This year, Panic Manual is aiming to provide more coverage to international bands. The first band we looked at is El Conjunto Nueva Ola, a group of anonymous rockers out of Mexico. In a way, they are like Slipnot, but in many ways they are not. Blending a variety of genres with an equally elating mix of covers and original material, the masked group will probably give you quite a jolt when they rock the Clive Bar on the 21st of March.
We sat down virtually to ask them a few questions.
1. Are you fans of luchadore wrestling? Who’s your favorite?
Yes, we all grew up as fans of wrestling or as we call it, Lucha Libre. Primarily watching the Mexican federation of wrestling. We each have our own favorite wrestler. My favorite is La Parka, my mask is inspired by his mask.
Editor note: I was hoping he’d say Rey Mysterio JR or Juvy. Because those are the only Mexican wrestlers I know
2. This is not your first time to SXSW. What did you learn last time?
We learned that getting out there and networking is very important in this industry, especially when there’s so much competition. It’s all about exposure at SXSW. Doing as many showcases as possible, and even that playing at 12 in the afternoon is as important as being the headlining band at a night time showcase, you never know who will be there.
What do you expect to do differently this time?
We plan on doing it bigger this time around. We want to make out of our showcase a big party, a show that people will remember forever, and leave them wanting more. Not that we didn’t execute that last year, but we like to top ourselves each time. The crazier the better, the more fun the better.
3. What’s the primary difference between tacos in Mexico and tacos in Texas?
Woah! When it comes to tacos, it’s like a science for us. We consider ourselves taco experts. In Mexico city there are types of tacos that you won’t find anywhere else in the world. So it’s almost like comparing apples to oranges. Texans have their own idea of tacos, like breakfast tacos with egg and chorizo and whatever else they come up with. In Mexico they’re just regular tacos, and you can have them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You also get more for your buck in Mexico City. There’s a deal where you can get 5 x 25, that’s five tacos for 25 pesos, about $2USD. Where else can you get that!
Here’s one of those covers:
4. How do you decide what songs to cover?
We don’t choose the songs, the songs choose us. We feel that when we cover a song we are actually interpreting that song the way the original artist intended to play it, so we’re doing the song justice. The parodies are not really parodies, those are the actual lyrics that the original artist wanted to write in the beginning but couldn’t, so we like to think of it as doing them a favor.
5. What advice do you have for fans at SXSW?
Get there early, get ready to have a good time, and don’t plan on going home that night because we can play and party all night long (until someone kicks us off the stage).