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The Spanish wave: the story behind Spanish bands’ popularity in Latin America

9 min read


The Spanish wave: the story behind Spanish bands’ popularity in Latin America

800 people, right in front of you, singing every bit of your lyrics, every word, and chanting ‘oe oe oe’ as one”. This was one of the fondest memories of Jorge Martí – frontman and guitarist of La Habitación Roja – around the band’s gigs in Latin America. But how come an indie band from Spain made such a splash all the way across the ocean? Well, they are not the only ones, and we could go back as far as the 80’s to examine the constant flow of Spanish acts into Latin America, slowly but surely. We spoke with some of the artists involved in this wave of Spanish fever to try to understand the reasons behind it. 

From kids’ phenomenon Parchís to Hombres G, Miguel Bosé, Mecano or Alaska, these were some of the first alternative Spanish acts to make it in Latin America during the eighties. We could even dig a little deeper to find other artists during the previous decade, however, they are not your average indie band. Think of Ranchera Queen Rocío Durcal; crooner turned sex-symbol Julio Iglesias or Catalan protest singer Joan Manuel Serrat.

But during the 2000s decade, names such as Bunbury, the aforementioned La Habitación Roja or Dorian were leading the way in that second Spanish indie wave. “We began to visit Mexico at the end of the 00’s, while the independent scene at home was blossoming,” Marc Gili, frontman of electronic new wave Dorian, recalls. “Back then, only a few bands dared to go to Latin America, and we were one of the first. That’s one of the reasons why we made it there.” 

Indeed, the pioneering feel might be one of the reasons, but without the internet, which meant a dearth of information, it would be quite challenging to create the conditions for a fruitful relationship to bloom. Enter factor number two: the music press. “Given that indie was the hottest trend in Spain, some bands were featured in Mexican music magazines, Dorian among them,” Gili continues. “So, when we arrived the scene took us in, yet, we worked really hard to make sure it was like that, touring the whole country, playing time and again in every place until things started to happen. You can’t expect to be successful in a country without going there many times”, he adds. 

In a time and place when the Internet wasn’t a global unifinier as it is right now, Valencian indie heroes, La Habitación Roja, experienced something very similar. “Mexican fans were the ones asking us to come and play there. They were our sponsors! I remember that towards the end of the 90’s, early 2000’s, they would contact us via letter or even, much to our surprise, via telephone. International phone calls to our parents’ houses! They would show devotion for LHR. They discovered us thanks to magazines such as Rockdelux and Factory, because they would feature the band in the free CD’s that came with the magazines, along with other Spanish acts. This was our ticket to make it across the ocean”, Martí states. 

And then it all started to happen: a constant drip of Spanish artists visiting and touring Mexico, Argentina, Chile… However, what was happening on their shores? How many bands were coming to Spain to tour relentlessly? One can’t help but have the feeling this exchange wasn’t exactly equal. Spain was exporting way more acts than it was importing. 

We actually consume music from Latin America, especially urban music from Argentina, for instance” says Marcos Crespo, a.k.a Depresión Sonora, and adds: “perhaps it has to do with the infrastructure of our music industry, making it easier for us to send musicians over there than the other way around”. 

Depresión Sonora

He is not the only one to point out that despite the fact that Spain is a quite small country, it does have a well developed music industry, with its record labels, established press, venues, well-known festivals and so on. Yet, let’s not forget precisely that “a quite small country”, which is what Joan Vich, former programmer of Festival Internacional de Benicàssim (FIB) and director of Ground Control Management points out: “the Spanish market is small-scale”. 

As such, artists might want to reconsider your potential benefits before investing a great deal of resources coming to tour in Spain. In addition to this, Vich sheds light on a much more controversial issue: subtle racism. “It is way more complicated for a Latin artist to get visas to come play in Europe than for us to go there. We enter the realm of political, economical and social nuances” he adds.

Vich, with his calm voice, talks of one of his artists, Ghouljaboy, who is currently touring the Latin continent.  “What do you consider success? Because he’s not playing stadiums right now”, he points out. Nevertheless, he is playing a bunch of dates and raising interest wherever he goes, getting noticed by the hour. “Yes, we might export more music because we have an already established industry. But since a few years ago, they have been working hard to set up a music industry, and we will see its fruits very soon”, observes the manager. 

Ghouljaboy

So far, it seems we were only able to talk logistics, which might blind us from the real deal: the passion, the audience, the connection between countries, societies and scenes. All united under one shared interest: music. Music in its various forms, genres and styles. So beyond the industry, why is the Latin American audience embracing Spanish music?

Speaking from Ghouljaboy’s own experience, Joan Vich points out that the common language has an “influential importance”, but the key lies in the sounds the young artist is exploring. “Post-punk, urban sounds and psychedelica are hugely popular sounds over there, especially Mexico and Chile,” he says. 

For Depresión Sonora the reasons are quite similar, given that “during the 80’s that first wave of post-punk was embraced with bands such as The Cure or Joy Division”, which laid the foundations for people being interested in those sonic atmospheres and thus, becoming more interested and opened towards new projects, such as himself. “The lyrics of the band, which are quite dark and with an existential vibe at times, clicked really well with the latin audience” admits Marc Gili and adds: “other bands weren’t so lucky. But for us, once Dorian started to be successful in Mexico, we repeated the formula in Colombia, Peru, Chile and now we are working really hard with Argentina and the United States”.

Unlike during the early 2000’s, the Internet has become the reason and the enabler of this globalized world. Therefore, every single time it becomes harder to single out sounds from a specific place or time, making mental and physical frontiers a thing of the past. “Everything becomes similar in the cultural world nowadays. The aesthetics, the reactions, the influences, the trends… it all becomes a blur; there’s no difference anymore” says Marcos Crespo from Depresión Sonora. While asked about his art and why the Latin audience connects with him, he explains that it is a “generational thing”. 

My music talks of experiences that can be shared within my generation, regardless of the place where you live, because they assess vital issues for you, your worries and hopes, and those are common”, Crespo says. And in a much globalized world, it is crucial to also find those elements that differentiate you from the rest. Depresión Sonora: “there are many common elements with other bands from here or there, but each project feels different because of the source of inspiration. Think of Josue from la Tejana, who I get along nicely with. His project is a mixture of traditional Mexican music with post punk. And me? Well, I have a very Castilian austerity vibe in my music, given my roots”.

What unites us and what not. “There are many traits that unite us with Latin America; but many more that differentiate us”, affirms Jorge Martí from LHR. The band has become a sort of cult icon in Mexico and has a very loyal fanbase there which grows every year thanks to some independent radio stations such as Reactor or Radio Íbero and, of course, thanks to the Internet. “The fact that we have a different accent, the way we sing, or some of the influences we have – more European – might be the reasons why they find us interesting or different from their local bands”, the singer reflects before adding: “I remember Enrique Bunbury’s piece of advice, saying we should keep insisting, after we first played in Mexico in 2004. He said the audience over there is loyal and once they embraced you, you were their band forever. Since then, we’ve lost count of how many times we’ve played over there and each time, their interaction has been better than before”.

People live their concerts with a higher intensity than back home. It’s a whole new reality! The audience really appreciates that you come from a place so far away just to play for them, whether in Guatemala or El Salvador. You are singing songs they have been singing for years and paid a high price to see you live, so the emotion, the feeling is so strong. The complexity behind organizing a gig, on one hand, and also, the prices fans have to pay for the tickets, on the other, is much more than at home.” 

The access to culture becomes a luxury that not everybody can afford; so they go through great lengths to do so. Therefore the intensity”, says Depresión Sonora. “They are fanatical about music”, notes Joan Vich and emphasizes: “in the best possible meaning of the word. They are very passionate, especially the Argentinians and Mexicans. They want to enjoy it, they are hardcore fans”. It is hard to pick one country, as Marc from Dorian puts it: “everywhere in Latin America the audience is incredible. They give you their everything”.