I was maybe 12 or 13 years old when I started the project of a rock band with my school mates (Juglares). Our inexperience and curiosity led us to great adventures. As one of the first bands of the town (or at least, who got some recognition), it allowed us to experiment with styles without being shunned or bullied by other “mature” bands.

At this time, however, our musical taste was way different. Fernando loved national rock of the slums (Rocksito) and tropical music; the other Mario (we were two) was eclectic and enjoyed more electro-beats with some Rocksito too. On the other hand I got myself into Blues and Mexican folkloric music, like Mariachis and Boleros. Our band became a good mix of what people didn’t think could fit together.

It was at this time when my dad arrived home one day with a new CD he got for me: “Pero sigo siendo el Rock”. It was an interesting project made by several rock musicians of Mexico. The twist? They play mariachi music with rock instruments. A beauty.

Each and every single song is special. The face-smashing boom of “De qué manera”, the Funk in “Por mujeres como tú”, the Jazz of “La Puerta Negra” or the synthetic romanticism of the rocking “Piensa en Mí”.

It was clear that this experiment was a first in Mexico, but sadly also a last for the members starting it. One of them, Javier de la Cueva, forerunner of the Mexican rock scene with his bands The Black Jeans and The Hooligans is still active. His son, Jay de la Cueva, naturally followed his steps in music and is now the frontman of a mock-band called Moderatto (and also part of Titán, Fobia, and many more), whose main act is to, you guessed it, play classic melodies with a hair-rocking overtone ala Steel Panther.

A playlist of the Mariachi extraviado (name of the project) is available in Youtube with some of the songs that could be rescued. Back then this short experiment was just another CD in the racks of the music stores. Nowadays is worth 10 times its price, and rightly so!

Where is my CD? No idea. Lost within the old crap of my childhood, but let Google bless Youtube for allowing these treasures to re-emerge.