Promoting in Pilsen
Carl Vogel
Published: August 19, 2010
Ska/reggae band Salon Victoria from Mexico City played in front of more than 500 at the APO Community Center in 2008
If you're at a concert in Pilsen and there are three bands on the bill and two DJs, all playing different kinds of music, and original paintings are on the walls, and between sets, a group of dancers come out--you're probably at a show put together by Rockotitlan Chicago.
This year, Rockotitlan is celebrating its tenth anniversary, bringing a wide variety of music and arts to venues all around Pilsen--and bringing Pilsen's energy and culture to sites throughout Chicago. The promoters estimate that they've put together more than 300 events, including regular monthly or weekly series at places like Casa Atzlan.
At the Unidos, Libres E Independientes Arts and Music Indoor/Outdoor Festival at Casa Aztlan Community Center in Pilsen, a dozen bands played, including Roots 101, five artists showed their work and three DJ's performed.
"In the beginning, I was playing and promoting a lot of rock, mostly in Spanish," says Jaime Garza, one of Rockotitlan's co-founders and himself a musician in several local bands, playing blues, samba and son jarocho music. "But living in Chicago, there's so much to get into, the people, the cultures, the music. So we've grown into multi-ethnic, multi-disciplines, multi-musical styles. Reggae, punk, ska, metal, bomba--we mix them all together."
Garza formed Rockotitlan with Guadalupe "Lupillo" Ponce in 2000, and for the first shows 20 or 40 people would be the entire audience. Ponce is an artist and an Aztec dancer, and it didn't take long to start adding other elements to the shows.
"We all know certain types of music that we're familiar with, but this is a way to expose people to different types of music," Ponce explains.
And it's not just the sounds--Rockotitlan events have included sculptures, vendors selling handmade goods, printmaking classes, aromatherapy, dancers and more. Shows have included printmaking and mosaic workshops for kids and art workshops for adults.
"Everyone has an expression and their own voice. Our job is to organize the shows and promote them," Garza says. "You go to McDonald's and you always get the same hamburger. We're not like that. Every show is different, musically and in what you see."
Kids events such as this, as well as food, art vendors and a book sale were part of the 2009 Unidos, Libres festival.
Born and bred in Pilsen, Ponce still lives in the community; Garza was a longtime resident of Pilsen and he now works in the neighborhood (in addition to all his other jobs, Garza is a graphic artist). Rockotitlan launched in Pilsen, and the pair still put on many shows in the neighborhood, and not just at bars and "regular' concert venues. Local shows and events by Rockotitlan are often at schools, community centers, restaurants, artist lofts and galleries.
Garza says there's no "scene" in Pilsen, but he does say there is a movement. "There's a lot of music here, a lot of punk, for example," he says. "And there's a lot of art, of course. We like to think that with our shows in galleries and cafes, they'll benefit too, be on the map as a part of the new art, new music."
With their growth, Rockotitlan has not only reached beyond any musical genre classifications, they've also grown beyond Chicago. Acts from California, Chile, Argentina and elsewhere have come to Pilsen through Rockotitlan shows.
At the same time, Pilsen's culture has been spread far beyond 18th Street through Rockotitlan events. Garza curated a space for the Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival in Logan Square in July, for example, which included the works of 23 Pilsen artists. And the pair often put on shows throughout Chicago and into the suburbs these days.
"When we go to different places, we have the opportunity to promote music, art, culture from here in Pilsen and from elsewhere," Ponce says. "We're not just Mexican; we're not just American. We want to share what we find and be open to all cultures."
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