Punk rock band Nalgadas has emerged upon the El Paso music scene branding their name and sound by playing shows at well known venues such as The Lowbrow Palace and Monarch where they opened up for legendary punk rocker Sonny Vincent. Fusion caught up with the band after a gig hosted by promoters Barba-Q at Cafe Calavera.
Who is in the band and what do they play?
Pato: Me, Pato, rhythm guitar and lead vocal. Alberto, bass. Leo, drummer. David, lead guitarist.
How did you come up with the name “Nalgadas”?
Leo: My whole idea for the name was I wanted something in Spanish. For some reason I wanted people who speak English to have a hard time with it, and we’re four idiots basically, so we were thinking of a stupid name and Nalgadas came up; everybody liked it, we all laughed, so we kept it!
Pato: We had some crazy names too! We had Panzombies, GooGoo Trolls! Our other bass player came up with those names. We wanted something not pretentious. We wanted something a little laid back and kind of funny. The Revanes, Cochangos…
How would you describe your music to someone who’s never heard you?
Pato: I like it to be noisy. Some people have told us it kind of sounds like Dead Boys sometimes, and sometimes it sounds like Jesus and Mary Chain. It depends on how people perceive it. Overall, we’re like rock n’ roll, punk, metal; we love all kinds of genres. We have no limitations coming up with a song.
Leo: In the beginning I think the idea was to do something with the “psych” sound, but then once we started playing shows it just turned into what it is now. Everything got faster and sloppier and dirtier. People kept saying, “you guys are a punk band,” so I guess we’re a punk band!
You guys play in El Paso and in Juarez?
Pato: We’ve only played one show in Juarez at Sotano. We wanted to do that. All of us used to live in Juarez. We still have a lot of connections there and friends there, and they wanted to hear us.
How do the shows in El Paso compare to Juarez?
Pato: The scene is getting big in El Paso. Juarez used to be bigger but it kind of slowed down. Right now Juarez is re-starting to get a scene; there’s some bands playing over there, good friends like Dunas. We have friends who DJ over there, Dooba Dooba Show, they’re young kids too! Twenty-year-old kids… they get it and they want to be part of this and I think that’s the future, those little dudes know what’s up! They are the future of Juarez!
Leo: That’s the advantage I think Juarez has, the kids… the age limit at the bar. Here its mostly 21 and over at the shows we do, and over there you actually have kids that are into this type of stuff.
What do you think of the music scene in El Paso?
Leo: El Paso sells itself short, Chief. They try to be too cool but you don’t really have to. There’s a lot of good stuff to do and everybody bitches that there isn’t. This show proved it tonight! Good stuff!
Pato: Yeah, shows happen from Monday till Monday. Its not only on the weekends!
Aside from catching your live show, where can people find your music?
Leo: We have a facebook page, everything is on there: Bandcamp, ReverbNation, pictures, flyers, booking, emails. We have one recording that came out on a label in Oakland called Slop Bop Records, so that one song came out on a compilation. Hopefully the next step for us now is to record everything we have, or at least the majority, and put it out.
Anything else you want to add?
Pato: People need to start getting together and making more bands. There should be more bands! Its time to make your own music!
PHOTO: JAZ MEZA