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Friday night Revelers in Redway were treated to an irresistible taste of la frontera, when El Paso born, Oakland based Fuga brought its genre blending dance rhythms to the Mateel Community Center. Following a dazzling Humboldt County debut at the SUmmer Arts and Music Festival, the group made its sophomore appearance at the annual party held for the Environmental Protection Information Center.
Fuga-a Spanish word that can serve as either a noun or a verb, meaning "escape"- is a high-energy, multinational ensemble whose members hail from the U.S., Mexico, and Peru. Formed in El Paso, Texas, eight years ago the group-whose core members are brother and sister Kiko and Tania Glenn-Rodriguez and Leo Martinez-has released one album, 2004's "Desde la Frontera," and is slated to release a second one in the coming months.
While all of Fuga's members hail from families wiht strong musical backgrounds, several years passed before they decided to play and record professionally. During its first four years, the musicians played almost excusively at boycotts and protestd in El Paso and its neighboring city across the border, Juarez; in El Paso, the group had strong ties to La Mujer Obrera, "a workers rights center for border-worker advocacy," Tania explained. "It was Leo's idea to form the group," she added: "I was more into the activism!"
In 2004, Fuga recieved wide exposure when they opened for Ozomatli in a 16-band musical event protesting the unsolved Juarez women murders. That same year Fuga recorded "Desde la Frontera" and then relocated to Oakland where its other members-drummer Rafael Huerrera, bass player Oscar Gonzalez Huerta, and percussionist Juan Carlos Angolo, joined the band.
All the music Fuga performs is original, with the band members taking an organic approach to songwriting. "We all do the music writing," Tania Glenn-Rodriguez explained. "Usually the way we create te music is by jamming but each individual created his or her own lyrics."
All of the musicians sing, taking turns at the microphone on different compositions; the result is a lively blend of different vocal styles. And while its lyrics are firmly placed in the challenges of the modern era, its sound "is based on old, traditional sounds" Kiko Glenn-Rodriguez said, "like cumbia and merengue"-infused with ska, rock and modern latino son.
Newcomers to south of the border sounds might be fooled by the words "old" and "traditional" imagining perhaps, the music of Mexican Legend Vicente Fernandez, whose planitive baritone emanates from seemingly every Mexican restaurant sound system. But Fuga is anything but staid or melancholy: once the band takes the stage, listeners are hard-pressed to remain seated, much less keep their feet on the floor. Oddly enough, the group was initially met withg resistance on the U.S. side of the border, where American concert bookers didn't know what to make of their blend of Mexican, Carribean, and South American sounds.
Fuga's success with audiences who have embraced their many roots has apparently paid off: long before the band played its last encore on Friday, its CD's had been sold out...
- The Independent-Garberville, Humboldt County, CA
Discography
...Desde la Frontera-2004
Relatos Rebeldes-2009
Photos
Bio
Formed in 2000 in the border city of El Paso texas Fuga was created by a group of young, working class musicians to express the angst and frustration they experienced as community organizers. They took the name Fuga, a barrio slang meaning "heads up" or "it's time to go" and began performing in backyards. Little did they know that their project would turn into a political and cultural that would embody the sentiments, sounds, and life of the border region and lead to an original style of music impossible to replicate anywhere. Using traditional and experimental accordion licks combined with guitarras de son, driving bass lines, progressive rock drumming, and haunting female lead vocals, the FUGA! sound is traditional yet new. Strange yet familiar at the same time. The band uses rhythms and melodies from all over Latin America and blends them into an almost punk rock border hybrid. If you listen you'll hear a bit of cumbia, a touch of ska, a sprinkle of son jarocho, a dash of punk, and a splash of rock. Their extraordinary live performance style was developed in the Ciudad Juarez underground, where audiences are known to be ruthless. With powerful lyrics and seductive dance rhythms, the only thing that is clear is that it keeps the dance floor moving and the audience coming back for more. After five years of performing in the border region and gathering a significant grassroots following, the band decided to take on new territory and move to northern California, where they are working on their second record and planning a new tour. Older, wiser, and with a new record in the works, this band continues to be a pioneer in a new era of musically-innovative, socially-charged Latino music.
Fuga has played all over the United States and has shared the stage with Ozomatli, Maldita Vecindad, Los Amigos Invicibles, Albino, and Maldita Vecindad. Their most recent show, a headlining slot at Slim's in San Francisco for the release of their new CD "Relatos Rebedes" was sold out.
"...Fuga is anything but staid or melancholy: once the band takes the stage, listeners are hard-pressed to remain seated, much less keep their feet on the floor."-Humbolt County Independent 11/11/08
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