Los Esquizitos
“The contracted debt with Los Esquizitos is initial. Its direct influence can be found in the epidemic they spread without asking for it, by chance. In the quarry of their obsessions, a side b of a scene subdued to the no-longer-charming hit, was carved; because first of all, Los Esquizitos listened and listen to music. In a stupid and insistent way, as if by having it, they could lack everything else. The reasons to form a band are infinite. Theirs was out of urgency, to plug and brake. Back then, nobody needed something similar to Los Esquizitos, but they managed to convince the world about the opposite. They were ignored by some. Many others, they ones who decided to follow them, got the message: rock is that big joke to laugh at, even if you don’t quite get it. This is the story of Los Esquizitos up to now, where the laughter is still echoing. We never knew how the story of the weasel ended; and us, the ones in the debt hope never to find out.” Rodrigo Marquez Tizano
Brisa: The terror of drum skins. A housewife on an antibombs shelter, she cooks lead with a copper grapeshot to feed her little bird. All that Tank Girl is and knows, she learnt from Brisa (even having a kangaroo boyfriend). Speak gently to her because she knows 9 different martial arts and she lights her cigarettes from the sparks of your crashed thightbone.
El Tio Alex (Uncle Alex): Alechemist, bohemian, philosopher, and sybarite. It is so easy for him to turn things into gold that he gets bored and instead he sheds his knowledge over the glowing skins of the adolescents that surround him. When he is late to hit the sun, he plugs his guitar to remind him who rules here.
El Profesor Desorden (Professor Mess): More distinguished than Goebbels and more convincent than the Slimstep infomercials. Doctor Lameme is the only one close to his hipnotic powers. He is capable of originating or stopping cataclysims when he plays the bass. It is never the wrong moment to offer him a beer, but that doesn’t guarantee you that he will forgive your life.
El Uilis: Behind that spastic and festive façade, there is a coarse spirit. He keeps his most sinister talents to change your body chemistry out of a microphone. If you have the temper to start a conversation with him, consider yourself lost when you think he abruptly changes the subject. From that point on, you’ll be possesed.
Los Esquizitos:
A band of brothers, almost friends. A band of music lovers, almost musicians. A cult band that planted the seed for the surf-garage movement, so that newer generations would harvest its fruits; shirts with flower prints, wrestlers’ masks, the beach fantasy of Mexico in the 50s, and of course, the magic of black and white cinema with exotic beauties and unusual monsters are part of today’s bands slang; who only ten years ago was a rarity on Mexico City’s popular belief.
This collosal band was formed in the mid ninties. Their first show took place in the venue of the multidisciplinary coffee place BillArt on May 4th , 1994, show to which they were introduced as the “Ultimate Freak Rockers”.
Breeze, the drummer, owned an underground bar called Tuttifrutti; Nacho Desorden (bassist) and Güili Damage (guitar, theremin, and voice) shared occupation at a famous record store called Super Sound, and for many years they hosted and produced several radio shows on the legendary station Rock 101 of Nucleo Radio Mil; Alex Garrido (lead guitar) closes the circle that generates an explosive blend, which led them to record their first LP album Los Esquizitos (Opcion Sonica, 1998), to collaborate on soundtracks of short and long films (Sexo, pudor y lagrimas), to play inside and outside of the country, and to record as guests of well known artists within a time lapse of only three years…
There was a change of lineup in which Brisa left; Carlos Icaza (multi- intrumentalist drummer, presently member of Los Fancy Free) and Monica “the doctor” Molina (theremin, effects, back up voice) joined and led to the launching of the EP Hagalo usted mismo (Do it yourself) (Clásicos Atrabancados/Grabaxiones Alicia, 2000), the unpublished recording of Banda Sonora Original, produced by Ruben Albarran from Café Tacuba, and after seven years of hard work, the band decided to split apart.
On 2006, with the fever for surf, garage, punk, new wave, Ignacio Pineda, producer and manager of the venue Multiforo Cultural Alicia and front row witness of the band’s development, decides to celebrate the 10th year anniversary of the venue with a never seen before event, gathering the original lineup to end all questions about the origin of this euphoria.
Four consecutive sold out shows awoke the interest of the organizers of Vive Latino and invited the band to play again (they had already done so on the first edition), this time for an audience of over 60, 000 people.
In 2009, after a series of sporadic shows, the band celebrated their 15th anniversary by repeating their achievement on the main stage of the festival, lighting the fire for the official comeback of Los Esquizitos; it is backstage of this great show, product of a memorable reunion with the engineer and producer of their first album, that the band decides to officially come back with a new generation under their arm.
Titled Tú quieres ser como yo (You want to be like me) (Discos Intolerancia, 2011) was mixed and recorded at Estudio 19 and Estudio A on 2010 at the foot of the Ajusco mountain by engineer and producer Rogelio Gomez, ex guitar player of the pioneer band Ansia.
Trace Thomas was in charge of the mastering at Masterlab in Miami, Florida (he has worked for artists such as Prince, Madonna, Nince Inch Nails, Enya, Maroon 5, Collective Soul, The Prodigy, Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, Rick Ross, Pitbull, among hundreds of others).
Throughout the twelve takes of the album, there’s an stylistic journey that completely leaves surf behind to give way to highway boogie (2012, Apocalypse No), dark punk (Venganza), Rolling Stones kind of classic rock (Áymon Faya, Chiggy Pop), raw garage (Lux Interior), instrumental swing core (Pierdealmas), indie pop (PSP), and much more.
An important feature on the new songs is the outstanding participation of Brisa on the main and backup vocals, which brings a new nuance to the band’s style; while Alex continues to produce impossible to duplicate guitar riffs, Nacho gives a solid bass play comparable to a tsunami, Güili puts the theramin on the side and tries the electric bass next to Nacho when he is not executing supporting guitars.
The album also has a new interpretation in Spanish of the classic song by Talking Heads, Thank You For Sending Me an Angel (song from which the album title is taken: Tu Quieres Ser Como Yo), a sensitive tribute to Velvet Underground (One of These Days), to the Ramones (I Wanna Be Sedated), and to The Gun (Sex Beat); all of them crucial on the band’s roots, among so many others to mention.
It can be said that the band’s beginning marked an audacious way of making rock in Mexico. Now with their come back, it’s a logical sequel of a work that still has a long road ahead.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Los Esquizitos.
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