The Sconek-T

by Joanna Orland

The Sconek-T is a 4-piece ensemble from Mexico, who have hit the big time in their homeland, but are just on the cusp of breaking out on the international scene. From a classical music background, the boys incorporate their music education and instrumentation (violin x2, cello and percussion) with an inspiration deriving from a vast amount of more pop sources, especially from the realm of Brit Pop.

Having previously found success in Mexico with classical covers of classic pop tunes, the band is branching out and creating an album of all new original material. With their thorough Brit Pop influences, the band decided that they should use this opportunity of recording a new album to get closer to the bands that they admire. They came to England to work with 5A Studios to produce their latest Masterpiece. Luckily we’re in the know and got a chance to speak to the boys (sans percussionist who stayed back in Mexico for this trip), and thanks to 5A’s Cristina who acted as interpreter.

Having met as music students, they used to play classical music in a string quartet and decided to perform their own music and music of their generation. Cellist Omar conceived quite a few of the songs on the new album while the others enriched each of the song ideas through their arrangements. As they come from very different cultural backgrounds in Mexico, they have different perspectives and different experiences to derive from.

On the music scene in Mexico, they don’t have any direct competition as they are a very unique band. They play classical music festivals, huge venues, to an audience ranging from kids to old men, playing cover songs and their own tunes… Diversity at its finest. People from the classical music realm have bizarre expectations from the band as their instrumentation and the material are juxtaposed. The audience don’t know the bulk of their repertoire so they respond very well as they are suddenly presented with popular music in a completely different package. They fit exactly where the two markets of Classical and Pop music meet. The perfect blend, with influences including The Beatles, Radiohead, Pink Floyd, Coldplay, Green Day, Mozart and local Mexican musicians that I won’t dare attempt to transcribe.

So with many of these influences being British, they thought it was best to use the government grant they won to record their latest album and come to the UK for the production. With a Mexican production, they don’t feel that they would have got the same results they achieved here, as there is no real understanding of collaboration between the engineer/producer and artists. They took a big risk and a big step to come to UK and are very happy with the results.

Coming to the UK is the first step in their intention of becoming an international success. It’s important to them, as they want to show that in Mexico, there are artists who can perform with a high calibre of musical skill. For The Sconek-T themselves, it’s a need for the band to grow up. They feel their music itself is asking to grow outside of Mexico, as violinist Israel declares, “ It’s understandable to the whole world. “.

It was a long interview coming in at 45 minutes, but as usual, we had to fit in that one last question…

One word to sum up The Sconek-T? “Big Massive Penis”… No, that’s 3 words.. try again. “Eclecticism”. That’ll do. Cheers.

Now hear for yourselves what they had to say… and if you don’t speak Spanish, who cares… enjoy the sexy language! Purrr…

Ooh…. What’s this? I’ve found a violin!

I’ll become the 5th member of Sconek-T!!! YAY!!!

Dreams shattered….. *sniff*

http://www.myspace.com/thesconektnsamble