Argentine perspectives on Mexican Music

3 september 2006

The cultural clichés of an Argentine presence in Mexico are obvious; a parilla on every street corner with their cartoon size steaks, long haired footballers rolling around in agony on every pitch,  unreasonably good looking models on every billboard and tv advert selling you products you neither need or want. 

If there has been such an invasion of Argentine talent in the last 5 years due to the economic and social impact of the recent crisis, then surely the Mexican music scene would have benefited just as much as other sectors of the economy?

Inside looking out – 29luces

A band that might be considered as part of the new independent music scene here is 29luces.  The group formed in Buenos Aires in 2004 arriving in Mexico in December of that year. 

For the whole of 2005 they threw themselves at Mexico, playing more than 40 times in around 10 months as well as releasing their debut album “enciende el aire” on the Fonarte label. 

After a brief spell back in Argentina at the start of 2006 they are back on the scene again looking to build on the foundations laid in 2005. 

It has not been straight forward; recent change in management has meant the withdrawal of the album from retail outlets.  Also they have found it difficult to get exposure through the mass media that often focuses more on new Mexican acts.

But the band is not discouraged, Juan Pablo Fallucca, the creative core of the group, feels that if they perform in front of enough people then the message will eventually get through.  

Rather than being an Argentine band in Mexico they think of themselves as more “citizens of the world” with music as their universal language. 

The band hope to pass the winter in the Californian Mountains at a secluded studio to start focusing on a freer progressive rock style to match their open minded approach to life.  

With the new material recorded 29 luces then will consider a move to Spain.  Thus rather than being locked into the Mexican scene the band come over more as musical nomads.

Outside looking in - Plush

Tufo is the lead singer of a folk rock band called Plush based in Buenos Aires.  He feels the Mexican market is attractive to Argentine bands for two main reasons and hopes to take his band north in the near future.

First the stable income they can generate through playing live gigs, plus Mexico’s proximity to the US and the exposure they may get there compared to the relative isolation of the Southern Cone.

Tufo feels that there have been a number of challenges for new musicians recently in Argentina that have made them consider moving abroad. 

Not only the economic crisis but also events like the Cromagnon disaster at the end of 2004 when 194 people died at a concert. 

As local government investigated the cause all live music in the city was banned for a couple of months and musicians were left with nowhere to play. 

He feels it was the final straw for many who were just beginning to scrape a living together after two years of economic depression.

There are, of course, many “rogue” Argentine musicians contributing to the scene here by playing with Mexican bands but the influence of Argentine bands based in Mexico may be overstated. 

According to the statistics a significant number of young people have left Argentina in order to find new opportunities in the period from 2000-2005.  But these highly educated and talented people have tended to direct themselves towards their ancestral homes of Spain and Italy rather than to Mexico.  

Thus if Mexico’s music scene is being influenced by Argentine music and musicians it seems to be external in nature, highlighted by the popularity of bands such as Babasonicos.

There is little evidence of Argentine groups using the growing indie scene in Mexico as a platform from which to pursue success.