Features - 9 to 5'ers By Day, Rock Stars By Night
You won't catch Brooklyn-based Latin-Alt folklorico band Pistolera performing in English, but a quick search through YouTube will show you that this preference doesn't keep their Belgian fans from singing along in Spanish to "Me Gusta Tomar."
Pistolera's universal appeal is the result of a new populist approach to the music industry: thanks to the increasing role of citizen journalism in the blogosphere, music fans are free hype bands they enjoy without limits of geography or language. For the MySpace generation, a record deal with a major label is no longer a prerequisite to achieving global visibility.
Formed in 2005 as a side project between two friends, the now four members of Pistolera have been garnering major attention from all over the map. After wrapping up their first European tour on May 6th, they immediately rushed off to their next gig -the Ollin Kan Festival in Mexico City, a world music festival featuring over 72 international artists. East coast fans can catch them (gratis!) at the upcoming Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival on July 5th, a show rounding out an impressive year that's included a packed house at SXSW, the release of their first album, Siempre Hay Salida, music video for "Cazador," and an American Latino Awards nomination. Their blunt stance on immigration issues, eclectic sound, and punk rock ethos has made them a playlist-must for indie heads, activists, hipsters, rockeras, y tu mama tambien.
After a series of phone calls and emails (and a couple harried IMs) before their flight to Mexico City, we were able to compile enough info to give UL readers an exclusive peek into the journey of a proudly unclassifiable Latin rock band on the rise...
Español From The Beginning
Sandra's original decision to sing in Spanish came from a perceivably unwise career move -- not wanting people at shows to understand what she was saying.
"When I wrote the first batch of Pistolera songs, they were the most personal songs I had ever written. So I almost didn't want people to understand. Now, I'm over that, and I just write in Spanish because I want to. The songs come out that way, and I don't see any reason to translate them."
Unlike other Latin bands, Pistolera has never been concerned about developing crossover appeal; their mixture of accordion music with rock and pop has received attention from a wide mix of publications including, Billboard Magazine, Latina Magazine, The New Yorker and El Diario. Pistolera's recent international tour revealed what they have always known - great music transcends language.
"About halfway through our tour through Belgium and Holland we had still only met one person who spoke Spanish," said Sandra. "No one was understanding a word we were singing! But they loved it anyway."
Rather than allowing themselves to be pigeonholed early on as a rock en espaņol band or play to one particular scene or demographic, they made the wise choice to perform for as many different audiences as possible.
"We've played to all-anglo audiences that don't understand what we are saying but they appreciate the music," Sandra explained, "and we have played to Latino audiences that understand everything and cheer our lyrics. We have signed autographs for everyone between age 5 and 50. I really feel that Pistolera is fun for the whole family."
When it comes to being labeled by their audiences, Pistolera is a band of schizophrenic character - classified as world music within Anglo markets, known as indie in Latino music circles.
"It's fine with us!" Sandra replied cheerfully in her signature "calm-but-don't-mess-with this" style - "It just goes to show you that we live in a global culture and people listen to all sorts of different music nowadays."
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