As we've noted on these pages before, Mexico City's Los Negretes have mastered the art of dirty, boisterous garage rock with their own unique spin that careens care-free between psychotic romps (see “Los ultimos diez minutos de María Duval”), while elsewhere they mainline from Lou Reed's more museful archives. Speaking of archives, you can download their albums Mexico City Blues and Los Ultimos Diez Minutos de María Duval for free. Both are highly recommended. We had a internet conversation in Spanglish, and have since divided up what went down into Spanish and English.
When did you start the group, with whom, and why?
Cinema Pereira: It all started at the end of 2006 with Paka, Rock Ramirez, and Baby Juárez. We wanted to have fun playing on the weekends.
¿Cuándo empiezas el grupo, con quién y por qué?
Cinema Pereira: Todo comenzó a finales del 2006 con Paka, Rock Ramírez y Baby Juárez. Queríamos divertirnos los fines de semana tocando.
Where's the best place to play in Mexico City? What do you think about the scene, does it exist?
CP: The best place to play is Multiforo Alicia in the Roma neighborhood. There's a scene, there are good groups, but they lack cohesion.
¿Cuál es el mejor lugar para tocar en el d.f.? ¿qué piensas sobre la 'escena' de la ciudad ? ¿existe ?
CP: El mejor lugar para tocar es el Multiforo Alicia en la colonia Roma. Sí hay escena, hay buenos grupos pero nos falta más unión.
How would you describe Los Negretes' style?
CP: Punk Mariachi.
¿Cómo describirías el estilo de Los Negretes?
CP: Punk Mariachi
How did the album Mexico City Blues come about?
Jinmy Vitte: Most of the songs on Mexico City Blues are from many years ago, they're the first songs we made up. The recording was done in a day and was really amateur and unpretentious; the sound we got was what we wanted. It's a really dark, dense record – it veers towards experimentation, and noisy and out-of-step guitars; it's not pigeon-holed in just one genre: you can find anything from garage to noise and ska. The final recording was put to a TASCAM reel and wasn't mastered.
Como nace Mexico City Blues?
Jinmy Vitte: Gran parte de las canciones del mexico City Blues tienen muchos años encima, son las primeras canciones que compusimos. Las grabaciones se lograron en un dia y fueron muy caseras, sin tanta pretension, el sonido que se logró era el que nosotros queriamos. Es un disco muy oscuro y denso, viaja por la experimentacion y las guitarras ruidosas a destiempo ; no esta encasillado en un solo género y puedes encontrar desde garage hasta noise y ska. La grabacion final fue llevada a una TASCAM de cinta y no se masterizó .
In the song “Los
