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    • DellwoodBarker3 years ago

      Note: I have posted the English Translation below my own little blurb about this band and why you should read this even if you aren’t into music reads. These guys are legit and bringing something Powerful to the table that We Need Right Now.

      Los Cogelones are an experimental Mexican rock band that are Worthy of your Attention. Check out the incredible visuals of their new video, 500 Years. This band incorporates their indigenous and ceremonial culture into their live performances and art. I hope this band starts something of a wave in this fashion.

      English translation:

      A'hooo!, the cry of resistance of Los cogelones, from Neza

      J. Francisco de Anda Corral

      Mexicatiahui, a'hooo! is the cry of resistance of Los cogelones from the legendary Ciudad Neza, to kick off the commemorations of the 500th anniversary of the fall of Tenochtitlan, and that this Tuesday they are re-releasing a new video version of their single "500 años" in memory of the death of "grandfather Cuauhtémoc", they say, the last Mexica Huey Tlatoani.

      "For a long time you have sold me a dream / you have told me a false story / and it torments me to think that this will never change / but this time I no longer want to be a shadow / this time I want to write my own story", the chorus of "500 años" is heard after the first chords and the sounds of a snail (atecocolli), the flutes that resemble a birdsong and the percussions of the huehuétl and teponaztle; then the burst of punk with sonorous guitar riffs as protagonists, and the support of bass and drums that round out an energetic sound and an atmosphere that transports to the Mexica cosmovision.

      From Neza to the world

      The cogelones assume themselves heirs of those migrant tribes that arrived from Aztlan to found Mexico-Tenochtitlan in 1325 by mandate of Huitzilopochtli. Some authors say that Mēxíhco means "the navel of the moon", but Markcogelón prefers the version of historian Francisco Xavier Clavijero who says that Mēxíhco comes from Mexihtli, another name that refers to Huitzilopochtli, god of the Sun and war.

      They define themselves as an experimental Mexica rock band that emerged more than a decade ago in the El Sol neighborhood, very close to the Bordo de Xochiaca, in one of the first settlements that made up Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, on the outskirts of the Mexican capital, where their grandparents arrived as paratroopers from Oaxaca in the 70s, bringing with them their culture, their stories inherited by tradition, those that do not appear in textbooks or taught in schools, says Marckogelón (Marco Antonio, the eldest of the Sandoval García brothers who make up the band).

      For them, Mexihtli or Huitzilopochtli is the deity that opens and closes the circle of their existence, of their lineage, of their habitat in the El Sol neighborhood; the numen that inspired the Mexicas and keeps alive the original language in which Los cogelones express themselves and sing: they are the children of the Sun, and for him it is their rebellious cry.

      Besides the origin, blood and surname, the Sandovals share the neighborhood and the passion for their roots and music: "Our parents in Neza had to go out to work, and we were children taking care of children, we had to change Adrián's diapers, and take him to kindergarten", says Marckogelón, the drummer, and affirms that this bond allowed them to become the rock band they are now. "It also has to do with the education we received, an education where family matters a lot," he adds.

      Their maternal grandparents - "Mamá Gila and Papá Casiano"- instilled in them family values, the importance of returning to their town -Santa Cruz Tayata, very close to Tlaxiaco-, knowing and maintaining their traditions; but music and Náhuatl came to them through their father's inheritance, a native of the Sierra de Puebla.

      "Since we were kids we had the dream of music, when we were 6 or 7 years old we played to be a band, with brooms, with boats, with pots, and I think we had it very much alive", says Víctor Hugo, Víckogelón, guitarist and lead singer of the group. "We used to go to the tianguis to look for music on cassette tape and we played at being musicians".

      Los Cogelones defines itself as an experimental Mexican rock band. Photo EE: Eric Lugo The epiphany

      But it was not until 2006 when Víctor and Marco Antonio seriously considered forming a band. "We started to get to know the world of music and wanted to put together a sound, but we materialized Los cogelones around 2007 or 2008," he says, and in 2012 they recorded their first material: Olvida todo y vuelve a empezar.

      In 2018, the lineup that remains until now starts: Markcogelón (34), drums and vocals; Vickcogelón (32), on guitar and vocals; Alberto (Betogelón, 30), on the native instruments; and the younger Adriánlón (26), on bass, and Gabriel (18), playing trumpet and war drums, and that year they release the album ¿A dónde quieres llegar?

      In 2020, in the midst of the global pandemic, they released their third album Los hijos del Sol, under the Piccolo Records label and the production of Audrey Piccolo, which includes the songs "Hijos de puta", "Nubes grises", "Mexica", "Danza del Sol" and "500 años", which has catapulted them to international platforms such as Spotify, where they already have thousands of followers.

      It could be said that it is the album that puts them to debut in earnest, with an impeccable invoice, a well-kept acoustic aesthetic, and a frenetic rhythm that invites you to dance and vibrate. "It encompasses what we want to transmit," says Marckogelón proudly.

      The 500 years

      This 2021 approaches a symbolic ephemeris that summons, unites, divides, polarizes, excites and embitters millions of Mexicans: The Spanish Conquest and the fall of Tenochtitlan, some say; Mexica resistance, others answer. What message do they want to convey to the race, I ask them.

      Far from the official paraphernalia, Los cogelones have launched a manifesto from Neza "To all the brothers of the continent of the not well named America", which advocates individual and collective spiritual transformation, and which says: "We are Mexicah just as you are Mexicah. We call ourselves 'The movement of the 13 flowers' (Los Cogelones). We come to you to please listen to us. We cannot go on like this, here on Earth. Our people, our families, need another option. They need to recover their roots, their love, their path? They need to recover themselves.

      Marckogelón reflects on the meaning of this date and says: "In 2021 we are not going to improvise anything. We have eleven years of dancing. And this message of the 500 years is not to reproach, but rather to learn and do something new".

      On the inevitability of the Spanish Conquest he points out: "We know now, by the word of the grandparents, that the period of 9 times 52 years was going to end and that is why the Mexica allowed the entrance of our Spanish ancestors, because they knew it was a moment of darkness and they could not do anything because they were ruled by the stars, by the Great Spirit; that is why we are living this transition, from darkness to light, and we know that it is an opportunity for humanity, and it is time to start doing something for all humanity, starting with our families, so we are already prepared, carnal, we are ready, grandfather Cuauhtémoc left this slogan 500 years ago, that we had to flee and survive so that the Mexica lineage and thought would not be lost, and that is materialized today in the work with the community", he affirms.

      "We are not representing or rescuing any culture, we are part of that culture, but we are fighting against protagonism and we want harmony, not only in Mexico, because this is already a worldwide movement. We need to save our mother Earth urgently, because we are going to self-destruct if we don't do something now"; assures Marckogelón.

      Los Cogelones defines itself as an experimental Mexican rock band. Photo EE: Eric Lugo From Rigo Tovar to Creedence

      Los Cogelones' musical influences come from very far away and from very varied musical territories. Of course punk classics like Sex Pistols and The Doors, but also popular music. "In our family my father was a versatile musician, so we listened to Rigo Tovar, Los Pasteles Verdes, Los Temerarios, Bronco, and we grew up listening to those groups, and when we are celebrating with the family, we sing their songs too, and we hug, toast and celebrate," explains Victor.

      "For example, my grandmother Leovigilda was a big fan of Pedro Infante, but she also had an acetate and a cassette of the Creedence, imagine, a lady from the village! And she loved that music too," says Adrián, laughing.

      "We don't have a problem with any genre of music but our taste is here, rock, lo mexica," clarifies Victor. "We want to capture what our grandparents, our parents, our uncles, our uncles, our neighborhood taught us."

      "We are very restless, we like energy, and the mixture of punk with the precuauhtémicos instruments, allows us to transmit that energy; the mexica teaches us a lot of discipline, to control ourselves, so we combine it; The Mexica thing was given, because we wanted to sing rock but also to dance, to go to the temazcal, to learn the word of the grandparents, to recover the habit of the land and then the instruments are added and the music is transformed into that, alone, to later add pre-Hispanic instruments and sing in Nahuatl", details Vickogelón.

      The Sandoval García brothers are also war band instructors in elementary schools in their community, and from that experience was how they began to incorporate martial instruments to their music: "The experimental thing that we are is combined with the work we have with the children of the war bands and with our culture, I think it is the most natural thing we could do," explains the vocalist.

      "The first approach this cabrón we had with music was learning to play cornet and drum, then we were discovering that we could include the war band instruments in some of our songs, and the first time we did it, I was so shaken that tears came to my eyes," Markcogelón recalls.

      "Sometimes people at the gigs are like in shock, and we...what's next, whether they liked it or not, just lie to us, if nothing else!", says Adrián.

      "We have learned that life is a joy, a pleasure and a party, and when someone doesn't want to vibrate with that for some strange reason we understand, but we also know that they are people who are paying attention to what they are looking at, and feeling the rhythm, that's why we are a different proposal," Victor points out.

      "Since our name, we have always sought to provoke. We didn't want to be famous, we just wanted to play rock, have a good time, fulfill our dream of forming a band, suddenly things were leading us to record a song, and we began to know a bigger world, so we went from the mess to life, and this roll of having fun and enjoying life we have discovered our roots," he adds. Los Cogelones defines itself as an experimental Mexican rock band. Photo EE: Eric Lugo "Hijos de puta, Los Cogelones". Despite their baptism of fire in the zócalo, Vickogelón says he has enjoyed many other stages. "We've played in a variety of places: with kids from the banda, with prisoners and even at birthday parties with 3-year-olds who are our fans and who tell their parents that they want us to come and play,'' he says. "Once, a four-year-old boy gave us a drawing that said 'Hijos de putas, los cogelones', with a guitar, a drum set and a little doll," he recalls amidst laughter from the whole band. "For us it is very surprising, because suddenly adult people, knowledgeable, studied, have rejected our proposal, from the name, and children have no problem with that, our school students when they hear 'Cogelones', they hear music, Nahuatl, see instruments, dancers, feathers, and begin to imagine, Víckogelón points out; they don't see somebody stringing themselves together", Markcogelón adds, making a gesture. When I ask them about their ideal scenario, they give free rein to their delirium: "among an attired audience, with a good sound and lighting engineer," says Marco; "in a teocalli or pyramid projecting a snake, with lights or in the daytime to vibrate with the Sun, a super cool presentation," imagines Victor; "With a lot of people, I feel it would be really cool to see so many people moving at the same time, it would be really cool", says Gabriel; "I would like them to remove the church that is on top of the pyramid of Cholula and make it like a complete ritual", says Adrián, who is convalescing from a fractured fibula; "in Teotihuacan", completes Betogelón. Twelve in retreat and at a glance 1. With Spain, pardon or vindication, "Vindication. What do they think of the EZLN? "It is very personal for them. 3. Do they represent the indigenous face? "Just a part of it. 4. Do you agree with their proposals? "Only some of them. 5. Which ones? "Work in community". 6. Would you like to bring the Penacho de Moctezuma to Mexico, "No way, it disintegrates. 7. And the codices?, "Yes, they have to return them, we thank them that they have preserved them but it is time for them to return to know the wisdom of our ancestors, because they do not eat nor let them eat". 8. Another language, "Nahuatl"? 9. Do you believe that artists should not depend on the government? We believe that the government should be interested in providing art and culture in the first years of life, music, dance and theater, from kindergarten, because art frees people's intellect.

      Who is 'Hijos de puta' dedicated to? "To ourselves; we have all been sons of bitches at times, kicked a plant or a puppy; we have also hurt others and I think it is a personal and group reflection and dedicated to the people who have repressed the people", say several of them.

      1. What is the favorite song of Los cogelones, "500 años, por el año (2021)".

      2. What did the pandemic teach you? We grew up in adversity, as Hijos del Sol, and for us it was the test to see if we were or not, and here we are," says Victor. "For me it was to remember my roots, how my grandparents did it, that in the face of adversity they grew up and became one of the most powerful people that could have given the not well called America, and that we should not be afraid, we have to throw eggs to life and not to the frying pan", concludes Marckogelón.

      "Tlazohcamati" (thank you), closes Vickogelón. A'hoooo!, they shout in chorus and applause.

      TECHNICAL DATA

      Children of the Sun

      Mexico, 2020

      Piccolo Records

      Music Production: Pablo Valero and Enrique Tena Padilla

      Available on social networks and Spotify

      Los Cogelones

      MarckogeloN Chicoace Ollin: Backing vocals and drums.

      VickogeloN Chicoei Miquiztli: Vocals and guitar.

      BetogeloN Ce Cuetzpallin: Chorus and prehispanic instruments (huehuétl, teponaztli, tlapitzaltin, ayacaxtin and atecocolli).

      AdrialoN Tonuari Ocelotoch-lee: Chorus and bass

      Gabriel Xiuhmazatl: Corneta de órdenes and war band drums

      VIDEO

      To watch the premiere of "500 años", click here: https://youtu.be/kGm7nOUp9T4

      francisco.deanda@eleconomista.mx

      Filed under:

      music

      1. Update (2/24/2021):

        Yay! The YT link to their Incredible new video for 500 años works above. Check it out!