The worldwide ebb 

Ask anyone in the music business about the reasons for this recent globalization of indie culture and their thoughts hardly vary. With Internet accessibility expanding across the globe, so has each artist’s musical influence. No matter the local market, strong presence on the web has allowed many independent acts to truly shine. 

Sam Hunt, who books acts like Ladytron and No Age in North and South America for the Windish Agency, says foreign tours can be very successful precisely because Spanish-speaking fans are “savvy enough to get online and learn about new bands.” Hunt adds, “While dance and electronic-oriented music has a very captive audience in Spanish-speaking regions, even English-speaking singer-songwriters — Jose Gonzalez and Cat Power come to mind — are capable of doing very well.” 

The Internet has also been responsible for the growing U.S. and global popularity of artists like Mexico’s Hello Seahorse!, who played in three showcases at this year’s South by Southwest Festival. Gaby Gomez, the band’s manager, says MySpace played a large role in helping the band members find each other and continues to help them promote their music to new audiences, “not only because it develops a platform that exposes you as a band … but because it is an out-to-the-world exposure.” 

Passport to get down 

This exposure has led festivals and labels alike to reach out to their Spanish speaking audiences. Indeed, Hello Seahorse! was just one act among dozens who traveled in for SXSW this March, where several stages featured indie music spotlights on Latin American countries like Colombia and Brazil. Vans Warped Tour hosted a Latin American showcase there as well, and has planned a counterpart, Warped Tour Mexico, for this summer. 

Independent Label Arts & Crafts, has generated enough buzz in Latin America to fuel the demand for a Mexican arm of their business, and this March saw the fifth annual production of the group’s Indie-O Fest in Mexico City. The four-day event — founded in part by Armando David Ortigosa of Mexico City’s definitive indie band, Chikita Violenta — featured acts from the U.S. and Mexico alike. Andres Ibarra Rios, a producer at Arts & Crafts, believes strongly that “Latin America is opening their horizons to new music … It all comes down to whether the song is good and appeals to the indie audience, which is growing by the day.” 

Aside from MySpace, media outlets such as LA Remezcla and Indie Rocks!, promote access to the Spanish language music scenes in the U.S. and Europe. Indie promoters in larger cities are throwing regular parties to showcase these artists, both local and international. One such party, dubbed Nacotheque, has created a hot stir in New York City, hosting partygoers like Gael Garcia Bernal and Scarlett Johansson. 

Beyond the presence of Latin American music in the U.S., and vice versa, there are a handful of artists who are dealing with “border crossings” within their music itself. 

Brooklyn-based trio, Contramano, is a project of Argentine ex-pat and classically trained cellist Pablo Cubarle, and two musicians he recruited on Craigslist. Their music is recorded almost exclusively in Spanish at a New York studio they’ve dubbed “The Oven.” Last year, MySpace Latino chose to feature Contramano as a sponsored band, earning the group a strong standing among Spanish language bands around the world, and creating an example for up-and-coming second- and third-generation Spanish language bands in the U.S. This spring, Contramano filmed their latest music video for the single, “SpaceCotheque,” at a Nacotheque party on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. 

Jessie Evans, a former San Francisco musician known for her work with the Vanishing and Autonervous, has taken on the world in her most recent release, Is It Fire?, which she produced in Mexico City with the help of Tijuana-based electronic duo, Nortec Collective. The album contains tracks in English and Spanish, and incorporates a unique fusion of sounds and influences from each of its collaborators. A truly groundbreaking project, Evans’ worldly punk music appeals to audiences who are attracted to a global sound, and aren’t concerned with understanding the lyrics. “For most people who are listening, the lyrics are maybe secondary,” she explains, “you want a feeling and it doesn’t really matter if you understand all the words or not.”