Dumpster Tapes Presents: Demolición
Chicago DIY label event showcasing Latinx garage, punk & psych bands on October 14
by Alex Fryer
Later this month, five of Chicago’s baddest Latinx-fronted garage, punk and psych-rock bands will grace the stage at The Auxiliary Art Center in Avondale for Dumpster Tapes’ first ever Demolición. Named after Los Saicos’ 1965 proto-punk single, the event is a showcase dedicated to Latinxs in the local music community that are not afforded the same visibility as their white counterparts. It will be a night of representation and celebration. As a Chicana navigating a scene that is predominantly not brown and not female — though I would strongly argue that people of color and those that are non-cis heterosexual men or non-cis heterosexual men of color are what make this scene better and more vibrant than it otherwise would be — these issues are important to me. I want to address and challenge them, and invite others to do the same. It was from these emotions that Demolición was born.
Friday, October 14 @ The Auxiliary Art Center
7:30 PM | 21+ | $7
I will be the first to acknowledge that Dumpster Tapes is still not the diverse record label that I know it will become. Most of our artists are white men. I love each of our releases, though, and am happy with the work that Ed and I have done in our three short years as label heads: 26 releases, including two compilations featuring 25 different Chicago bands on each, as well as numerous shows and radio plays and Shake Appeal write-ups. You can find our tapes in Los Angeles. You can find them scattered throughout Japan. We were just told that someone met a stranger at a show in Hamburg, Germany who is planning a trip to Chicago and intends to visit Bric-a-Brac Records because he heard they stocked our catalogue! Yeah, we were surprised too. These are all great things but we know there is more to be done. Demolición is just one part of that.
The lineup for the inaugural Demolición is absolutely top notch. Comprised of musicians from so many corners of the Latinx community, I could not be happier with it. Starting the night off will be the dark dream-pop act Mia Joy, fronted by the eternally talented Mia Rocha.
Following them will be true blue rock ’n’ rollers, Rai, who played both Ruido and Pilsen Fest this summer.
Then, of course, there is Divino Niño. I cannot sing this band’s praises enough. They make me swoon and dance and want to chilllll out on cloud nine — which I am guessing is somewhere in Colombia, where members Camilo Medina and Javier Forero are both from — with their blissful, psychedelic pop. Anyways, I love them.
A rude awakening is in store after their set, however, once Bruised takes the stage. This band is tough and full of heart and also punk as hell. I first saw them a few months back when they opened for Chicana punk feminist Alice Bag and I am better for it. You will be too.
Closing out the night will be the ineffable Cabrona. Wow, they are the real deal. They describe themselves as an intersectional Latinx band bringing death to machismo. Their sound nods towards Latin American lineages and the disruption implicit in belonging to two different cultures. Their songs, which are intense and riotous and full of power, are dedicated to “the resilience of Latinxs, survivors of sexual assault, queer POC, the bossy ones, the sexy ones and the warriors fighting for a better world.” They will leave nothing, and no one, unshaken.
…And that about covers it. I am also happy to announce that $1 of each admission fee will be donated to El Rescate, an independent living center located in Humboldt Park that provides identity-affirming housing to homeless LGBTQ and HIV positive youth. They do important work and we are excited to support them. We hope you are too! So, compañerx, do your best to make it out to Demolición. While we can almost certainly promise that there will be a round two next year, you will not want to miss any of the bands highlighted above and their expressions of Latinidad. Or the opportunity to help El Rescate. Nor will you want to skip out on the sweet, sweet (like pan dulce sweet) playlist that Ed and I are curating for the night, which only consists of Latin American and Latinx bands.
Do it for you and do it for all of us.
Dumpster Tapes Presents: Demolición
Friday, October 14 @ The Auxiliary Art Center
7:30 PM | 21+ | $7
For questions or comments, please feel free to write: dumpstertapes@gmail.com.
