement, but some people argue was tremendously influential. (It was for me, and it did give the world Sonic Youth, though I think the claims of ultimate "importance" are a little overstated).

Are there good Latin American rock bands now? Sure. And I don't just mean the usual suspects. Are there good US-based bands? Probably, though I basically have to stumble on them online. They have ZERO industry resources available to them, since the labels have decided that the best bang for the buck is with bands from the big countries (Mexico-Colombia-Argentina) who have large national audiences, play well in other parts of Latin America and play well in the US. Never mind bands from Central America or the DR/PR, or Andean groups, eg.

Clearly, I could go on for days on this subject.

[image of Maldita's self-titled debut album via wikipedia; Kinky pix by hookm3up via flickr; Ian MacKaye pix via Aquarius Records]

Comments

[Sovietiko]

This topic could go on forever, but it could go on forever because its not as simple as “the bands sucked”, or “the labels sucked, “or the promoters sucked” it was a million issues going on with a bunch of different types of music, and people under the umbrella of “Rock en Espanol.” Back then, and still today, everything that was not merengue, salsa, cumbia or vallenato ( etc) and had an electric guitar was “Rock en Espanol” or thrown under that umbrella (i.e king chango, and the numerous ska-wanna-be-acts its spawned) That’s already a whole new topic.

Most of the “big” bands (if not all) that came from Latin America, were not only already huge in Latin America, they were also signed to huge labels. So they didn’t come here to play at La Kueva, they came here to play at places like the Academy (I believe 47th St) which was were I first saw Maldita & Caifanes in ’93, and at that time they came as “Rockstars.” I also remember seeing Café Tacvba performing in “Siempre en Domingo” which was not exactly a show for “indie” bands.

Another big issue is the fact that most of the fans of “Rock en Espanol” were exactly that! “Fans of Rock en Espanol” or whatever someone told them was RNE, not fans of rock music. So you had a crowd at a show throwing “metal horns” and banging their heads but eagerly waiting for the DJ to play another crappy merengue-wannabe song by “Vilma Palma y los Vampiros” so that he can dance with his girl and her fat friend with a Mana shirt on.

[La Verdad]

It is ok to say that RNE died as it is not just rock - it is so many different things. To say that there are no good bands out there is just plain ignorance of all the good bands out there. Saying that a whole market was not growing and pegging it on some local bands that were never good enough to really get bigger than the local pub is being silly. There is still a market, there are still shows, there are still parties going on and yes, there is still alot of general market press for this music. Getting the word out is so much more scattered today and if it is not getting to the folks who think this genre is dead, then maybe they were not the target for it in the first place.

[Caro]

Sovietiko, I think you and I basically agree. As for the distinction between "hard-core rockeros" and "fans of RNE" I always found that amusing, very much like the factional splits within punk/hardcore. Were you straightedge? Were you a peace punk? I mean, if people were supporting bands by buying tix to their shows, their records & merch, does it really matter?

Verdad, I have as much of a problem with the category of "Latin" music as I do with "RNE" -- it slaps a single label on a huge variety of stuff.

Yes, there are good bands out there, but the better bands that could remotely be called RNE are not doing, strictly speaking, rock (this is one of the reasons the term is so useless). And it's true that finding good music in general has changed -- no one, even old people like me, relies on radio or tastemakers in record stores or the press for advice.

I guess I find things less diverse than they used to be -- basically bands have to be from the Mexico-Aztlan continuum or they have little chance of being noticed. Record co. don't look elsewhere. And the aesthetic for successful bands has shifted in interesting ways too -- eg, how does electronica function as a genre that avoids the language issue by making samples simply sound?

And what's wrong with there being a space for bands that play in their local pub? Outside of LA, there's not much space for that -- that's what I mean about lack of infrastructure for a grassroots.

Thanks for the comments. Clearly I'm not the only one with a lot to say on this subject.

[Kiko Jones]

Great post, Caro. You should consider part 2.

Sovietiko is on point. If I may, I'd like to add an anecdote that might help clarify the "hard-core rockeros" and "fans of RNE" distinction, and at at the same time, shed light on why rock music sung in Spanish is dead here in the US, regardless of what the quite defensive "La Verdad" might say:

While recording their Plomo Revienta album in LA in '97, Desorden Publico were invited to perform at some RnE-related gig--perhaps a Banda Elastica awards show--and decided it would be such a coup to bring out Fishbone frontman Angelo Moore during their set. They did. Unfortunately, THE CROWD HAD NO IDEA WHO HE WAS. In Los Angeles. There it is in a nutshell.

(That may have been the moment DP decided to disregard the US market.)

Btw, I doubt that would've happened in Latin America. It's been my experience that fans there are WAY MORE knowledgeable about rock music in general than the RnE crowd was here. Which leads me to...

A huge chunk of the RnE scene was about nostalgia. (Don't think so? Walk into any joint that plays the music on a regular basis and you'll be serenated by "Lamento Boliviano", "Oye Mi Amor", “De Musica Ligera”, "Puto" etc. in no time. In 2008!) Both the audience and the bands came from a pool of young people who—for the most part—had been here a short time, followed the bands that were big back home and supported (and/or formed) the local versions that reminded them of their recent past lives, regardless of quality. (Some of these bands so ignorant, more than a few believed ska was a product of Latin America! And that’s the crap the gate keepers ushered in. No wonder you still have to clarify things at this late date for the Anglo media, Caro.) If you were a band that didn’t fit the above description—homegrown or otherwise—good luck. (Sorry, Jumbo.)

So, "La Verdad", I call bullshit.

Ignorance and nostalgia—on all levels—killed the US scene. Period.

[Sovietiko]

PLease part 2 !!!

.....and another thing (hehehe)

I will always defend Jesus, owner of La Kueva, because he did more for the NYC RNE scene than what any label, promoter ever bothered or claimed to have done, and that was that he actually treated local bands with respect.
At La Kueva you could expect to play a 50min set, and get payed at the end of the night.
Was it a chessy spot?? of course! but your band could play and they will give you the respect you deserved, and if anybody was around La Kueva in the late 90's then they should rememember that that place was PACKED every weekend so he didnt have to book bands to get people to his bar, he booked bands because he believed in live rock en espanol music...you know as in with a guitar and an actual drumset...not a LAPTOP !

Another interesting thing (which goes along what Kiko said about nostalgia) is that when La Kueva was at its peak every time the bands played, which was around midnight, the "RNE Fans" would generally leave the dance floor and even go as far as to just chill outside while the bands played, and guess what? as soon as the band finished they would come back in for their "healthy dose" of "...de aquel amor !!"

The reality is that good music will always be played in all its forms and there will always be people into it regardless of the scene or "movement" (i love that one)but the reality is that the "RNE scene" of the 90's was mostly about the scene, not about the music.

Is there still a RNE scene?? of course, I bet theres still a Lambada scene somewhere also.