The new sound of Tijuana

Nortec Collective fuse First and Third World music

One of the freshest sounds to emerge from electronica over the last couple of years has come from a seemingly unlikely locale, Tijuana. That Mexican border city has long had an unsavoury reputation as being dangerous, dirty and decadent, a den of vice. That image is now changing, thanks to nortec collective. They're a Tijuana-based grouping comprising musicians, DJs, graphic artists and fashion designers, and they've begun creating a vibrant and unique cultural hybrid.
The musical wing of nortec has created the major international splash. Released back in early 2000, The Tijuana Sessions Vol. 1 introduced the world to an exciting new sound. It fused the region's traditional music, norteno, with contemporary electronica. Brassy horns, accordions, and the Mexican derivations of polka and waltz music collided with techno trappings, and nortec was born (the name is a contraction of 'norteno' and 'techno').
Tandem caught up with the collective's Roberto Mendoza at the start of an extensive North American tour. It will include their first visit to Canada, with a Toronto date (The Horseshoe) on Dec. 9. Unlike so many studio-rooted electronic artists, nortec collective enjoy live performances. "They are really different experiences," Mendoza explains. "When you're in the studio, you build music up in layers. Live, the great thing is that you get the feedback on what you do instantly."
They're touring as a four-piece, including key creative duo Fussible. "We couldn't bring live instruments, as it was too difficult to get people to come with us on tour. We're doing like a DJ set, playing our music from laptops and synthesizers, the equipment we use for making music."
Nortec collective have been a big hit in Europe and Japan, and their international success has come as a shock. "We never expected something like this at all, never. The idea of this was just to put out something that is electronic music, but where you can pinpoint the geographical location. That was our basic idea. If you hear some electronic music, you can tell it is from Germany, or drum 'n bass from England or techno and house from the U.S.. We wanted something similar to that. I think we came close to achieving that, but we never thought it would get this reaction."
Mainstream media has jumped all over the collective's fascinating story. They've been featured in The New York Times and Time, while Rolling Stone gave The Tijuana Sessions a four-star review. "That kind of press has really broadened our audience."
The fact that nortec collective's success is changing the image of Tijuana pleases them. "Tijuana has always been attacked, even from other parts of Mexico. They see it as a drug-den, with gambling, prostitutes, all the bad things. We were really fed up with that perception of our city. We are really proud of being from Tijuana. Plus, we do take those elements, like drugs and prostitution, and explode them to make something ironic. We have fun with it."
And how do the norteno folk musicians respond to hearing their music sampled and modernized? "Sometimes they think it is too weird, but we have heard that some top norteno players really enjoy it. We take it a step further. Growing up, we listened to a lot of the traditional music, even though we didn't want to. Everywhere you hear it, in the street, at parties."
When asked to define nortec, he responds that "to me, nortec is Tijuana, Tijuana is nortec. For me it is about my city. It's about seeing a donkey painted as a zebra, or hearing hip hop in one car and norteno in another car passing by. It's about having a horse run in the street beside a Lexus. That crash of cultures. We've always said we are trying to build a soundtrack for our city."
Roberto formed his own electronica collective, noarte.org, a decade ago. "It was a group of people trying to push electronic music into the city, through radio shows, club nights and press. We don't have to do that anymore, as it has become so big."
"Now we have a collective of people into electronic music but not in a commercial way. It's more experimental. I think the next step forward is to make a label. Our first release will be a compilation of experimental and minimal techno artists from Buenos Aires and Tijuana."
Mendoza has another side project, Panoptica, and he's recently been working with David Jay (ex-Bauhaus/Love & Rockets). Individually and collectively, we'll be hearing more from him and nortec.

The Tijuana Sessions. Vol. 1 is out on Palm/Outside. nortec collective play The Horseshoe on Dec. 9.

Publication Date: 2001-12-09
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=710