Los de Abajo (band)
Encyclopedia
Los de Abajo are a band from Mexico City
founded in 1992 as a Latin ska
four-piece. Since then they have expanded to eight members and widened their musical influences to include rock
, salsa
, reggae
, ska
, cumbia
, Son Jarocho
and banda sinaloense. Founder member Liber Terán is the main vocalist and writes many of the songs, although all band members receive equal pay for their contributions.
The band was unable to secure a record deal in Mexico, as their music was considered to be insufficiently commercial, and ended up releasing their first album Latin Ska Force independently. However, in 1999 they secured a deal with David Byrne
's Luaka Bop
record label to release their international debut, Los de Abajo.
The follow-up Cybertropic Chilango Power was released in 2002 and won BBC Radio 3
's World Music Award for the Americas. 2006's LDA v The Lunatics saw them continue to absorb influences from around the world and included a Spanish-language version of The Fun Boy Three
song "The Lunatics (Have Taken Over The Asylum)", featuring Neville Staples
.
The band are supporters of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation
and have played benefits gigs for the revolutionary group. The Zapatistas' Comandante Esther features on "Resistencia", the first track on LDA v The Lunatics.
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
founded in 1992 as a Latin ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
four-piece. Since then they have expanded to eight members and widened their musical influences to include rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, salsa
Salsa music
Salsa music is a genre of music, generally defined as a modern style of playing Cuban Son, Son Montuno, and Guaracha with touches from other genres of music...
, reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
, ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
, cumbia
Cumbia
Cumbia is a music genre popular across Latin America. The cumbia originated in the Caribbean coast of Colombia, where it is associated with an eponymous dance and has since spread as far as Mexico and Argentina...
, Son Jarocho
Son Jarocho
Son Jarocho is a traditional musical style of Veracruz, a Mexican state along the Gulf of Mexico. It evolved over the last two and a half centuries along the coastal portions of southern Tamaulipas state and Veracruz state, hence the term jarocho, a colloquial term for people or things from the...
and banda sinaloense. Founder member Liber Terán is the main vocalist and writes many of the songs, although all band members receive equal pay for their contributions.
The band was unable to secure a record deal in Mexico, as their music was considered to be insufficiently commercial, and ended up releasing their first album Latin Ska Force independently. However, in 1999 they secured a deal with David Byrne
David Byrne (musician)
David Byrne is a musician and artist, best known as a founding member and principal songwriter of the American new wave band Talking Heads, which was active between 1975 and 1991. Since then, Byrne has released his own solo recordings and worked with various media including film, photography,...
's Luaka Bop
Luaka Bop
Luaka Bop is a world music-oriented record label established by David Byrne, former guitarist, singer-songwriter and producer of the art rock/new wave band Talking Heads. It has been a wholly independent label since leaving V2 in 2006. Previous distribution relationships included Warner and Virgin...
record label to release their international debut, Los de Abajo.
The follow-up Cybertropic Chilango Power was released in 2002 and won BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music and opera, but jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation...
's World Music Award for the Americas. 2006's LDA v The Lunatics saw them continue to absorb influences from around the world and included a Spanish-language version of The Fun Boy Three
Fun Boy Three
Fun Boy Three were a short-lived but successful English New Wave Pop band which ran from 1981 to 1983 and was formed by singers Terry Hall, Neville Staple and Lynval Golding after they left The Specials.-History:...
song "The Lunatics (Have Taken Over The Asylum)", featuring Neville Staples
Neville Staples
Neville Eugenton Staple is a singer for the two-tone ska band, The Specials as well as his own combo, The Neville Staple Band. Along with Ranking Roger, he also sings in Special Beat.-Early life:...
.
The band are supporters of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation
Zapatista Army of National Liberation
The Zapatista Army of National Liberation is a revolutionary leftist group based in Chiapas, the southernmost state of Mexico....
and have played benefits gigs for the revolutionary group. The Zapatistas' Comandante Esther features on "Resistencia", the first track on LDA v The Lunatics.
Discography
- Los de Abajo (1998, Luaka Bop)
- Cybertropic Chilango Power (2002, Luaka Bop)
- Latin Ska Force (2002, PP Lobo)
- Complete & Live '04 (2004, Kufala)
- LDA v The Lunatics (2005, RealWorld Records)
- No Borrarán (2006, Independiente)
- Actitud Calle (2010, Pentagrama)