Little Jesus

This Saturday the indie rock band, Little Jesus, came to El Chuco to play at the Neon Desert Music Festival. Their set brought all the ​magia that their fans (including myself) could ask for. They really brought all the energy to the stage considering how hot it was outside! Little Jesus, known to play within the genre of "tropipop"  belted out their hits including: "La Magia", "Pesadilla", and "Nuevo Mexico" amongst others. They brought in a crowd of people that was made up of Little Jesus fans and people that were hearing them for the very first time. I believe that's part of the beauty of festivals and the power of music in which it brings people together whether they are familiar with something or not.

Little Jesus is a band from Mexico City and they began in 2012 after Santiago Casillas (vocals/guitar) had to start a band kind of on the quicks after being asked to open up for another band. He got a group of friends to help him play some of the songs he already had and Little Jesus was born. The band is made up of Santiago, Truco Sánchez Rucobo (drums), Fernando Bueno (guitar), Arturo Vázquez-Vela (keyboards), and Carlos Medina (bass). Since the start of the band, Little Jesus has found popularity very quickly in their career. They already have two albums Norte and Rio Salvaje and they have played all over Mexico, did SXSW in 2014, are currently playing some U.S. tour dates and they are also playing a festival in L.A. later this year. Wow!

This Saturday I got to talk to Santiago and Truco where I got to ask them a few questions after their set. I started off by asking them what they thought about the festival to which their response was positive. "It was super awesome. Estuvo chido la neta. We had heard that it is a festival in downtown El Paso. We haven't taken the time to check out the rest of the festival, but we will soon. I bet it's awesome." Little Jesus has played in Ciudad Juárez several times, however, this is their first time playing in El Paso. Santiago mentioned, "We love the vibe here. It feels the same on both sides of the border. There is a lot of youth here that was born in El Paso and has family on the other side of the border and vice-versa. One can feel some sort of union between these two countries and theses two cities."

I then asked them if they were going to catch a show later on that day and Santiago responded, "we are going to see our friend Caloncho's show and um.... Lil Wayne". After a few laughs, I asked them about the L.A festival, La Tocada Music Festival, in August. Not only that, but I asked them what it means for them as a indie Mexican rock band in regards of how far they have gotten and where they want to go from here. "It feels awesome. We have been playing and playing and playing in many places for six years. It is very gratifying because from a group of friends that got together to play we have achieved so much. Music has lead us to travel the world, meet new people, and make new friends. We want to keep doing this. Doing this forever if possible." 

To end the interview I had to ask them about their music influences. Who inspired you and who is inspiring you now?  Santiago started explaining, "I listened to a lot of music growing up. When I grew up, I started paying attention to the lyrics of songs like that of Radiohead. I also remember taking a class on Afro-pop and wanting to play songs of that genre and starting to incorporate that more in my music, but then I started getting into all that psychedelic stuff like the psychedelic era of The Beatles and Pink Floyd. I kinda wanted to mix that in with the rock-pop we were doing."

Working on anything new? "Yes, we are working on our new album. We are still in the composition process and we hope to release at least a single by the end of the year. Hopefully, if we hurry we can release the album this year. If not, next year."

I want to thank Little Jesus for the incredible show. Keep up with their shenanigans and upcoming shows on their Instagram @thelittlejesus