Since its inception, rock and roll has spread its influence far and wide reaching people all across the globe regardless of their native language. Typically, people think of this genre existing in an English-speaking bubble but in a city as diverse as Houston, rock and roll can come in many languages on any given night.
On Saturday, April 9 at White Oak Music Hall Satri, Elyze and Será Cero will share the bill showcasing our city’s in-house, bilingual talent and taking an important step in making rock in Spanish more accessible to audiences by performing in one of our city’s top venues.
“You can tell that there is something going on in our community, it’s undeniable,” says Tony Ascanio, lead singer in Será Cero. “I’m sure we are going to get a crowd going. We have an actual community that follows our bands everywhere we go which is fantastic.”
Fresh off Houston’s only festival that brings together the city’s Latino music community, Sur Fest, Ascanio reached out to Pegstar to set up a show and was delighted when it worked out.
“I think it’s very important that people know this is a three-band show. This is not just a one-band show; this is everybody’s show and it’s very important for us that they know we have a movement going on,” he says explaining how every group will have equal set times.
In another sign of their increasing audience, Spanish language bands don’t have just one place where they play in Houston. Elton Page, lead singer and guitarist of Elyze points to the Continental Club as helping them build interest. “Sur Fest helps a lot because there are so many bands and it’s at Continental, which is a really nice club and emblematic of Houston.”
Elyze will release their third album Post-Apocalíptico later this year and have already started rolling out singles from the album. Their latest “Diablo” is a moody, indie rock jam telling the story of a heartbroken lover who cannot move on from his lost love.
Page describes Post-Apocalíptico as a concept album revolving around two lovers separated by a catastrophic event who, without knowing the fate of one another, mourn the loss of contact.
Será Cero is also planning on a new release this year with their upcoming album La Estacion. The band recently pivoted creatively changing their name from The Glass to Será Cero to signal their new creative direction in which Ascanio says the band will move away from songs in English and incorporate their diverse members in the songwriting process.
Satri, who began in 2018, was just ramping up as a band when COVID shut everything down causing them to pause their progress but the band plans on getting back into the studio to record in the upcoming months.
Though all bands can share a bill comfortably and all consist of Spanish speaking lyrics and a base in rock, they each have a distinct sound.
“We are almost the same generation and we grew up listening to the same music, whether it was in English or Spanish so the groups are kind of the same but we express our influences in different ways,” says Ascanio.
“It’s not just that we are close together but have a very healthy competition and a very flattering relationship so that works pretty well for everybody,” he adds.
Maybe it’s due to the shared immigrant experience or musical influences but the camaraderie is palpable when speaking to these bands who often find ways to support each other and help one another get onto bills around the city even including newer Spanish speaking bands to expand the family.
“There’s one thing that I envy about the dance world,” explains Ascanio. “Everybody helps each other, they seem to be communal. Musicians tend to be a little bit egocentric and a little difficult to relate to other musicians but I don’t think it’s happening in this community and I think that’s wonderful.”
Satri, Elyze and Será Cero will perform on Saturday, April 9 at White Oak Music Hall, 2915 N. Main. Doors at 8 p.m, $10.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2022.
