It's hard being in a Metal band in Mexico

There many factors that push against many of the smaller bands' ability to be recognized, signed, or "hit it big". There are the greed of producers and promoters,
the corruption of the Mexican government, the difficulties that come with obtaining visas, strongly emotional fans, and traditional outlooks on metal in Mexico.

Greedy promoters seem th be the bane of all metal bands, despite their nationality. In Mexico though, they rip off bands more than usual, keeping them
out of the loop, taking most of their profits, and generally not caring about anything the doesn't benefit them. Not that those don't exist here in the U.s.,
but in Mexico they are especially troublesome because there are no laws (or at least none of them seem to be enforced) restricting the power's of promoters
or producer or protecting the rights of these smaller, lesser known artists.

This brings me to the next obstacle. A lot of bands report trouble with the police. They don't seem to show up when the bands are playing too loud or need
help when the audience gets out of hand, but after the band has played a show, a lot of them will get stopped by the police. They accuse them of worshiping Satan
(a horrible offense in the Roman Catholic dominated community) and take most if not all of the money the made at the show as a bribe to let them continue on
their way. In the U.S., even if the police didn't like metal (but a surprising amount of them
do), they couldn't legally take bribes from bands or anything like that.

Many of the smaller bands have noted that it is very difficult for them to obtain visas to perform in the U.S.. Even bands that have toured in Japan and
Europe have not played in the U.S. because of how difficult our government has made it to obtain a Visa. Alot of bands use their earnings to support themselves
and need more money to obtain a house, property, and sometimes another job. Unfortunately, these are things that you need to get a visa in the U.S. . This
is why only bands who are already successful are playing in the U.S. . As I've discussed before, it is very difficult to become successful in Mexico.

It is commonly known that Mexico is predominantly Roman Catholic. This religion that promotes conformity causes the older generation of Mexicans to look
down on the Metal scene due to the "evil" scenes and lyrics in the music as well as the moral clashing of the U.S. government with metal in the 80's. It is
unusual to me but in Mexico, those wearing black , possibly a "Cannibal Corpse" t-shirt and sporting long hair are seen as tough guys, but those who wear Iron Maiden shirts are seen as the devil
incarnate.


Iron Maiden playing a show in Mexico. Notice that the audience seems to drown out the band at some points!


A fine example of Mexican Metal

Another obstacle that wouldn't seem like an obstacle at first, are the Metal Fans in Mexico. The main differences between American and Mexican Metal fans
seems to be their love of Metal. The Mexican fan-base is known for being extremely passionate about things that they (we) like and hateful about things we
dislike. This causes a lot of violence at shows, including beatings, threats, and the occasional drum symbol thrown as a Frisbee (or shuriken). This show or
raw passion is why many U.S. and U.K. metal bands show their liver performances from Mexico and other parts of central/south America. Another interesting note
that I found is that many Americans who go to shows in Mexico and mosh, report that they constantly knock other fans down do to many white Americans being
taller than most Mexicans.

Hopefully soon it will be easier for all of the metal-heads from Mexico to be successful and bring more awesome music to our ears. Until then, try to use the internet and such to search for and support more METAL FROM MEXICO!!

Prog Rock Paves the Way

Progressive rock of the 1970's is said to be a movement made by a group of young musicians. Many successful bands have been paved the way for unknown bands such as The Mars Volta and John Zorn's Naked City, who are consistently criticized for there show of torture and violence. Who came before has certainly made a difference for these smaller bands in allowing them to experiment and express themselves in a different way.
Mexican musicians have had to face many obstacles in the process of getting their music heard and have had to come across many critics. However, most have overcome the barrier and made a name for themselves as the band El Tri has. They have made an impact in Mexican music due to their songs exploring illegals plight and being called the Rolling Stones of Mexico. Despite their influential lyrics and being on the cover of the Rolling Stones in Spanish, they remain unknown in the States and are not able to have a cover for the Rolling Stones in America due to the lack of appeal. This proves that no matter how much of an impact they make in their own country, the US requires a different scale of success. After being encouraged to write their songs in English and finding their most loyal fans unable to understand , they decided to do what was not acceptable and wrote in Spanish. El Tri did the unthinkable when they put the love of music before record sales and went against their harshest critics.




Another band worth talking about is Ozomatli, who are based in Los Angeles and are known for being politically vocal. There ability to set themselves apart, due to their sound, beliefs, and cultural awareness, has made them a huge band. The Chicano movimiento of the sixties has created the opportunity for Ozomatli to be different and get away with it. Along with being a Mexican band, they can bring real issues into light with their music.
Mexican Metal is not only creating buzz because of its roots, but because of the message these artists are sending with the fact that they have established themselves when society says to write songs in English and to keep your political views to yourself.

Introduction

This blog is about Metal in Mexico. More specifically, my cousin and I hope to bring to light how the Metal
scene in Mexico really works. Most metal-heads would revel in a situation that was "totally
BRUTAL!!", but in Mexico, sadly, this works against them.