Boiler Room is like an engine which powers music and club culture on the steam of the hottest music artists across the globe. When it wanted to generate some energy in Houston, the London-based independent music platform and broadcaster found a spark in Wonky Power, also no slouch at curating live concerts.
Their combined effort will roar to life this weekend at Axelrad with a two-day party showcasing Latin music. The event, Friday October 7 and Saturday October 8, will be the midtown bar’s first-ever ticketed event, according to Mario A. Rodriguez, co-founder of Wonky Power. It won’t be Boiler Room’s first excursion into H-town but it will be the first time the global music promoter focuses on Latin music here. Previous parties, dating back to 2017, were built around the city’s legendary rap scene.
“They wanted to connect with a local music curator in Houston and they found us, Wonky Power. That was back in early May of this year,” Rodriguez said. “From what they’re telling me, they were just looking for a really good local curator that could match with their vision and what they wanted to try out for their first time doing something way different from their regular programming.
“They gave us a few options of things that they wanted to do and in those options they mentioned Latin music and I said that it would be great to try something that really connects with our community and the city of Houston,” he continued. “Just in general, globally in music, Latin music is really hitting hard right now all around the world and I think it would be good for us to do something to highlight that in Houston with Boiler Room attached to it. And they really loved it.”
Did Boiler Room find the right partner? As Rodriguez puts it, “We feel pretty strongly that we know Latin music in Houston, and all over, really.” But, for further convincing, check out the enticing lineup of artists pulled together for the two-day party. It includes notable local acts and some talented groups from across the U.S. and Latin America.
Things kick off at 7:30 p.m. Friday. The opening night’s lineup includes DJ Mle, DJ Rosez, El Dusty, a George West deejay set, La Doña, Principe Q, Reyna Tropical, Sávila and Seys. Saturday evening’s roster boasts Combo Chimbita, D-Fi Logic, Discoteka DJs, Don Rey, Peligrosa, Raqqcity, San Cha, Tropa Magica and Zoonido.
Every act on the bill has its own story. But if there’s a single act which encompasses the heart, will and enduring spirit of Latin music, it might be Reyna Tropical.
“They are a force,” Rodriguez said. “It’s spearheaded by Fabi (Reyna) and she’s amazing. She’s doing a lot of great things.
“She has this band that she started with Sumo, which is her co-partner in the band. We were really excited to try to get them and thankfully we were able to get them. I think that’s a breakthrough act that a lot of people will really enjoy. They’ve got some really great sounds going on.”
Reyna Tropical, a duo formed in 2017 and composed of Mexican expats Reyna and Sumohair, bonded over music and their passion for social justice and community organizing.
“It is kind of sad but also beautiful what’s going on with Reyna Tropical,” Rodriguez shared. “Unfortunately, just a couple of months ago, Sumo, he passed away. He died in a tragic accident. We thought they were going to pull out because of that, right?”
Clearly, no one would have blamed Reyna for skipping the date but Rodriguez said she “personally messaged us and Boiler Room saying that Sumo and herself were really, really excited about this Boiler Room and it would have been his dream to continue with it. So, with that being said, she’s still going to go ahead and move along with the concert. She’s going to be there and I think she has some special guests to fill in and make it a full experience.
“So, I think it’s going to be beautiful,” he said. “I think we’re going to get a really, really special and magical performance from them.”
“Even without this tragic accident that happened and loss, that was the artist and band that I think I was most excited for, although the lineup is very strong, too,” Rodriguez noted. “You have La Doña and El Dusty on day one. All these artists are incredible and, on top of that, a lot of locals that are doing a lot of cool things around town. Although they’re not very popular per se, for us, as Wonky Power, we’ve always done our best to strive to get opportunities to new, fresh, upcoming types of acts.”
That commitment to new and exciting music is why the Boiler Room-Wonky Power collaboration is expected to become a beautiful friendship. Here at home, the Latino-owned music agency began in 2014 and opened its own studio venue in the East End Cultural District. Boiler Room started with a webcam taped to a wall, opening a keyhole into London’s underground. Since 2010, it’s built a unique archive of more than 8,000 performances by more than 5,000 artists across 200 of the world’s cities. Its breadth is enormous, reaching nearly 300 million people per month with its live and aired events.
“I think Boiler Room is very excited to try to get into the city of Houston and really help with showing the city and also embracing the city with music, especially with them being known for their, I would say, ‘ferocity’ around the world. They are seeing Houston as a place for music and I think that is refreshing to hear from them,” Rodriguez said.
“Their rationale for the show, after we had talked more about making a Latin showcase, was that they felt that cumbia and by extension sounds of the Latino music community and the diaspora across North America, they just need more representation globally. That’s kind off what they wanted to say. They said that this is going to be their first step in changing that. We really are not stopping here. We’re going to be doing some things next year as well.”
Rodriguez said Boiler Room’s commitment to working with Wonky Power in 2023 “says a lot about the city of Houston and Latin music in general.”
“It’s been a very difficult process,” he admitted, citing the sheer scope of the event and expectations attached to being the local spark for such a global powerhouse. “Thankfully, we’re at this point where we’re almost at the finish line, you know?”
“We hope our city of Houston comes out to support live music, Axelrad, Boiler Room and us,” Rodriguez said. “We’re very excited for this. We feel that people are really going to have a magical time at Axelrad. This is the first time that we’ve ever done something like this at Axelrad. We’re doing new staging for both stages, we’re really going all out for this. So, I think people will be very happy with the experience.
“It’s been definitely a huge task for us on all fronts,” he said. “I think it’s probably one of the biggest endeavors we’ve done in the past few years. We’ve learned a lot and I think we’re going to continue learning and, in the end, we just want to try to continue pushing for the city. We’re excited for this.”
Boiler Room and Wonky Power present Boiler Room: Houston, a Latin music party, Friday October 7 and Saturday October 8, at Axelrad, 1517 Alabama. 7:30 p.m. to 2 a.m. each night. This 21-up, special event will be ticketed only with limited capacity. $38-44.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2022.
