Roncovacoco “Presenta” Their 10-Year Trajectory In One Album

Written by Hilda Gabriela Wednesday, 16 February 2011 15:25

He greets me with a “good morning” although it’s nearing six in the evening. That’s how busy Alejandro Villanueva and Roncovacoco have been this week with the promotion and digital release of their debut album, Presenta, a 15-track album that literally presents the musical progression of the 10-year Latin ska & reggae band, which includes some tracks recorded three years into their formation and others produced just a few months ago.

 

Villanueva describes the method of mixing older “as is” songs with cleaner and more polished material as "well worth the wait". Here, he talks to us about the sound that he as lead vocalist, Robert Santiago (backup vocals), Nico Curiel (drums), Angel Espino (bass), Ralph Velazquez (lead guitar), Jaime Avila (rhythm guitar), Javi Gonzales (percussions), Ana Becerra (trombone), Carlos Barron (sax) and Anthony LaPrieta (trumpet) have been cultivating all these years, about the collaborations in the album and about how Presenta was without a doubt the best way to present Roncovacoco to the world.

Why the wait?
It wasn’t our intention to wait ten years to release our first album. It’s kind of similar to the way that Dr. Dre started recording Detox ten years ago and hasn’t released it yet. To us it was also very important to wait until the music was right and it wasn’t until recently that we felt it was to the point where it needed to be. The production of the album was at least seven years in the making with some tracks recorded years ago and others most recently. We first started tracking the rhythm section and then laying down the percussion and horns, then finally vocals. We had to take it into different studios as well to make sure that the sound was just right. It was a lot of re-do’s as well, but all very much worth it once we heard the entire album.

Musical progression
When we first came on the scene we were really into skacore music. We were playing as fast as we could with simple horns and with not many harmonies. We were also writing about different things back then like hanging out with our friends. And as the years progressed we started getting more mature in both our sound and our way of writing. Our music started slowing down and getting more into the reggae feel. We weren’t trying to play as hard as we could any more; we were just going with what felt right. The newer songs on Presenta show that musical evolution. They’re more complex with variation on the melodies, chorus, harmonies, and horns.

Lyrical progression
“Yo No Se Porque (Reggae)” is one of the first songs that we ever wrote and “Skumbag Squad” is another classic Roncovacoco song. A lot of kids grew up listening to those songs and in the case of “Skumbag Squad” I still have fans telling me how that song got them through their teenage years and how it reminds them of hanging out with their friends and running away from cops! “Poco Hombre” makes fun of men who let themselves get punked by their wives or girlfriends and is just an all-around funny song.

But our newer songs, songs like “El Hombre Y La Sirena” talk about more serious matters like love and politics. That song is about a guy and girl that love each other but can’t be together for whatever reason. It’s something that many people can relate to. “Buscando Solución” touches on a social issue like how gang members are eliminating their own brothers in a battle for power.  So we’ve progressed lyrically as well. We went from talking about just hanging out and goofing off with our friends to writing songs with more direct and positive messages.

It was a good transition for all of us individually and for the band because we all matured musically and on a personal level at the same time. And you can hear that in Presenta.

Pachamama, La Banda Skalavera and Locos Por Juana
We also wanted to collaborate with bands that we admire and that we thought could add something different to our music. On the song “Nubes” we had La Banda Skalavera join in and help us write the song.  When we recorded it we didn’t have lyrics for it so I approached them about working with us on it and it turned out that the idea they presented was along the same lines as what I had in mind. So we took it into the studio and recorded it. With Pachamama, they’re a band that we respect a lot and that bring about this very reggae soul, so they helped out in “El Hombre Y La Sirena”. Locos Por Juana is another great band and we worked with them on “Buscando Solución”, so all the collaborations all mean something because we chose bands that we felt were doing something different in the reggae and ska scenes.

 

Their bio in an album
Presenta is our greatest hits all together so I guess you can say it’s like our bio in one album. The way it was recorded allows fans and people who have never heard of us, to hear the early Roncovacoco to how we are now. We intentionally left the rawness of the older songs to differentiate them from the most recent. We wanted to let people hear that we can play reggae, break it down to skacore, metal, punk and cumbias, and show them that we can play different types of music pretty good.

The digital album was released only a few days ago and we’re very excited that all of our fans are supporting it and have continued supporting us all these years. I know we’ve had a handful of angry fans wanting the album out sooner, but we knew that we wouldn’t let them down by giving them anything but a quality production. The fact that we’re even on iTunes in the top charts only a few days after releasing the album is a great accomplishment! For a local band, and a ska one at that, to be on there is just amazing. We have our fans to thank for that!

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You can join the Presenta celebration and the band's 10th year anniversary with a special Roncovacoco performance on February 25th at Mal’s bar. For more Roncovacoco and ska gigs, follow the bands here.

Roncovacoco on iTunes, Facebook, and Al Borde Gig Calendar

 

Roncovacoco "Presenta"

1.)   Buscando Solución – Featuring Locos Por Juana
2.)   Fotos y Recuerdos
3.)   Falsa Política
4.)   Poco Hombre
5.)    Mundo Muerte
6.)   Yo No Se Porque (Reggae)
7.)   Nubes - Featuring La Banda Skalavera
8.)   El Hombre y La Sirena – Featuring Pachamama
9.)   Difícil de Entender
10.) Campanas del Infierno
11.) Las Sombras del Vicio
12.) Solo Por Tu Amor
13.) Skumbag Skuad
14.) Chikidracula
15.) Son Vacoco

Record Label: Skumbag Records

 

 

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