60 Tigres Interview: SXSW 2010

Hailing from Monterrey, NL in Mexico, 60 Tigres is a band comprised of pop, jam, classical and performance experimentation. Called disco, dance, punk, funk, psychedelic, synth and any variety of other descriptors, 60 Tigres' sound is like no other you've heard before. With a new album expected for the third quarter of 2010, 60 Tigres will join SXSW for the third consecutive year. They love SXSW for its unparalleled opportunity to interact with other musicians, and everyone who loves indie music.


How did 60 Tigres form?

Our band members have known each other for eight or nine years, each of us engaged in different projects in Monterrey, Mexico, where we live. We are great friends, so in 2005-6, we decided to combine ourselves. We are definitely a hybrid solution--our backgrounds are pop, jam, experimentation, classical. The combination is uplifting and energetic. We were formed with the basic idea of blending these different styles and genres on stage, and our style is a merging of many influences, with Spanish and English lyrics. We're always trying to reflect social situations, reality and daily life as we're experiencing it.

We are: Saverio Giandusa [keyboard/backup vocals], called "Chivo" ["Goat"], Roberto Polo [drums/backing vocals], Jose Miguel Polo [drums/backing vocals], and Alejandro Elizondo [guitar/vocals].

Where do you like to play?

We love to play outdoors in the daytime, and that's a rare occurrence. We're usually playing in small bars at night!

In addition to SXSW 2008 and 2009 in Austin, we played at the MySpace Latin Festival [in Chicago], SPI Music Fest [in South Padre Island, Texas], NACOTHEQUE [in Houston, Texas], Automatico [in Los Angeles], and the Hellow Fest here in Monterrey, to name a few.

We've played at El Imperial [Mexico City], the Compound [Austin, Texax], the Mink [Chicago, Illinois] and many other places. We've opened for Babas Nicos, Los Boyz, the Whitest Boy Alive, DeLorean, Ghostland Observatory, Metronomy, etc. and we've shared the stage with highly acclaimed bands like Zoé, Amigos Invislbles, Plastilina Mosh, Jumbo, etc.

How would you describe your sound?

We're a musically energetic act based on beats and effects, a mix between disco dance and punk sounds. With funk, psychedelic and Latin-driven melodies, we deliver lots of energy! People say they want to dance when they hear us. XLR8R says we are "synth punk." Others say we are a combination of funk, disco, punk, bossa nova, psychedelic Latin rhythms and electronic punctuations. Other people have said although our sound isn't easy to define, I think it's good energy that is very right for now.

How did you choose your band name?

We like the visual stuff we can do with the name. Most of the design we accomplished ourselves but we do work with some designers in Monterrey [Desen Agency] who perform visual and graphics that capture our band's image.

Some people say Monterrey is the coolest city in Mexico. Do you think so?

Monterrey is a great city, yet I would say it is number two after Mexico City. Many musicians have developed here [including Rocio Banquelis, Marcla Bovio, David Cavazos, Ely Guerra, Alejandro Millan, Pablo Portillo, Gloria Trevi, Marcelo Trevino, Consuelo Villalon Aleman and Alicia Villarreal] but sometimes it's difficult to get the people living here to come out, to hear the music. It's an industrial city. They listen to more traditional Mexican music, accordions, things like that. We did host the Universal Forum of Cultures a few years ago. Four million visitors!

What's in your festival survival kit?

Picks, water, beer, GPS, clothes, because we need many changes of clothes when on tour or at a festival, iPod, maybe other relaxing things. We love SXSW, we are crazy about it, we usually arrive early and stay late. We like to meet and interact with other musicians, to get and share ideas, share musical viewpoints, even collaborate. By making connections, we can help them, they can help us. They can stay with us, or we can stay with them if we're in the same place!

What's your musical guilty pleasure?

I would say the Killers, Billy Joel and Styx.

The Beatles or Stones?

The Beatles, the pop side, the older stuff, 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand." Perfect pop!

Who was your first celebrity crush?

Definitely Britney Spears. In Baby One More Time!"

What's the strangest/scariest/creepiest thing you've ever experienced on tour?

Two days ago, we were coming back from a show in Mexico City. I was driving, all our musical equipment was in the car, there were seven of us inside, it was 3:00 a.m., and the brakes didn't work all of a sudden. It was cold outside, we were in the middle of nowhere. Gratefully I got the car to the side of the road and we were all ok, but it was terrifying. I don't want anything like that to happen again.

What have you recorded so far and what are you working on?

We've recorded three EPs, the first two were done in an independent home-type studio, and the last one is more polished with studio effects. Indie Rocks Magazine named 'Los Emigrantes' ['The Emigrants'] one of the best Mexican albums in 2008. It's received a lot of local and national airtime.

The video of the song 'Modelos Sin Personalidad' ('Models Without Personality') has appeared throughout Latino America on Telehit, MTV, SkyOne, and Canal 22. People like it. We hope Spinner.com readers will watch it.

We are recording a new album right now called 'Garage,' produced by Mauricio Terrazina [Zurdok, Vaquero, the Vulture], with a mixture of our favorite sounds. We're also building our own studio to have the freedom to record music in the way we want to, in the time we want to, and to have more control of the production side. The expected release of our new album is around October 2010. We think people are really going to like it.


Donna Rodgers is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.