Despite the empire of the urban genre and the filters of the algorithm, the Mexican group Elefante celebrates more than 30 years making pop rock an alternative on the stages of America and Europe, a journey that now takes place on digital platforms and in which the key is always the same: “defend the music” and forget about fame.
“We have always defended the music. Many people know Elefante’s songs, but they don’t know who we are. We are not famous; our music is,” guitarist Flavio López ‘Ahis’, co-founder of the project that originated in 1993, told EFE.
Elefante will kick off its European tour in May, where Spain will be its main bastion, with presentations in Barcelona (28) and Madrid (29), although it will also hold concerts in Paris (30) and London (31).
Sabina, the first light of the group Elefante
Spain is no coincidence, but rather a root to which they return, since it was where their first and most successful album, ‘El que busca encuentra’ (2001), which includes ‘Así es la vida’, a classic of the 2000s that has not stopped playing on the radio, cantinas and Mexican parties, was born by the hand of Madrid-born Nacho Béjar -known for his work with Ana Torroja and Miguel Ríos-.
“Our music is a sister of Spain”, emphasizes the group’s bassist, Luis Alberto Pórtela, Gordito Tracks, for whom Elefante’s songs are deeply inspired by Spanish music references such as Joaquín Sabina, with whom they shared the stage at the National Auditorium in Mexico City in 2000, without even having recorded an album.
The author of most of Elefante’s songs is guitarist Rafael López, who smiles as he recalls the time they ended up “by chance” at Sabina’s house, where he promised to invite them to one of his concerts in Mexico.
The promise was more than fulfilled. Some time later, the band -then led by Mexican singer-songwriter Reyli Barba- participated in the ’19 días y 500 noches’ tour, a milestone in the career of Sabina, who retired from music last year.
The anecdotes of the group, also formed by Argentine vocalist Javier Ortega and drummer Iván Antonio Suárez ‘Iguana’, with Spain cover their entire career, including their most recent collaboration with David Summers, vocalist of Hombres G, on the popular song ‘Ángel’.
The secret of timelessness
Time has passed, but Elefante’s songs remain in the playlists of young people between 18 and 30 years old not as a fashion, but as a way to connect, from time to time, with the heartbreak portrayed in ‘La que se fue’ or in the routine of waking up day by day in ‘De la noche a la mañana’.
“Our music is timeless,” Ortega assures, because it “describes earthly themes” with lyrics that go through “deep emotions” and that, in addition, are not pigeonholed into a single genre.
“The depth of our lyrics is the weight of the group, it is the alternative to the urban genre, which may cost a little more to reach those emotions,” says Ortega, who joined the band in 2007, after the departure of Mexican Jorge Guevara.
Elefante is not standing still and wants to continue to weigh as much as its name suggests, reported Agencia EFE, and this is demonstrated in this tour of more than 30 years of experience in which they will give around 100 concerts in different parts of the world, especially in the United States, Canada and Latin American countries.
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