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By Julia Kadatko Mexico City Limits In the ‘90s, Café Tacuba was a groundbreaking yet relatively underground rock act hailing from Mexico City. The group — featuring Rubén Albarrán, Emmanuel del Real and brothers Quique and Joselo Rangel — finally broke big with its Grammy-winning 1999 album Revés/Yo Soy and kept the momentum going with incredible follow-up albums, most recently SINO. In the four years between SINO and its predecessor, the band made countless world headlines, from becoming the first Latin act to headline Lollapalooza to setting a national attendance record with a 170,000-person crowd for a hometown concert. Band bassist Quique Rangel tells more. What themes are most prevalent on the new album? There’s a lot of introspection in these compositions, a lot of reflection on the process of time, some nostalgic moments and an acceptance of things we have to live with. I can say I recognized us in the lyrics as four guys in their late 30s (sigh). Do you consider yourself a musical muse for the social and cultural changes in Mexico City life? I think we actually write very local songs that involve some ideas and feelings that can be understood by people from the outside. That’s the best way to keep creation honest, by not thinking of a potential listener when we write. We’re that final listener. What foundations and causes are most important to the band? We had worked with movements to help people from Chiapas, defense on ethnic autonomies and doing concerts to make people aware of ecological damage from different issues like nuclear testing and deforestation. Since we are no political leaders and there are no plans for any of us to become one, we use our music to get people’s attention towards those who know better, as long as the political groups or institutions aren’t taking advantage for their own [monetary] cause. The band’s been around for nearly two decades with the same members. What is the secret to the band’s longevity? We didn’t think of this as a way to make money or become famous. There was no chance for a group like ours to get that in the early ‘90s. We understand that music is why we got together, to express ourselves and to face our vision with others who are similar. You’ve played some historic shows. Which one of them do you remember most fondly? In 2004, we celebrated our 15th anniversary at Palacio de Los Deportes with two shows, each one with 18,000 people. They were 4-hour concerts, and we played songs from all our records, had some guest musicians and recorded it on a DVD. I have seen it a few times and I still get the same shivers I felt listening to people screaming and singing every song. On the web: cafetacuba.com.mx |
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