A bond between brothers is an indescribable connection. It’s a best friend who’s never going to exist in your life. The Pacheco brothers, David and Rene, and also co-founders of LA-based band Tropa Magica are a demonstration of this brotherly bond.
Growing up in East LA, David and Rene always found themselves in between two cultures; the American culture and their Latino culture at home. When being introduced to American punk music, it influenced them both in many ways, yet they felt they embraced punk too much, causing them to forget about the music their parents had taught them. This is when the birth of Psychedelic Cumbia Punk or as the Pacheco brothers like to call it “tropi punk."
This effortless mix of genres is what attracts people to listen to Tropa Magica. It’s a sound that makes you want to rock on and at the same time shake your hips to the beats. Different from the type of cumbia - a genre that originates from Colombia and is typically grouped with tropical sounds like salsa or merengue that your Tías (Aunts) and Abuelitas (Grandmas) dance to. Tropi punk is the signature sound that automatically gives away it's Tropa Magica.
David explains the background history of tropi punk, “We were super into rock and roll, classic rock and stuff, but the static of punk being from East LA was this kind of do it yourself, such as, set up your own shows, put out your own albums. That's the punk aesthetic that we go after not necessarily the sound of punk. More the aesthetic of remaining independent that we put up stuff ourselves and we do our own record releases. the psychedelic part, in 2010 we got into the roots of cheap music, which is a cumbia from Peru. So that really influenced us because it was a guitar style cumbia. At the time, we decided to blend those and it worked for us. So we just kind of kept going with that and have pioneered it as our own signature sound.”
Before Tropa Magica, David and Rene started a trio band called “Thee Commons.” This later transitioned to the duo band, Tropa Magica where more instruments are heard and give off the sense that they are a Latino influenced band.
“We had been doing Thee Commons for six years and we just wanted something that was more catchy as far as the name because with Thee Commons, people would always confused it or it didn't make us seem like we were a Latino band,” David noted.
The best part of Tropa Magica’s authentic sound is listening to it live. In 2018 and 2019 Tropa Magica performed at So-Cal festival favorites Desert Daze and Tropicalia. Fans felt the enthusiasm from Tropa Magica which shaped more of an entertainment show as a pose to a live concert.
Being special and charismatic, Tropa Magica has encountered achievements along their journey; their song, “Feels like Tijuana” was the theme song for comedian Felipe Esparza’s new Netflix special, “Bad Decisions and Malas Decisiones.” Tropa Magica was featured on the notorious Foo’s Gone Wild album for the track the “Foo Files Cumbia.” The band even turned down a record deal. When asked why they turned down the deal David and Rene said, “Ultimately, it was just us remaining independent and having autonomy over our art instead of handing the keys to someone else sooner.”
Now on their sophomore album Tripiando Al Infinito En Mi Recámara (Tripping to Infinity in my Bedroom), the brothers keep exploring through the use of music. The 12 song album includes unique sounds from Bossa nova and surf rock to disco but never fails to connect back to their roots. The album cover itself shows young David and Rene sitting on top of a graveyard in their parents’ old town in Puebla, Mexico.
“That photo was taken probably like 20 years ago, and that cemetery isn’t even there anymore. It’s a really cool picture that my parents took and I found in a hundred photo albums plus my grandparents are shown on the side of the photo,” said David.
David and Rene’s creativity exceeds their unique sounds at its highest. Their second album was inspired by the special sounds of what David calls “garage symphony.”
“When David was making this album he had a set orchestrate of all these different sounds together and that's why we call it a garage Symphony,” Rene explains.
Eventually, Tropa Magica has been more of an expansion of both David and Rene. The Pacheo brothers use the band to connect with their cultural roots as Latinos to the present roots as Americans. They consider that nothing comes easy unless you work for it.
“Something our parents taught us is if you want something well you have to work for it and if you work for it, then you're gonna start seeing results. Just like being healthy, you have to make it a lifestyle. You can't just be here for the shortlist, you got to be in it,” Rene details.
When they aren’t making awesome music, David and Rene engaged in other hobbies of their own. Rene enjoys doodling and David likes writing intimate songs for loved ones. They have been inspired by authentic artists who stay true to their sound like artist James Brown.
What Tropa Magica presents is not two brothers pretending to be a show to increase followers, one can indicate that this band was created by two brothers who express their true identities to others. The expression of “fitting in” is overrated, and the Pacheo brothers master this by showing off that the best person to be, is to be yourself.
“We always come back to the roots. Whenever we feel like we're straying away for inspiration, we just put music out.”
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