16 November 2009
By Jonathan Jackson. Photography: Flor Marenco
Band practice, sound checks, any time it was the right time for messing around musically, the five musicians who make up La Cuneta Son Machín would bust out some musica chinamera Nicaragüense. Despite being a musical genre surrounded by perceptions of low class and tackiness, it is also the music that is heard in a majority of Nicaraguan festivals and street celebrations and it holds a special place in the heart of many. Perhaps it shouldn’t come as a surprise then, that what began as a joke has become a phenomenon.
Armed with an admittedly small playlist of musica chinamera, reinterpreted and injected with a sense of humor and a heavy dose of rock and roll, a penchant for Rolter sandals and a charismatic lead singer named after a legume (who looks like the Nicaraguan lovechild of Mick Jagger and Frank Zappa), La Cuneta Son Machín has opened the music up to a whole new audience, taking their rightful place as the best (and only) “CUMBIA-ROCK-LATIN-CHINAMO-FUNK” band in the country.
How did the idea for La Cuneta Son Machín originate?
Augusto Mejia (bass): “Chinamera” music, is the old school, typical Nicaraguan music that you hear in national holiday parties, hipicas and all types of street celebrations. So usually at the end of any practice we had with other bands that we were part of, we would always finish by fucking around and playing (chinamo) songs like “La Cumbia Chinandegana” or “Entre Ritmos y Palmeras.” It was always a lot of fun for us, and then one day we were like ‘hey we can stop messing around and make this into a real project.’ So we did and we have tried to keep the spontaneity of the genre and mix it with contemporary styles like rock, funk, ska and pop.
Carlos Mejia (marimba): The idea is to take all these songs that for many people may be chinameras or “jinchas” (music of the poor), songs that are danced to in the traditional celebrations, but that get people happy and give them all types of emotions. So we take some of those songs and we bring them to another kind of audience, mixing them with different types of arrangements.
What does the name of the band mean to you?
Augusto: We based the name La Cuneta Son Machín on the idea that “la cuneta” (the curb, the side of the street) is a common area where a lot of cultural events take place, events that are essential Nicaraguan idiosyncrasies. For us, la cuneta symbolizes cultural expression and Nicaraguan urban folklore. “Son Machín” (Sound Machine) was added in a fun way to give an idea of the musical fusion that we put into the project.
Why do you guys all wear Rolter sandals?
Augusto: We wear Rolters for comfort, and because they are directly identified with the popular apparel and clothing of Nicaraguans.
Have you been surprised by the audience response to your performances?
Carlos “Frijol” Guillen (vocalist): (Laughs…a lot) Yeah, we thought that it was going to work but we never thought the response from the people would be so big so soon. We were even thinking about just practicing for a while until we had a whole set of songs and then start to promote them, but we never imagined that with only 3 or 4 songs the people would be so enthusiastic.
Augusto: We’re really fired up about the way the band has been received and hope to keep the project moving and evolving, always with the same intention of trying to bridge the gap between popular Nicaraguan culture and new cultural trends.
Are you worried that people might see La Cuneta as a gimmick band?
Frijol: Obviously there’s always that concern when you start a band like this but the idea is to evolve and look for new ways to make music. It’s just the beginning.
What do you think the future holds for La Cuneta?
Frijol: For real, I don’t know right now, we’re just having fun. We just want to bring that energy to the people. It’s really important to us to show the charisma of Nicaraguan idiosyncrasies on stage through the music we play.
pink floyd cameo in the title, B@!
jincho, en Nicaragua, es ofensivo, sobre todo cuando es la apreciación de un montón de gringos…
Oe poffy por que no te lees bien el articulo, el que dice jincho es uno de los entrevistados, es una ENTREVISTA. Lea bien las cosas antes de opinar.
…
hmm.. luv this thoughts )
signed to your rss
chicos!! puuuf son lo maximo… ala… son super alegres, me enkntan, su look es.. lindo!
se ven bellos todos! kisses and hugs..
oe q diaca estuvieron en el ave le hacen webo felicidades
Yo los escuchè/vi hasta el sàbado en el INCAE, wow son lo màximo, no habia encontrado un grupo que conectara mis sentimientos con la alegria con la que mi madre baila esta mùsica. No pare de bailar! Viva Nicaragua jodido!
fresas jugando hacer jinchos…
MMmm…¿Cómo ha sido la respuesta del público, fue lo que ustedes esperaban?…obviamente grande porque los siguen un montón de caretas, seguidores de los mejías…esta musica existia de que hace pelos…y ya habian modificacines…a no pero apenas lo sacaron los fresones ya va la gente de seguidora….
¿Por qué usan chinelas Rolter en el escenario?
…las identificamos con la indumentaria y la vestimenta popular de los nicaragüenses….
(Ja ja…si lo menos con quienes se juntan es con el pueblo…ahi andan tomando fotitos de pobreza y todo eso para mostrarselas a sus amigos de reales….)
LOS MEJÍAS DEJARON DE SER DEL PUEBLO HACE MUUUCHO TIEMPO….
Vayan a sus cenas pagadas, con sus Macbooks y sus olympias de miles de dolares…..en vez de estar haciendo un papel ridiculo porque lo menos que enseñan a este pais es cultura…