(fom top to bottom)
Diego Herrera(Keyboards & sax),salvado "sabo" Romo(bass), Saul Hernández(vocals & guitar),
Alfonso André(drums), Alejandro Marcovich(Lead Guitar)
Influences
Sounds Like
Discography
Caifanes (1988)Volumen I, aka Matenme porque me muero
(1990)Volumen II, aka El Diablito
El silencio (1992)
El nervio del volcán (1994)
La historia (1997), (greatest hits compilation)
Mexican Rock group Caifanes are pioneers of the revival of Spanish-language rock (Rock en Español) in Mexico in the mid to late 1980s. Their musical approach clashed with the then dominating ballads and happy pop tunes that filled the radio and TV programs, in offering dark and moody lyrics.
Line-up
The first Caifanes lineup consisted of Saúl Hernández (vocals & guitar, bass)AKA "El Poeta Azteca", Salvador "Sabo" Romo (bass guitar), Alfonso André (drums) and Diego Herrera (keyboards and saxophone). Late in 1989, a new member (who had previously played in a band with Hernández and André), Alejandro Marcovich (lead guitar), was recruited and was the pitfall and demise of Caifanes for stealing the name. There was a power struggle between and Marcovich and Hernandez, which lead Caifanes to break up.
Other Members (Guest Musicians): Jesus "Chucho" Merchan (bass) Federico Fong (bass), Jose Manuel Aguilera (guitar), Stuart Hamm (bass), Gustavo Cerati (guitar), Adrián Belew (guitar), Yann Zaragoza (keyboards) & Cecilia Toussaint (chorus), Leo (percussions)
History
Their first live show was April 11, 1987, in Rockotitlan, a famous rock venue in Mexico City. The expectation created by Mexico City's underground rock scene was so immense that the building was filled to capacity and people were left outside. Even though Caifanes was a new group, Saul, Alfonso, and Alejandro Marcovich had already played in a band (Las Insolitas Imagenes de Aurora) that had a legion of fans.
Their first disc, the self-titled Caifanes (also known as Matenme porque me muero, Volume I, or the Black Disc) went on sale in August of 1988 and the single Matenme Porque Me Muero (kill me because I'm dying) was their first hit, which was then followed by Viento and La Negra Tomasa (The latter a cover of the cumbia written by the Cuban musician Guillermo Rodriguez Fiffe). The disc showed clear influences of the British band The Cure. Gustavo Cerati of Soda Stereo was an invited musician playing the guitar in La Bestia Humana. The CD itself was preceded by an EP made up of three songs. This was in order to see if the targeted audience would accept the group. The immediate sell of 300,000 copies prompted the making of the disc.
Their second disc was titled Volumen II (Volume II, but it is much better known as El Diablito (The Little Devil). This is due to the image of a devil, such as those found in the Mexican "Loteria" game that resembles bingo. In this disc we see the inclusion of Alejandro Marcovich to the group as the lead guitar. His presence results in a notorious change from the beginning and his style would be fundamental into what would be Caifane's trademark sound.
In Volumen II appears one of the most famous songs of the group, "La Celula Que Explota" (The Exploding Cell). This song is a hybrid of a rock ballad and a mariachi, and it points into the direction that Caifanes would take in terms of musical style; A mix of rock with elements of various forms that are found in the Mexican music scene.
In 1992 El Silencio (The Silence) was released. It was produced by Adrain Belew and includes many of Caifanes' biggest songs. No Dejes que... (Don't let), Miercoles de Ceniza (Ash Wednesday), Nubes (Clouds), and Nos Vamos Juntos (We Leave Together) are found here, among many others. At this time the group was already a hit in Mexico, Central America, parts of South America and also among the Latino community of the United States. In August of that year they played in front of a sold out crowd at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles and in 1993 they did the same in Mexico City's Palacio De Los Deportes, something that had never happened with a rock group. In that concert Sabo Romo played his last show with the group. Diego Herrera would follow suit at the end of that tour.
At the end of the tour, Caifanes became a trio formed by Saul, Alfonso, and Alejandro. Federico Fong joined as a bass player and Yann Zaragoza played the keyboard. Together they made Caifanes' last disc, El Nervio Del Volcan (The Volcano's Nerve). The singles to come out of this disc were Afuera (Outside), Aqui No Es Asi (Here Its Not Like That), and Ayer Me Dijo Un Ave (Yesterday A Bird Told Me). At this point their presence grows and the media follows the band very closely. They played an unplugged for MTV Latino (Which was in fact not an acoustic concert.) Their fame grows as they open for the Rolling Stones in Mexico City and participate in the WOMAD festival, organized by Peter Gabriel.
Caifanes ceased to be in 1995 due to Saúl Hernández and Alejandro Marcovich's creative and legal differences, most notably the use of the name "Caifanes", a name that was registered and trademarked under Marcovich's name.
Style
In the beginning, it seemed that Caifanes was just a Spanish version of The Cure. This however would not turn out to be the style that they would follow. The inclusion of La Negra Tomasa in their self-titled album was unforeseen, as both Hernandez and Romo are both from a middle class background. After this first disc, Caifanes would not try to imitate another particular group's style, instead, it would incorporate elements of different music from Mexico's varied music scene onto their own songs.
In El Diablito, while most of the songs have a style that would be simply classified as rock, the lyrics themselves also change and start taking popular elements (such as the usage of the phrase De Noche Todos Los Gatos Son Pardos (At night, all the cats are brown) in the title of the song). In this disc we also see what would be the model for their songs in La Celula Que Explota (The Exploding Cell); poetic and demanding lyrics with music that runs in between rock and Mexican music. Alejandro Marcovich's presence in the group from this disc on becomes fundamental in the sound in such a way that for many fans, the difference between Caifanes and Jaguares is the style of the lead guitarist.
La Celula Que Explota, a mix of a rock ballad and a mariachi, is the first of many songs that would blur the line between rock and Mexican music. In El Silencio, the fusion would follow a rhythm that is followed by people in Mexico's poorer parts. (Nubes (Clouds), Hasta Morir (Until Death), Para Que No Digas Que No Pienso En Ti (So That You Cant Say That I Don't Think About You). You also hear a bit of banda (Piedra- Stone), and even a version of Son Veracruzano in the song Mariquita, where the traditional Jaranas are mixed with Marcovich's guitar. And lastly, in El Nervio Del Volcan, you can hear the group experimenting with indigenous rhythms in Afuera, they include a touch of a bolero in Ayer Me Dijo Un Ave and they play La Llorona over the traditional vals that bears the same name.
Aftermath and Legacy
In the late 90's Saúl Hernández came out with another group, Jaguares which is basically the evolution of Caifanes' musical style, showing what direction Caifanes would have taken without Alejandro Marcovich. The only "official" member is Saúl, (even though Alfonso André has been the only drummer in all of Jaguares' records and tours, he's been credited as guest musician), but most of the musicians that recorded or toured with Caifanes (with the exception of Herrera and Marcovich) have participated in this project recording and touring, always being billed as "guest musicians". It is well known that because of the loss of the Caifanes name to one of his band members, Marcovich, he wants it clear that Jaguares is his group and everyone else are "guest musicians".
Jaguares' live performances are made up of mostly Caifanes' songs with a few original tunes thrown in for balance, and one of their hit records consists partly of new versions of popular Caifanes songs.
Since then, Jaguares has consolidated into one of Spanish Rock's premier bands in both critical and commercial success.
Despite only four albums in eight years, Caifanes will be forever be associated with the revival of Rock en Español and its golden era (1988-1997).
Discography
Caifanes (1988), aka Matenme porque me muero, Volumen 1
El diablito (1990), aka Volumen 2
El silencio (1992)
El nervio del volcán (1994)
La historia (1997), (greatest hits compilation)
-I have already seen documentaries that talks about the topic, where it is said that all these images that seem like flowers or etc. who are seen in "the extrasensory states" as it has been described in many cultures across the history of the humanity. Some of them with hallucinations for some stimulant or with near to the death experiences where there are liberated many nice chemicals who also produce the same perception. But recently I found something very interesting. There is a Russian, Alexander Balankin, that devotes himself to the fractal mechanics. And between the applications that they have found there are quite interesting ones. These fractals are related to the Chaos Theory. That is the only way of describing how a mess is produced with small changes in a seemingly simple function. And also these chaotic behaviors also have repetitions, or, it seems chaotic but turns so repetitive that forms something that even seems harmonic. The snow flakes, the pollen in the flowers, Human Behaviour etc.
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