Ska Makes It Way to the Valley
by Juan Rivera
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Fall 2007
Number Two
The horns blazed on that Thursday afternoon as Los Arambula practiced. Los Arambula, a Spanish ska band from Sylmar, is just one band in literally dozens of bands that come from all parts of Los Angeles. What makes these bands so special? Any given city in California contains its handful of bands that play any genre, from punk to glam rock to hardcore or metal. But the difference, in this particular musical community, the message is in the music. Even the language sets them apart, as most names and lyrics are in Spanish.
Coming from the lowest income communities in Los Angeles such as Sylmar, Pacoima, Lincoln Heights, Cudahy and even Compton, these bands relate to the messages in leftist music from Mexico and naturally these messages resurface in their music. There is a reason why there isn’t a single Spanish ska/punk band that is from Northridge or Santa Monica. Because Spanish isn’t generally spoken much there, and if it is, you better believe that family is definitely Americanized, or “white-washed” to the point that culturally, the Chciano aspect of their lives is dead. That can’t be said about the poor communities that these bands come from. Walking down any street in East Los Angeles you can feel the ground vibrate with the cumbias and you can smell the carne asada in the air given off by the taco truck. You walk into a home in Panorama City and you can see a virgen Maria statue and colorful decorations, emulating everyday life in Latin-American countries.
Teens coming from these conditions grow up listening to the likes of Sonora Dinamita as well as Rage Against the Machine. So it is natural that as soon as they are exposed to a band like Sektacore, they are instantly hooked. The Spanish lyrics and the socialist message mixed on top of catchy, danceable beats is the perfect combination to turn the kids’ attention to this music.
Spanish ska bands have been a part of Mexican subcultures for over a decade but it is a fairly new phenomenon here in Los Angeles. Mexican ska bands such as Sektacore, Panteon Rococo, La Maldita Vecindad and Salon Victoria have become examples to follow for Los Angeles bands.
So maybe this is the reason that when a ska show is thrown in a Sylmar backyard it draws close to four hundred people but when the same band plays in Canoga Park only about fifteen people show up, and ten of them got in free with the band.