Thursday, June 19, 2008

My Pastilla article that didn't show up in the paper today



Seems my editor dropped the ball and forgot to include my article on Rock en Español band Pastilla today (it's all good, I still got luv for you Mac). Here's the article, in it's entirety. Al rato.

Pastilla brings Latin Rock to the Fox
By Marc Cabrera

Valley rockeros will have a night all their own when one of the hottest Latin modern rock bands plays tonight at the Fox Theater in Salinas.
Pastilla has been tearing up the Latin Rock charts in the past year on the heels of their 2007 release “A Marte.” Their fourth album, the record is filled with the distorted guitars and laid-back harmonies that have marked their work and earned them fans from the most hardcore Mexico City loyalists to newly discovered scenesters in New York City.
The show is hosted by Aguas Brothers Entertainment. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. tonight, show starts at 7:30 p.m.
Formed in the 1990s by brothers Victor and Adrian Monroy, who were born in Chihuahua, Mexico but raised in Southern California, the band started out with Brit Pop, Grunge and New Wave influences, while holding close to the Spanish Rock scene that was emerging in Los Angeles. They recorded their first album in 1996 on the now defunct Aztlan Records, and eventually signed with BMG records two years later.
Their first major label album, “Vox Electra,” included their first foray into bilingual musical experimentation. The song “Be” included lyrics in both English and Spanish. The group mixed down the track so the words were sung in both languages at the same time, with the English vocal panned to the right and the Spanish version to the left.
“It was something to show people that the language doesn't have anything to do with it, it's mainly the music,” said Monroy. “Of course it has something to do with it because of the meaning of the words in each language and blah, blah, blah, but what we're trying to show is when music is good, it's good in any language and you can appreciate it.”
More recently, the band played an international festival in Texas where the theme revolved around African culture. Monroy conduced the between-song banter in English, which eased the audience into the Spanish lyrics.
“It was funny and I was proud to see African-Americans, Asians and white people rocking out to Pastilla, even though they couldn't understand anything we were saying,” he said with a laugh.
Cultivating listeners and maintain consistency has required strategy as the band has evolved. Victor Monroy's brother Adrian left the band a few years ago, and the current lineup consists of Monroy on guitar and vocals, original drummer Eric Rubalcaba and bassist Eduardo Trujillo.
The band has maintained a stronghold on the Los Angeles and Mexico City scenes, while finding new fans in New York City, where the genre is starting to catch a buzz.
“We are going there the day after the Salinas show,” said Monroy. “When we were invited to play, I posted the gig on our MySpace page and found out we have a bunch of fans in New York. Everyone's waiting for us there. It's pretty cool.”

1 comment:

ReneeeeneR said...

Marc great article! Also I lost your number and your e-mail isn't working! E-mail me your number so I can call you.

Much respect,
Renee Infelise
rinfelise@gmail.com