Episode Eight—The Evolving Meaning(s) of Rock en Español

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5, 4, 3, 2, 1
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Hello, I am Professor Jorge Leal, historian at the University of California, Riverside,
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and this is The Discourse of Power of Rock en Español and The Desire for Democracy.
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In this episode we will examine how the meaning of rock en español songs continue to change,
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or rather how new generations of Latina youth in Southern California create new meanings
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and greater sense of cultural belonging with these rock en español anthems.
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To talk about all of this, I will be joined by Gabriela Lua, another stellar UC Riverside
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graduate who will soon start her own doctoral program at another University of California
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campus.
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We will talk about the songs from Los Prisioneros from Chile and Cafeta Cuba from Mexico.
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Speaking of Cafeta, we will check out the students of the Miramonte Music Program inside
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Los Angeles as they perform their own version of Las Flores, a song from Cafeta Cuba's
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masterpiece, Red.
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So to get ready for our conversation with Gabriela, let's get a bit of the historical
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context and this band's connections to Los Angeles.
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Corazones, the album by Los Prisioneros where Tren al Zú is included and Cafeta Cuba's
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Red where Las Flores is featured are two very different albums in terms of sound and also
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the context of their lyrics, yet they do have some connections.
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Corazones from Los Prisioneros comes out in 1990 and Cafeta Cuba's Red is released in
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1994.
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In retrospective, these two great albums are only four years apart.
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Made in the same era, both are groundbreaking and paradigm shifting albums for rock en español.
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Both albums were produced by Gustavo Santa Loya, the Argentinian producer who worked
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on the most iconic rock en español albums of the 1990s and the early 2000s.
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Santa Loya immigrated and settled in Los Angeles in the 1980s after a long career with different
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rock bands in Argentina.
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So once he starts producing, it is only natural that he begins to record bands from Latin
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America in Los Angeles.
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After all, most of the best music studios at the time were located in Southern California.
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Also Jorge Gonzalez traveled from Chile to Los Angeles in 1989.
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At the time he's immersed in all kinds of conflicts with the other Los Prisioneros and
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pretty much records the majority of the Corazones album all by himself with Santa Loya.
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This is the first record where Santa Loya receives full producer credit for Cafeta Cuba.
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Red was their second album and the one that realized their potential as musicians and
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I would argue as the most accomplished Theoricals and practitioners both lyrically and musically
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from Latin America and we can argue even beyond.
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The relationship between Cafeta Cuba, Santa Loya and his perennial associate producer Anibal
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Kerpel began in 1992 with Cafeta Cuba's The View album and would continue for the following
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decades with Santa Loya producing each Cafeta Cuba album that has ever been released.
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In terms of the historic context, for Los Prisioneros Corazones the album comes out
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at the end of the Pinochet dictatorship which lasted almost two decades.
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As a country Chile was having a gradual democratic reestablishment.
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The album was not an overnight success when it was released.
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This was due to the radical change of the Los Prisioneros sound that went from being
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more punk infused to Corazones which was more synth pop.
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But it is thanks to Tren al Sur that the album is embraced by Chile's audiences.
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Fourth is Nunes.
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It was fusing more electronic melodies with traditional instruments such as the charango,
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this andy and string instrument that you actually hear in the song which was played by Santa
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Loya.
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In the case of Cafeta Cuba the blending of electronic instruments and Mexican music comes
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into full force in Re.
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Moreover Re's lyrics are a deep examination of Mexican society and the Mexican national
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identity.
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Similarly Re doesn't do well at first in Mexico.
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In 1994 Mexico was in the middle of a huge political and economic crisis.
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The indigenous led Eze Taelene had staged its armed uprising in the mostly indigenous
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state of Chiapas in Mexico.
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This shattered Mexico's false image that the country offered economic and social integration
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for indigenous and the working poor.
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Then Luis Donaldo Colosio, the leader presidential candidate for the PRI was assassinated in
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March 1994 in Tijuana, probably by insiders of his same party.
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All this threw the country into a profound crisis.
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So likely people were not in the mood to question their own Mexican identity.
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Most people were just trying to survive and dreading that their country would fall apart
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any day.
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Just like many of us thought the US would unravel in 2020 and the early days of 2021.
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There are different reasons of course but I think the commonality it is this end of
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an illusion of democracy and threats of a more violent authoritarian regime.
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While people in Mexico were in no mood to examine their Mexican identity through Café
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Tacuba's Rey, the album becomes popular in other places such as Chile and Colombia and
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then of course in US cities with large latin communities like Los Angeles.
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Many of the Rey songs have become both an incisive question but also a celebration of
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Mexican culture.
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And to this day Rey is heralded as Café Tacuba's masterpiece and it was all recorded here in
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Los Angeles.
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Now to examine the changing meaning of the lyrics in rock and espanol songs let's focus
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on Tren al Sur.
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As we have discussed in earlier episodes of this series, many of Los Prisioneros songs
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such as El Baile de los que Sobran y Por que no se van have become protest songs against
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the dictatorship in Chile and its staunch conservatism.
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On the other hand, the songs included in the Corazon's albums were remarkably different.
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These dealt with romantic intimacy and heartbreak.
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These were just still laced with denunciations of classism.
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But there were much more nuanced lyrics from previous Los Prisioneros songs.
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The lyrics of Tren al Sur refer to traveling to the south of Chile from the capital of
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Santiago on a train.
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That would be the mode of transportation for the working class and one that would logically
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take longer than a private car.
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Hence the chorus No me digas pobre por ir reajendo así.
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Don't call me poor for traveling like this.
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However, the song evokes the joy of traveling back home.
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A home located in the sur, the south of Chile, which, not surprisingly, is seen as more rural
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and impoverished than the middle and northern part of Chile.
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These are the lyrics at face value, but we now need to acknowledge two more conflicting
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inspirations for these songs.
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Jorge González at the time was having an affair with the wife of his bandmate Claudio
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Nerea, the guitar player from Los Prisioneros.
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Plus, Jorge González also admits that the song is an allegory to his first acid trip
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and a moment where his drug use was ramping up.
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So taken together, these are less than poetic and joyful inspirations for such an important
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song.
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Well, Tren al Sur, thanks to its video play on heavy rotation on MTV Latino, becomes a
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hit throughout Latin America and also in the US.
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For audiences in Southern California, the song became popular for its embrace of the
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South that refocused the attention and Rekindoa decided to go back to the South, which, geographically
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speaking, is Latin America.
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While the song warns against calling the protagonist of the song, poor, pobre, for traveling on
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train, these two can also have a different meaning.
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The song can be understood to push back against the notion that visiting Latin America was
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reserved only for poor immigrants or their family members.
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Also, for many without authorized documentation to travel, even the possibility of themselves
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or a family member going back to their home country.
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Being able to travel back was an accomplishment all by itself and a joyful one, even when
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traveling on cheaper modes of transportation.
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In the case of Mexican families, that would be akin to traveling on a bus back to Mexico
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as opposed to an airplane.
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Trenal Sur has transformed into an immigrant anthem in Southern California.
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The difference is that while many songs that are connected to the immigrant experience
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emphasize the pain of leaving home and the hardships of being away in a new place, well,
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Trenal Sur narrates the opposite.
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Going back to the South, going back to Latin America, and not only physically but also
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culturally.
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Well, at least that's a meaning I drew from the song in the 1990s.
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But what does Trenal Sur mean for the children of immigrants whose home is Southern California?
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How do the meanings of these songs change over time?
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And also what are the different meanings for the different generations of Latinas?
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These are questions that I have grappled with in the many conversations I had with students
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at the UCR campus, and specifically with Gabriela.
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We have discussed how rock and español is now an intergenerational genre and how many
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of the songs have different meanings for different generations.
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So it is only logical to invite Gabriela to think through this together in this episode.
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Here she is.
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Hello, Gabriela.
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Thank you so much for being part of this episode.
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Let's start with your own introduction.
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So my name is Gabriela Lua.
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I am a recent graduate of UCR and an incoming graduate student to UCSB's Department of Chicano
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and Chicana Studies.
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We're all definitely looking forward to see how your research continues to evolve during
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your time at UC Santa Barbara.
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Now let's take it to the beginning of time.
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How did you first learn about rock and español?
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So that's a great question.
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So I first learned about rock and español in my childhood.
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I grew up with that music mainly because it was on the radio.
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My parents would always put that station 107.5 K-Love.
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And also there were some discos too.
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Not discos necessarily, my bad, CDs that they would have.
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I think the one I remember the most is Caifanes el Silencio.
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And the song I remember the most from growing up was La Cedula Que Explota from Caifanes.
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I also learned about it, was introduced to it again when I was about in high school or
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when I was in college because I had bought a record player and I didn't really have records.
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But my mom, the side of my family was like, oh, we have an old record player here in records
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that nobody really uses anymore.
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So they luckily brought them back to me and there was three rock and español discos in
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there and it was Los Erranitos Verdes Contra el Rock.
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It was a Miguel Matero disco and then it was a hombres G disco.
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But I didn't know it was a hombres G disco because it didn't have a sleeve or the label.
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I didn't read it right.
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And then Venecia started playing that song from hombres G.
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And I was like, this is opera or I don't know what this is.
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You know the intro to that song.
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But then it started going.
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And yeah, that's how I was introduced to rock and español, maybe from my childhood and
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again in high school or college.
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Gabriela, your whole life has been firmly in the 21st century with your coming of age
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in this very convoluted decade of the 2020s.
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So what will these songs say to you?
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So I feel like coming of age in music is something that's really important to examine
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or just to share, especially when it comes to Mexican American youth or immigrant youth
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or those from Chicano or Chicana backgrounds.
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Because our identities are so complex.
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Our identities are really, really complex.
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And I remember on the way to school, I would listen a lot to 200, 125.
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I wasn't completely shut off from other music, but I didn't really listen to a lot of outside
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music from that.
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And I remember this is like a personal anecdote, but like going to sixth grade, my sixth grade
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promotion dance, everyone was singing the song by like fun.
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It was called We Are Young.
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And everyone was singing it, but I didn't know it.
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I didn't know it because I didn't listen to that.
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So I guess that was kind of my branching out because naturally when you're growing up,
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you want to fit in.
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But I feel like that experience is way different when you come from a different identity or
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complex identity.
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So music was very much brought into that.
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But these songs mean a lot to me and I kind of had a reencuentro.
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So at first I had this reencuentro in high school with those discos.
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And it was fun.
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I listened to like some of them, some of those songs that were on those discos.
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And then like would also hear still the hits on the radio.
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Then remember 2020 happened.
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And I really like how you mentioned the 2020s because 2020 was a very painful year, but
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it was a year that was very important because we were reflecting a lot on the societal issues
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that were always happening.
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It was just becoming a bit more broadcasted.
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And during 2020 is when I taught my own R course.
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And I remember growing up, I always wanted to be a teacher or teach in higher ed.
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So this was a very big deal to me.
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And they let you choose whatever topic you want.
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So I was like, okay, which topic do I want to choose?
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And I was choosing around my freshman year.
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And I was like, I want to choose something I really like, which is learning about societal
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issues in popular music.
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And that's what I did.
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And I had a great mentor, Dr. Sotcha Chavez.
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And she kind of helped me with that syllabus.
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You know, bring more women voices into it too.
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But I was realizing I was looking more at just issues from music I had heard.
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I had heard growing up, but also, I didn't know why.
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And I'm really glad for Dr. Chavez's because I didn't know why I didn't look at less music.
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I was already listening to it.
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I know Carrietreza isn't necessarily rock en español, but she made me look at Latinoamerica.
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Vamos caminando.
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Aquí se respira lucha.
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Vamos caminando.
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Yo canto porque se escucha.
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Voces de un poco.
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Vamos caminando.
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Aquí estamos de pie.
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Te viva la América.
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I didn't really know much about the dictatorships.
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I didn't really know much about the conservatism on these voices and how there was a lot of
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desaparecidos, a lot of all that.
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And that course was also taught during 2020 when we transitioned online.
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I remember also getting back into rock en español and listening to Café Tacuba.
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And I want to really thank Café Tacuba for a lot of my coming of age in music.
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I remember listening to those hits like Eres and Como Te Exraño Memor on the radio.
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But we didn't really listen to the discography growing up.
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So I had chose Re to listen to.
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And I was listening to songs about industrialization.
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And even though they didn't explicitly say other songs, but like this politician, this event,
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it was like we already knew.
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We didn't know what it was about.
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And I looked at La Engrata and I remember making a change to my syllabus a week before.
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I don't remember what song I took out, but I was like, I need to have Café Tacuba in
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here because La Engrata talks a lot about they don't play that song live anymore because
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of the Femicidios, because of how that song kind of suggests some violence towards women.
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And even though that wasn't the intention it was written with, it was something that
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wasn't contributing well to the current societal events.
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And we looked at the renewed version with Andrea.
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And that was really powerful.
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So in a way, Roque en Español for me was kind of one, as I'm saying it now, was me
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kind of reconnecting to my culture, but not just reconnecting to my culture in a way like
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learning about this culture or why we do this, but also the issues.
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Because when you're reconnecting to a culture, you have to also recognize the issues that
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are attached to it.
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But it also helped me reconnect to like my more towards my other identity because
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I'm not just one culture, I'm two cultures.
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And I believe that that's said in a book by Julissa Arce.
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I love how she stated that.
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I'm not just one culture, I'm two cultures.
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And it's true.
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And Café Tacuba was really the gateway to me in that because I remember listening to
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Las Batallas and hearing like, what is this about?
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It's about a book by José Emilio Pacheco, my apologies if I mispronounced it.
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And I'm so proud of that song because it made me read my first book fully in Spanish
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and understand it.
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And also understand my family, I also have family from Ciudad de México and that book
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takes place in Colonia Roma, Ciudad de México.
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Not from Colonia Roma, but it also talks about like what's going on in that era.
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So it was kind of me learning more.
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And there's just one more thing about Café Tacuba, stay is with the song Mediodía,
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the live version specifically.
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There is a, I remember first listening to the song getting very, very emotional because
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there's a organillo, I think that's the word organillo or like organ grinder, I believe
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it's called in English.
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And the first time my whole family went to Mexico together as a family was when I was
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four years old.
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So I don't have very much memories of that.
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When I heard that organillo, it took me back, even if like my memories kind of scattered
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or I'm pushing memories together, it took me back to, when I was in Ciudad de México
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with my mom, my grandma, my siblings.
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Because I heard, I remember being specifically with an organillo and I remember toys that
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you threw up and it goes winding down.
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And it was really emotional for me because if I had not listened to that song, I mean,
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I probably would have heard an organillo again some other time, but I think it was just that
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specific song that made me like really remember that.
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And that's what Roca en Español is to me, remembering not just my own, my other culture,
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but also remembering those stories I didn't get to learn historically.
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It's not just about the lyrics, it's also about other people's experiences with it.
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Like you say in this podcast, it's a place of belonging too.
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So that's what it means for me for 2010 to 2020.
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Well, I am getting a bit emotional thinking of and remembering those early Café Tacua songs
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and also what they mean to you.
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And speaking of songs, the students from the Miramonte music program have recorded
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their own version of Las Flores.
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Why don't we check it out right now?
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This is Las Flores performed by the students of the Miramonte music program.
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Let me see how you flourish With five petals I will absorb you
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Five senses that you steal A little of your being
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And six times to live you Under the same moon
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And another nine times to pass And that new flowers will be born
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And that each star Be a flower
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That makes you give yourself All a symbol of star
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No dejes que amarizca No dejes que la noche caiga
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No dejes que el sol salga Solo déjame estar junto a ti
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And that was Las Flores from Café Tacua performed by the students of the Miramonte music program.
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Well, as we were listening to the song, I was reminded of something that you said
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00:24:03,960 --> 00:24:09,880
just a little while ago, which is how this music creates a particular sense of space.
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So can you tell us about what type of sense or place is created through the music?
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It's created a space of belonging.
304
00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:21,880
I talk a lot about, you know, having a complex identity or not even that,
305
00:24:21,880 --> 00:24:26,840
but just, you know, being two cultures or like being here in SoCal, trying to fit in.
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Although there is like a lot of Latino community,
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I feel like it was a shared struggle with everyone.
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00:24:33,560 --> 00:24:40,360
I feel like Latino Espanol has created a very nice space of belonging.
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That's why I don't feel like a gatekeeper or anything, especially with like Club Nocturno.
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It was so nice. I had that opportunity to go.
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But not only that, but just seeing like on social media,
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like, you know, people be like, yeah, I'm listening to this music again.
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Not that they didn't before, but I just feel like a very nice space of belonging that I hope
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continues to be like that.
315
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And hopefully others have that experience with different identities, too.
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00:25:06,520 --> 00:25:08,680
Speaking of creating senses and meanings,
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how do you think the meanings of these songs are different for the people who first heard them
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at the time these discos were released to folks in your age group?
319
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And perhaps how you have seen this played out intergenerationally at shows.
320
00:25:23,640 --> 00:25:24,920
It's different and similar.
321
00:25:24,920 --> 00:25:29,960
They're very important because my experience, I feel like kind of parallels
322
00:25:30,520 --> 00:25:36,920
a lot of folks' experiences from my age, which is we learn these songs from our parents,
323
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more my mom, if anything.
324
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And for me, it's a way to get to know her more.
325
00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:46,760
When you bring it back to like, you know, when some of these things are released in the 80s,
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it kind of wants me to put myself in her place when they were released.
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So for me, that's what it is.
328
00:25:53,640 --> 00:25:58,520
It's first kind of listening to those songs and because it brings me closer to my family,
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00:25:58,520 --> 00:26:03,640
in a way, also kind of thinking about, wow, I wonder what it would have been like to be my mom
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in the 80s in Mexico.
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For me, it's a way to bond with another generation in a way.
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Because I had the privilege to go to Besa Me Mucho and that had like a lot of Roque en Español
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and even more than that, like pop songs, pop songs that we grew up with.
334
00:26:21,880 --> 00:26:27,400
And I didn't know I would get so personal in this podcast, but I went with my mom.
335
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I made sure my mom went.
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And the only reason I share that is because when I went, there was so many people who went
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with their moms and their dads or their tíos and their tías.
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And I'm going to assume those are the people who introduced me to that music.
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And it was kind of like a thank you, I'm going to bring you to this festival now so we can
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enjoy these memories together and create new ones while remembering your experiences as well.
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I think your earlier mentions of multiple identities and also this intergenerational aspect,
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it's a good segue to talk about Tren al Sur.
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In our conversations on campus at UCR, you have told me how
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people at Club Nocturno dance to this song.
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00:27:07,480 --> 00:27:09,800
Well, because it's a bop, right?
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But also in terms of multiple identities, you were the one that told me about the Linda Lindas
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performing this song at their shows.
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00:27:18,760 --> 00:27:25,000
And we have to think that Linda Lindas are a group of teenage girls, young women,
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whose parents are Asian Americans and Latinx.
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So they were born and raised in Southern California as well.
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So I want to ask you, for you, perhaps your friends, people of your generation,
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what does a song like Tren al Sur mean?
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00:27:43,720 --> 00:27:46,760
So Tren al Sur is a really powerful song.
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00:27:47,640 --> 00:27:49,400
It's an immigrant song.
355
00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:51,240
If you listen to the lyrics, you know,
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You know, maybe, yes, oh, but you know, what are you viajando así?
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00:27:59,560 --> 00:28:02,600
That is generally, you know, the general meaning of what the song is.
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00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:06,680
And I remember you mentioning that, like, that's, it was released in the 80s, you know,
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where a time where a lot of people would migrate for better opportunities or more economic stability.
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00:28:12,520 --> 00:28:16,520
And that song was kind of an anthem for that, from what I interpreted as.
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But I remember growing up listening to that song as well.
362
00:28:21,080 --> 00:28:23,240
I know the Linda Lindas play, as I mentioned them.
363
00:28:23,880 --> 00:28:28,600
My friend that actually, I was supposed to go see the Linda Lindas December show with my friend,
364
00:28:28,600 --> 00:28:29,880
but it was around Christmas time.
365
00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:31,560
I was like, no, I got to spend on some presents.
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I was like, I don't think I can make it to this one, but next time I will.
367
00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:38,600
And I remember that night I was listening to Los Beseoneros because I remember
368
00:28:40,200 --> 00:28:45,480
learning a bit more about them in 2022 about like how it was, how their music was used a lot,
369
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like as an anthem.
370
00:28:46,520 --> 00:28:49,880
And I know you talked about it in an earlier podcast, but I remember they had just come out
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with this serie on Los Beseoneros and I wanted to like, I was looking so hard to try to like
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00:28:55,720 --> 00:28:57,480
find it and like even get a trial.
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00:28:57,480 --> 00:29:02,120
And as I was doing that, my friend sent me a video of that night.
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00:29:02,120 --> 00:29:03,400
She's like, look what they play.
375
00:29:03,400 --> 00:29:05,880
They played Trenar Sur and I was just so shocked because it was so,
376
00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:08,360
for me, it was kind of crazy in that coincidence.
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00:29:08,360 --> 00:29:12,680
I was like thinking about Los Beseoneros and then she tells me I was in Linda Lindas playing them.
378
00:29:12,680 --> 00:29:17,960
And for me, I believe if I'm not mistaken, her name is Isabella, the one who played it,
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00:29:17,960 --> 00:29:21,880
who says that it reminds her of her mom in her early days.
380
00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:24,280
And I think she's the one I'm the closest in age to.
381
00:29:24,280 --> 00:29:28,120
So she's like about 18, I'm 22, it was like a four year difference, but same meaning,
382
00:29:28,120 --> 00:29:49,480
same reason I like that song.
383
00:30:58,120 --> 00:31:26,120
And for me, actually growing up, for me, I didn't really listen to the lyrics of the song growing up.
384
00:31:26,120 --> 00:31:32,600
I just know that one lyric where it's,
385
00:31:32,600 --> 00:31:35,400
No ves que estoy contento.
386
00:31:36,200 --> 00:31:41,000
And that song, I attributed it, every time I hear that song,
387
00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:45,560
or when someone hears that song, for me, it's a very danceable song as well.
388
00:31:45,560 --> 00:31:49,080
I think Claude Nocturne posted a meme about it the other day too,
389
00:31:50,040 --> 00:31:53,800
about how when it gets played on the dance floor, like everyone running, you know.
390
00:31:53,800 --> 00:31:59,080
But yeah, it's a great song. And so that song is like an anthem, you know, you hear that song and
391
00:31:59,960 --> 00:32:04,120
you don't skip it. And if you skip it, it's because you can't do it justice in that moment.
392
00:32:05,160 --> 00:32:09,400
And for me, when I hear that song, I think of that lyric, you know,
393
00:32:09,400 --> 00:32:11,000
No ves que estoy contento.
394
00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:14,680
Because it's not that I didn't speak Spanish growing up or understand it.
395
00:32:14,680 --> 00:32:16,200
I did understand it very well.
396
00:32:16,200 --> 00:32:19,480
But I don't think I got fully fluent in it until college.
397
00:32:19,480 --> 00:32:25,560
And sometimes I just didn't really understand or didn't really pay attention to the lyrics.
398
00:32:25,560 --> 00:32:28,840
And it's funny because my mom, I talk about my mom so much on this,
399
00:32:28,840 --> 00:32:30,600
but she's just so influential on this.
400
00:32:30,600 --> 00:32:33,320
Because of the other song she told me, escucha la palabra.
401
00:32:33,320 --> 00:32:34,520
She's like, escucha la palabra.
402
00:32:34,520 --> 00:32:39,000
For me, it meant something, you know, No ves que estoy contento.
403
00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:41,080
That's not just the lyric he's singing.
404
00:32:41,080 --> 00:32:44,120
He kind of shouts it in the song, like I'm happy, you know.
405
00:32:44,120 --> 00:32:45,960
No ves que estoy contento.
406
00:32:45,960 --> 00:32:49,880
And for me, I attribute, like I scream that lyric or I yell it,
407
00:32:49,880 --> 00:32:53,640
but I always sing it when I hear it because it's what I understood.
408
00:32:53,640 --> 00:32:55,960
Like that's something I understood from the song.
409
00:32:55,960 --> 00:33:00,120
And for me, it's kind of going back to what Roca en Español means to me.
410
00:33:01,240 --> 00:33:04,120
And not necessarily reconnecting, but just like learning more.
411
00:33:04,120 --> 00:33:09,720
And for me, it's like this happiness, like I finally got there.
412
00:33:09,720 --> 00:33:14,600
Because, you know, growing up, it's what, you know, so many identities
413
00:33:14,600 --> 00:33:18,760
or, you know, having two cultures, that's something you struggle with growing up.
414
00:33:18,760 --> 00:33:19,800
Can I listen to this genre?
415
00:33:19,800 --> 00:33:23,080
Or like, I remember in another conversation, I told you that, like,
416
00:33:23,080 --> 00:33:27,400
I felt so conflicted listening to two genres or like listening to two different types of music.
417
00:33:27,400 --> 00:33:29,560
But now I don't care about that.
418
00:33:29,560 --> 00:33:34,600
Now I know it's, I'm finally happy to be fully myself.
419
00:33:34,600 --> 00:33:38,440
And like now I can, you know, not that I was ever ashamed of it.
420
00:33:38,440 --> 00:33:42,280
I was never ashamed of Roca en Español, but I just wanted to fit in sometimes
421
00:33:42,280 --> 00:33:45,240
and listen to other kinds of music and nothing wrong with that kind of music.
422
00:33:46,280 --> 00:33:52,360
If anything, like it kind of influenced my taste now, but I now can like confidently like
423
00:33:52,360 --> 00:33:55,480
love Roca en Español and, you know, go to Covatorno,
424
00:33:55,480 --> 00:33:58,280
y'all these songs, sing them with my mom, you know.
425
00:33:59,640 --> 00:34:03,640
And that's what this song means to me.
426
00:34:03,640 --> 00:34:07,400
And like that lyric, the one that I remember the most,
427
00:34:07,400 --> 00:34:11,400
I know that this song can mean something different to somebody who came here,
428
00:34:11,400 --> 00:34:12,120
immigrated here.
429
00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:17,960
But for me, somebody who, you know, did grow up in an immigrant household,
430
00:34:17,960 --> 00:34:22,280
but I was not an immigrant myself, it means that to me,
431
00:34:22,280 --> 00:34:42,120
means that happiness that I'm finally able to, you know, like what I want to like.
432
00:34:52,440 --> 00:34:58,120
En este tren al sur
433
00:34:58,120 --> 00:35:03,560
it
434
00:35:33,560 --> 00:36:01,980
Now speaking of what you like, what are some contemporary bands, artists that you listen
435
00:36:01,980 --> 00:36:05,320
to that might have that rock and Espanol vibe?
436
00:36:05,320 --> 00:36:08,760
I can think of a couple, but I think I'm going to go into two.
437
00:36:08,760 --> 00:36:13,580
And I'll start with Friolento, which is a Chilean band.
438
00:36:13,580 --> 00:36:15,200
Let me first describe Friolento.
439
00:36:15,200 --> 00:36:20,240
So Friolento is a Chilean band who also have that post punk look, that very Robert Smith.
440
00:36:20,240 --> 00:36:23,160
I think they love Robert Smith from what I've seen.
441
00:36:23,160 --> 00:36:28,480
They love Robert Smith and they're very full out on their appearance and their commitment
442
00:36:28,480 --> 00:36:31,480
to it, to the goth look.
443
00:36:31,480 --> 00:36:38,240
And Friolento is really famous for doing post punk covers and they do post punk covers of
444
00:36:38,240 --> 00:36:39,400
reggaeton.
445
00:36:39,400 --> 00:36:41,720
So they do a lot of bad bunny covers.
446
00:36:41,720 --> 00:36:43,200
They do karaoke covers.
447
00:36:43,200 --> 00:36:48,000
They do a lot of mainly bad bunny ones, but they also what surprised me is that they don't
448
00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:49,880
just do reggaeton covers.
449
00:36:49,880 --> 00:36:54,920
They do older classic songs like La Gata Bajo La Lluvia by Rosy Durcal.
450
00:36:54,920 --> 00:36:56,720
And arguably that's their best song.
451
00:36:56,720 --> 00:36:59,280
In my opinion, that's my favorite song from them.
452
00:36:59,280 --> 00:37:06,560
And I love them so much for that because they in a way remind me of Caifanes' essence because
453
00:37:06,560 --> 00:37:08,360
Caifanes did that with a cumbia.
454
00:37:08,360 --> 00:37:10,480
They took a cumbia and they made it goth.
455
00:37:10,480 --> 00:37:14,440
They took the La Negra Tomasa and they made it their own style.
456
00:37:14,440 --> 00:37:16,880
And this is exactly what that band did, Friolento.
457
00:37:16,880 --> 00:37:19,840
They made like these hits like this genre.
458
00:37:19,840 --> 00:37:24,080
I guess cumbia, well cumbia has always been big, but you know in Latino America cumbia
459
00:37:24,080 --> 00:37:27,520
is a big genre.
460
00:37:27,520 --> 00:37:31,400
And Caifanes took that and made that their own song, their own style.
461
00:37:31,400 --> 00:37:36,760
Whereas right now reggaeton and reggaeton has always been a big genre, especially in
462
00:37:36,760 --> 00:37:37,760
the 90s.
463
00:37:37,760 --> 00:37:41,240
But right now it's very popular again, you know, with that bunny, Karoji and all these
464
00:37:41,240 --> 00:37:42,240
good artists.
465
00:37:42,240 --> 00:37:46,560
But I'm taking that into account because it's very popular now.
466
00:37:46,560 --> 00:37:51,240
So Friolento took that popularity of the genre that I'm sure they enjoy and made it their
467
00:37:51,240 --> 00:37:52,240
own.
468
00:37:52,240 --> 00:37:56,400
So that reminds me exactly of the Roque en Español vibe.
469
00:37:56,400 --> 00:37:59,920
So first time Friolento and I would heavily encourage everyone to listen to them.
470
00:37:59,920 --> 00:38:26,960
They're so good.
471
00:38:26,960 --> 00:38:53,600
And second, another artist that reminds me of that Roque en Español vibe is an artist
472
00:38:53,600 --> 00:38:54,600
called Monáferte.
473
00:38:54,600 --> 00:39:00,640
I've liked her for a while and I know at first when I said that answer I was like well she
474
00:39:00,640 --> 00:39:05,600
doesn't sound like Roque en Español, but it's not necessarily the genre of her music.
475
00:39:05,600 --> 00:39:13,280
It's the artistry and her identity and her essence and spirit that I feel like exactly
476
00:39:13,280 --> 00:39:16,560
parallels the Roque en Español vibe.
477
00:39:16,560 --> 00:39:18,840
And she's also Chilean now that I think about it.
478
00:39:18,840 --> 00:39:24,480
She's also Chilean and I feel like she parallels a lot of what Chilean artists did.
479
00:39:24,480 --> 00:39:28,440
Or even just Roque en Español artists did back in the 80s.
480
00:39:28,440 --> 00:39:37,000
Because her songs aren't just, although I love all her discography, there's some songs
481
00:39:37,000 --> 00:39:41,720
that she has that she talks about issues and even if she doesn't explicitly talk about
482
00:39:41,720 --> 00:39:46,080
the issues she's very vocal about the issues in her country, in Chile because Chile's issues
483
00:39:46,080 --> 00:39:48,800
didn't stop in the 80s.
484
00:39:48,800 --> 00:39:54,040
Right now, one of the biggest issues right now is Femicidios.
485
00:39:54,040 --> 00:39:56,920
And she's been very, very vocal about that.
486
00:39:56,920 --> 00:40:01,480
And one of her songs, she does with another artist, I apologize for not remembering her
487
00:40:01,480 --> 00:40:07,440
name right now, but Cancion Sin Miedo, that's an anthem for the Femicidio protests and when
488
00:40:07,440 --> 00:40:10,060
people are sharing their stories.
489
00:40:10,060 --> 00:40:17,760
She also talks about police brutality and how she did that very brave presentation of
490
00:40:17,760 --> 00:40:26,480
herself in protest to Chile and police brutality and rape and Femicidios and abortion rights.
491
00:40:26,480 --> 00:40:32,360
So for me, I think it's not necessarily the genre of her music, but her essence and her
492
00:40:32,360 --> 00:40:38,440
artistry and the way she approaches music as an artist is very, very, very Roque en
493
00:40:38,440 --> 00:40:48,480
Espanol vibe for me.
494
00:41:08,440 --> 00:41:16,720
Thanks for these recommendations.
495
00:41:16,720 --> 00:41:21,640
Now as a way to wrap up, what other reflections would you like to share regarding this music
496
00:41:21,640 --> 00:41:24,360
and also the intergenerational aspect of it?
497
00:41:24,360 --> 00:41:31,320
I'm really appreciative that you reached out to me to be somebody to speak on, you
498
00:41:31,320 --> 00:41:32,920
know, this generation.
499
00:41:32,920 --> 00:41:38,600
And I guess I want to echo that, although I feel like my experience with Roque en Espanol
500
00:41:38,600 --> 00:41:44,320
might be similar with other folks, it might not be exactly the same, but I'm really happy
501
00:41:44,320 --> 00:41:51,220
to share my story and I hope that folks can find some, for my generation, find some similarity
502
00:41:51,220 --> 00:41:57,440
or like just something in it that they feel represents them.
503
00:41:57,440 --> 00:42:03,640
And yeah, I just really, I really love this coming of age, I guess I've had with Roque
504
00:42:03,640 --> 00:42:09,080
en Espanol because I, I don't think I want to emphasize is how I had like different reencuentros
505
00:42:09,080 --> 00:42:13,800
with it, which was first, you know, in my childhood and then again in high school or
506
00:42:13,800 --> 00:42:19,440
like early college and then 2020, which was when I looked at it more critically and I'm
507
00:42:19,440 --> 00:42:24,120
continuing to look at it more critically because I feel like sometimes I don't really necessarily
508
00:42:24,120 --> 00:42:30,480
feel a gatekeeping vibe in the Roque en Espanol community, at least in my generation.
509
00:42:30,480 --> 00:42:36,320
But sometimes it is a bit intimidating because you hear these references, yeah, this is when,
510
00:42:36,320 --> 00:42:38,600
this is when he left the band and I'm like, oh, I didn't know that.
511
00:42:38,600 --> 00:42:39,600
I didn't know that.
512
00:42:39,600 --> 00:42:43,280
So it's also like learning and not only that, but also learning, like, and I'm still learning
513
00:42:43,280 --> 00:42:48,680
like as I'm listening to your podcast, especially on episode three, like with long hair and
514
00:42:48,680 --> 00:42:50,640
Latino Mídico, I had no idea about that.
515
00:42:50,640 --> 00:42:54,240
And then Anitos Verde song that was playing in the background, El Extraño de Pelo Lago,
516
00:42:54,240 --> 00:42:58,120
like I, there's a lot of things I'm learning and I guess I can say that it's, I guess Roque
517
00:42:58,120 --> 00:43:01,960
en Espanol can be a bit intimidating, but I don't think it's a gatekeeping community
518
00:43:01,960 --> 00:43:05,000
and it's just a bit intimidating to learn all this new information.
519
00:43:05,000 --> 00:43:09,920
At the same time, it's important because we can always have like different, learn more
520
00:43:09,920 --> 00:43:13,180
about what it is and also just learn about more narratives on it.
521
00:43:13,180 --> 00:43:16,720
So it's kind of like a cycle that I hope never really stops in the next generation.
522
00:43:16,720 --> 00:43:20,760
I'm kind of excited to see what the next generation is.
523
00:43:20,760 --> 00:43:22,280
Well, me too.
524
00:43:22,280 --> 00:43:28,280
I'm definitely excited to learn how these new generations will make new meanings of
525
00:43:28,280 --> 00:43:30,600
these songs.
526
00:43:30,600 --> 00:43:36,600
And actually I'm kind of, well, as I was listening to you, I'm a bit emotional because first
527
00:43:36,600 --> 00:43:41,400
I never thought that I was going to be talking about this song so many years after they were
528
00:43:41,400 --> 00:43:49,200
released or when I first heard them, but most importantly, how songs and other type of cultural
529
00:43:49,200 --> 00:43:54,040
expressions allow us to learn about our history.
530
00:43:54,040 --> 00:44:00,800
Gives us that window and well, not only that, but by listening to them, we can not only
531
00:44:00,800 --> 00:44:05,880
think of new presence and ultimately build new futures.
532
00:44:05,880 --> 00:44:13,760
So okay, I'm canting here now, but I'm definitely, you know, makes me quite inspired and just
533
00:44:13,760 --> 00:44:14,760
a bit emotional.
534
00:44:14,760 --> 00:44:21,640
But anyways, Gabriela, thank you so much for taking the time and also sharing so much in
535
00:44:21,640 --> 00:44:22,640
this episode.
536
00:44:22,640 --> 00:44:25,280
Thank you for having me, professor.
537
00:44:25,280 --> 00:44:30,860
It was a real privilege to be here and I'm always happy to share.
538
00:44:30,860 --> 00:44:36,200
In this episode, we heard a version of Las Flores by Cafetacuba.
539
00:44:36,200 --> 00:44:40,240
The version here is performed by the students of the Miramonte music program in South Los
540
00:44:40,240 --> 00:44:41,980
Angeles.
541
00:44:41,980 --> 00:44:47,920
From Cafetacuba themselves, we listen to Las Batallas and Mediodía, this from their more
542
00:44:47,920 --> 00:44:50,720
recent Segundo Unplugged album.
543
00:44:50,720 --> 00:44:55,720
Plus, we also heard Calle 13 with Latinoamerica.
544
00:44:55,720 --> 00:45:01,040
The best recommendations included in this episode are Friolento with the cover of La
545
00:45:01,040 --> 00:45:09,120
Gata Bajo La Lluvia and Vivir Quintana, adueto con Mon Laferte with Cancion Sin Miedo.
546
00:45:09,120 --> 00:45:13,960
And yes, we listen to several versions of Tren al Sur.
547
00:45:13,960 --> 00:45:18,640
A live version from Los Prisioneros at Villa del Mar in 1991.
548
00:45:18,640 --> 00:45:21,420
This was at the apex of their career.
549
00:45:21,420 --> 00:45:27,080
We also heard the Linda Lindas version, which was performed at the Corona Capital Festival
550
00:45:27,080 --> 00:45:30,680
in Mexico City this past November 2022.
551
00:45:30,680 --> 00:45:36,980
Make sure to check out the episode notes on the podcast website, either on RSS or Spotify,
552
00:45:36,980 --> 00:45:42,800
so you can review the books and articles and do further research on the songs, the bands
553
00:45:42,800 --> 00:45:44,160
or the history.
554
00:45:44,160 --> 00:45:47,660
I am professor Jorge Leal, historian at UC Riverside.
555
00:45:47,660 --> 00:45:51,480
This podcast series features the collaboration of José Vergara, director of the Miramonte
556
00:45:51,480 --> 00:45:56,240
Music Program, and the students who are part of the Miramonte Mother Band.
557
00:45:56,240 --> 00:46:00,520
We're also very thankful for the support of the University of California Humanities Research
558
00:46:00,520 --> 00:46:02,120
Institute.
559
00:46:02,120 --> 00:46:08,760
This episode ends our summer 2023 season of The Discoursive Power of Rock en Español
560
00:46:08,760 --> 00:46:14,160
and The Desire for Democracy, o El Rock en Español y el Deseo Democrático.
561
00:46:14,160 --> 00:46:15,160
So what's next?
562
00:46:15,160 --> 00:46:22,360
Well, we'll get back to creating new episodes once the fall academic term starts.
563
00:46:22,360 --> 00:46:30,040
But perhaps that would be once a month or whenever our academic duties allows us to.
564
00:46:30,040 --> 00:46:35,040
We're very thankful for all the collaborators of the podcast, for people sharing the podcast,
565
00:46:35,040 --> 00:46:36,400
writing about the podcast.
566
00:46:36,400 --> 00:46:41,920
But most importantly, we're thankful for you for listening in, sending us your comments,
567
00:46:41,920 --> 00:46:44,380
your feedback, your likes.
568
00:46:44,380 --> 00:46:48,200
So if you got this far, please keep sending your messages.
569
00:46:48,200 --> 00:46:54,320
We would like to hear from you whenever you hear this podcast, either in 2023 or in the
570
00:46:54,320 --> 00:46:55,320
future.
571
00:46:55,320 --> 00:47:23,320
Thank you very much and see you next time.