Rock group
Caifanes from
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
are pioneers of the revival of
Spanish-languageSpanish or Castilian is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that originated in northern Spain and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile, evolving into the principal language of government and trade in the Iberian peninsula...
rock (
Rock en EspañolRock en español refers to Spanish-language rock music. It belongs to a broader category, Ibero-American rock, which includes all rock music expressions in Spanish and Portuguese talking countries, both in American and European countries....
) in Mexico in the mid to late 1980s. Their musical approach clashed with the then dominating ballads and happy pop tunes that filled the radio and TV programs, in offering dark and moody lyrics.
The first Caifanes lineup consisted of
Saúl HernándezSaúl Alfonso Hernández Estrada , is the former lead singer, songwriter and guitarist of Caifanes, a famous Mexican rock en español group formed in 1987.In 1996, Saúl Hernández sang a duet with Algerian raï singer Khaled...
(vocals & guitar),
Sabo RomoSabo Romo is a musician, bass and guitar player, composer and producer. He was born in Mexico City.Interested in music since childhood, played drums, wrote songs and sang on his first band: Sabo learn to play guitar in the streets: at eighteen he discovered the bass, and formed “Manhattan” , light...
(bass guitar), Alfonso André (drums) and
Diego HerreraDiego Rodrigo Herrera Larrea is a retired footballer from Ecuador, who played as an attacking midfielder during his career. He obtained a total number of 11 caps for the Ecuador national football team during the 1990s, scoring no goals.-References:* at National Football Teams*...
(keyboards and saxophone).
Rock group
Caifanes from
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
are pioneers of the revival of
Spanish-languageSpanish or Castilian is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that originated in northern Spain and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile, evolving into the principal language of government and trade in the Iberian peninsula...
rock (
Rock en EspañolRock en español refers to Spanish-language rock music. It belongs to a broader category, Ibero-American rock, which includes all rock music expressions in Spanish and Portuguese talking countries, both in American and European countries....
) in Mexico in the mid to late 1980s. Their musical approach clashed with the then dominating ballads and happy pop tunes that filled the radio and TV programs, in offering dark and moody lyrics.
Line-up
The first Caifanes lineup consisted of
Saúl HernándezSaúl Alfonso Hernández Estrada , is the former lead singer, songwriter and guitarist of Caifanes, a famous Mexican rock en español group formed in 1987.In 1996, Saúl Hernández sang a duet with Algerian raï singer Khaled...
(vocals & guitar),
Sabo RomoSabo Romo is a musician, bass and guitar player, composer and producer. He was born in Mexico City.Interested in music since childhood, played drums, wrote songs and sang on his first band: Sabo learn to play guitar in the streets: at eighteen he discovered the bass, and formed “Manhattan” , light...
(bass guitar), Alfonso André (drums) and
Diego HerreraDiego Rodrigo Herrera Larrea is a retired footballer from Ecuador, who played as an attacking midfielder during his career. He obtained a total number of 11 caps for the Ecuador national football team during the 1990s, scoring no goals.-References:* at National Football Teams*...
(keyboards and saxophone). Late in 1989, a new member (who had previously played in a band with Hernández and André), Alejandro Marcovich (lead guitar), was recruited. A power struggle between Marcovich and Hernández later led to Caifanes' break up.
Other members (guest musicians):
Jesús "Chucho" MerchánChucho Merchan is a session jazz bassist. Merchan was born December 25, 1953 in Bogotá, Colombia, and received a Bachelor of Arts from Cambridge University in 1980....
(bass),
Federico FongFederico Fong is a member of several bands in Mexico and the United States:*HipHop Hoodios*Jaguares*La Barranca*CaifanesBorn in Northern California's Bay Area in 1967 to a Panamian father of Chinese descent and an American mother, Fong relocated at a young age with his family to Mexico City where...
(bass), Jose Manuel Aguilera (guitar),
Stuart HammStuart "Stu" Hamm is an American bass guitar player, known for his session and live work with numerous artists as well for his unconventional playing style and solo recordings.-Beginning career:...
(bass),
Gustavo CeratiGustavo Adrián Cerati Clark is an Argentine artist and songwriter. During the 1980s and 90s he was a member of the Argentine Rock group Soda Stereo, along with Charly Alberti and Zeta Bosio. In the early 90s, with Amor Amarillo, he pursued a solo career.- Career :Cerati recorded two solo albums...
(guitar),
Adrian BelewAdrian Belew is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer...
(guitar), Yann Zaragoza (keyboards) and Cecilia Toussaint (backing vocals), Leo (percussion).
History
Their first live show was April 11, 1987, in Rockotitlan, a famous rock venue in Mexico City. The expectation created by Mexico City's underground rock scene was so immense that the building was filled to capacity and people were left outside. Even though Caifanes was a new group with bass player and producer Sabo Romo and Diego Herrera on keyboards and sax. Saul, Alfonso, and Alejandro Marcovich had already played in a band, Las Insólitas Imágenes de Aurora (
The Unusual Images of Aurora), that had a legion of fans.
Their first disc, the self-titled
Caifanes (also known as
Mátenme porque me muero, Volumen I, or the
Black Disc) went on sale in August 1988 and the single "Mátenme porque me muero" ("Kill me because I'm dying") was their first hit, which was then followed by "Viento" and "La negra Tomasa" (the latter a cover of the cumbia written by the Cuban musician Guillermo Rodriguez Fiffe). The disc showed clear influences of the British band
The CureThe Cure are an English alternative rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976 by Robert Smith, Lawrence Tolhurst and Michael Dempsey. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member...
. Gustavo Cerati of
Soda StereoSoda Stereo was an Argentine rock trio formed in 1982 consisting of guitarist and vocalist Gustavo Cerati, bassist Zeta Bosio and drummer Charly Alberti. The band established what would become the template for many other popular Spanish-speaking pop and rock music groups: clever, often mysterious...
was an invited musician playing the guitar in "La Bestia humana". The CD itself was preceded by an EP made up of three songs. This was in order to see if the targeted audience would accept the group. The immediate sale of 300,000 copies prompted the making of the full disc.
Their second disc was titled
Volumen II (
Volume II, but it is much better known as
El Diablito (
The Little Devil)). This is due to the image of a devil, such as those found in the Mexican "
LoteriaLotería is a Mexican game of chance, similar to Bingo, but using images on a deck of cards instead of plain numbers on ping pong balls. Every image has a name and an assigned number, but the number is usually ignored. Each player has at least one tabla, a board with a randomly created 4 x 4 grid of...
" game that resembles bingo. In this disc we see the inclusion of Alejandro Marcovich to the group as the lead guitar. His presence results in a notorious change from the beginning and his style would be fundamental to what would be Caifane's trademark sound.
In
Volumen II appears one of the most famous songs of the group, "La Célula que explota" (The Exploding Cell). This song is a hybrid of a rock ballad and a mariachi, and it points into the direction that Caifanes would take in terms of musical style – a mix of rock with elements of various forms that are found in the Mexican music scene.
In 1992,
El Silencio (
The Silence) was released. It was produced by
Adrian BelewAdrian Belew is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer...
and includes many of Caifanes' biggest songs. "No dejes que..." ("Don't let"), "Miércoles de ceniza" (" Wednesday of ashes"), "Nubes" ("Clouds"), and "Nos vamos juntos" ("We Leave Together") are found here, among many others. At this time the group was already a hit in Mexico, Central America, parts of South America and also among the Latino community of the United States. In August of that year, they played in front of a sold-out crowd at the
Hollywood PalladiumThe Hollywood Palladium is a theater located at 6215 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California. It was built in a Streamline Moderne, Art Deco style and includes an 11,200 square foot dance floor with room for up to 4,000 people.-History:...
in Los Angeles and in 1993 they did the same in Mexico City's Palacio De Los Deportes, something that had never happened with a rock group. In that concert, Sabo Romo played his last show with the group. Diego Herrera would follow suit at the end of that tour.
At the end of the tour, Caifanes became a trio formed by Saul, Alfonso, and Alejandro. Federico Fong joined as a bass player and Yann Zaragoza played the keyboard. Together they made Caifanes' last disc,
El nervio del volcán (
The Volcano's Nerve). The singles to come out of this disc were "Afuera" ("Outside"), "Aquí no es así" ("Here It's Not Like That"), and "Ayer me dijo un ave" ("Yesterday A Bird Told Me)". At this point, their presence grew and the media followed the band very closely. They played an Unplugged show for MTV Latino (which was in fact not an acoustic concert). Their fame grows as they open for the Rolling Stones in Mexico City and participate in the WOMAD festival, organized by
Peter GabrielPeter Brian Gabriel is an English musician and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career. More recently he has focused on producing and promoting world music and pioneering...
.
Caifanes ceased to be in 1995 due to Saúl Hernández and Alejandro Marcovich's creative and legal differences, most notably over the use of the name "Caifanes". Caifanes last played live in San Luis Potosi (a city of Mexico).
Style
In the beginning, it seemed that Caifanes was just a Spanish version of The Cure. This however would not turn out to be the style that they would follow. The inclusion of La Negra Tomasa in their self-titled album was unforeseen, as both Hernandez and Romo are both from a middle class background. After this first disc, Caifanes would not try to imitate another particular group's style, instead, it would incorporate elements of different music from Mexico's varied music scene onto their own songs.
In El Diablito, while most of the songs have a style that would be simply classified as rock, the lyrics themselves also change and start taking popular elements (such as the usage of the phrase De Noche Todos Los Gatos Son Pardos (At night, all the cats are dark,darkish) in the title of the song). In this disc we also see what would be the model for their songs in La Celula Que Explota (The Exploding Cell); poetic and demanding lyrics with music that runs in between rock and Mexican music. Alejandro Marcovich's presence in the group from this disc on becomes fundamental in the sound in such a way that for many fans, the difference between Caifanes and Jaguares is the style of the lead guitarist.
La Celula Que Explota, a mix of a rock ballad and a mariachi, is the first of many songs that would blur the line between rock and Mexican music. In El Silencio, the fusion would follow a rhythm that is followed by people in Mexico's poorer parts. Nubes (Clouds), Hasta Morir (Until Death), Para Que No Digas Que No Pienso En Ti (So That You Cant Say That I Don't Think About You). You also hear a bit of banda (Piedra- Stone), and even a version of Son Veracruzano in the song Mariquita, where the traditional Jaranas are mixed with Marcovich's guitar. And lastly, in El Nervio Del Volcan, you can hear the group experimenting with indigenous rhythms in Afuera, they include a touch of a bolero in Ayer Me Dijo Un Ave and they play La Llorona over the traditional vals that bears the same name.
Aftermath and Legacy
In the late 90's Saúl Hernández came out with another group,
JaguaresJaguares is a Grammy winning mexican alternative rock band formed by former Caifanes lead singer Saúl Hernández, after that band's break-up in 1995, because of personal differences...
which is basically the evolution of Caifanes' musical style, showing what direction Caifanes would have taken without Alejandro Marcovich. The only "official" member is Saúl, (even though Alfonso André has been the only drummer in all of Jaguares' records and tours, he's been credited as guest musician), but most of the musicians,like Sabo Romo and Herrera, that recorded or toured with Caifanes, (with the exception of Marcovich) have participated in this project recording and touring, always being billed as "guest musicians".
Since then, Jaguares has consolidated into one of Spanish Rock's premier bands in both critical and commercial success.
Despite only four albums in eight years, Caifanes will be forever be associated with the revival of
Rock en EspañolRock en español refers to Spanish-language rock music. It belongs to a broader category, Ibero-American rock, which includes all rock music expressions in Spanish and Portuguese talking countries, both in American and European countries....
and its golden era (1984-1997).
Discography
- Caifanes
Caifanes is the debut album by Caifanes, a Rock en español band from Mexico in 1988 after the success of their first singles Matenme porque me muero and La bestia humana...
(1988), aka Matenme porque me muero, Volumen 1
- El diablito
El Diablito , is a Rock en español album released in June of 1990 by Caifanes. Original members Saul Hernandez, Alfonso Andre, Sabo Romo, and Diego Herrera returned, along with a new guitar player: Alejandro Marcovich, who joined in September of 1989.-Track listing:# Detrás de ti # Antes de que nos...
(1990), aka Volumen 2
- El silencio
El silencio is an album of Rock en español released by Caifanes from Mexico on May 29, 1992. Saúl Hernández , Alfonso André , Sabo Romo , Alejandro Marcóvich , and Diego Herrera returned to record the band's third album in five years.It was produced by Adrian Belew -Track listing:# Metamorféame...
(1992)
- El nervio del volcán
El nervio del volcán is an album released by Mexican Rock en español band Caifanes in July of 1994.With bassist Sabo Romo and keyboardist Diego Herrera out of the band since 1993, Saúl Hernández , Alfonso André , and Alejandro Marcóvich were the remaining band members left to record Caifanes'...
(1994)
- La Historia (1997), (greatest hits compilation)
External links