Boca Abajo

Rock en español gets a Jimmy Eat World twist when it’s delivered courtesy of Austin’s very fun, Boca Abajo.

That’s the distinct impression when the unpretentious five-piece rock act rips into one of its original songs, “No Se Porque.”
Then again, like the Texas weather, hang around a bit and things could change — sometimes in the same song.

There are times when the family band, which has recorded two albums, channels a grittier, hillbilly-cat era Elvis Presley on “Necesito Salvación” (albeit given a sly Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs or Esteban “Steve” Jordan flavor). They’re not above covering the legendary Enanitos Verdes, Ramon Ayala or Maroon 5.

All the songs are in Spanish. But that shouldn’t be a challenge for anyone on the St. Mary’s Strip who loves a good beat, funky bass lines, loud guitars and a familiar melody.

Patrick Salinas, 42, the band’s lead singer and chief songwriter, acknowledged rock en español is a tough sell in the U.S. compared to banda, tropical, cumbia-pop, electronic dance music and reggaeton.

But if it feels that way from the inside of the beast, it’s not much different on the outside, say experts.

Grammy-winning record producers Michael Morales and Gilbert Velasquez have their theories about rock en español. Morales loves it (and the Aztec Theatre has recently presented some killer Mexican-rock package shows), but there’s a caveat. The hybrid rock, Morales explained, may be too American for its own good.

Indeed, Salinas acknowledged his band doesn’t attract mostly Latino audiences and having to explain to family members that he plays “Tejano, but it’s not.”

“Our gimmick is we sing in Spanish but we play in English,” said Salinas. “Singing in Spanish doesn’t matter; people take to the music.”

Again, that goes to Morales’ point.

“All the big rock en español groups, they’re all derivative. They either sound like pop-punk bands or, the biggest one (Maná), sounds like the Police,” Morales said.

“It’s a hard sell in the United States to get a watered-down band that sounds like an American band from 15 years ago and put a (foreign) language on it. It is just problematic, as opposed to salsa and conjunto. It is what it is.”

Velasquez, a multi-Grammy and Latin Grammy producer and Tejano musician, added that rock en español superstars such as Maná set the gold standard within that genre. He described Boca Abajo as roots and underground rock “that’s making some noise.”

“When you speak of rock en español, Maná are the guys who come to mind,” Velasquez said. “The audience for this kind of stuff is limited when compared to (Pitbull). That’s in another direction.”

Salinas, a Pearsall native and pharmacy technician by day, formed the band 16 years ago, coinciding when the genre was barely trending and there was a little Austin scene. Boca Abajo was on the forefront, eschewing cumbias and Latin swing for straight-up rock and pop.

“My nephews are definitely more Jimmy Eat World guys,” said Salinas, who grew up listening to Nirvana but played accordion in a Tejano band (Centella) when he was a teenager. “I’m a bit more old-school myself.”

The band’s name has no hidden meaning, though it has an inside-joke backstory. “That’s actually the way I sleep, face-down. The name kind of stuck, sort of a joke,” said Salinas. “We were just trying to come up with something catchy for the band.”

In the end, the Gen-X Chicano rocker with a soft spot for the Beatles and the Beach Boys doesn’t mind bucking trends: “You’ve got to give people something a little different. I’ve always been, um, optimistic.” - Hector Saldana - San Antonio Express News

Austin Mayor Steve Adler Proclaims May 5th, 2016 "Boca Abajo Day" in Austin Texas. -

Boca Abajo is a family affair. The Austin rock en español quintet's members are all related: Patrick and Lionel Salinas are brothers; then there are the nephews Conrad, Peter and Joe.

"We’re one big happy family," says lead vocalist/guitarist Patrick.

The Salinas family is originally from Pearsall, about 50 miles south of San Antonio. The band's members migrated to Austin at different times. The band started the way many in their genre do: performing covers. Their live covers of legendary Mexican rock bands like Caifanes, Mana, and Cafe Tacuba earned the band much acclaim and they eventually graduated to originals, releasing a self-titled album of hard-charging, melodic Latin rock music written by the band.

Their influences are all over the place: Mana, Ramon Ayala, Toadies, pop-punk. But one thing they do well is play straight-ahead rock en español. We spoke with Patrick, the band's primary songwriter and leader, to find out about Boca Abajo's history and a new album to be released this month, entitled Otro Verso.
What drives you to play this kind of music?

Patrick: It’s interesting how we got into the whole rock en español scene. When I lived in Pearsall, I was in a Tejano band. Once I left home and moved to Austin, I discovered the whole rock en español scene. I was really never aware that this style of music existed and that you could do Spanish lyrics with rock music. All of a sudden it just seemed to make sense to me. We had grown up speaking Spanish and grew up listening to English rock 'n' roll. It was just a logical thing to want to do rock 'n' roll, but in our own native language, and it fit well too.

How do you think Otro Verso is different from or similar to your debut album?

Patrick: When we finally released the first CD, we were very proud of our work. The CD opened different doors for us and it made people aware of who we were and what we were all about. When we started out as a cover band, we would do all types of songs. I think this shaped the style of the first CD. There is a huge range of music styles on there. This new CD is a more defined sound. There are still different styles of songs on there, but it’s a little more uniform. It’s just a fun album from start to finish, I think. We also incorporated more instruments in this second album. There’s a song with harmonica, one with accordion, another with bells and chimes. We definitely were more prepared for this second album. We hope everyone enjoys it as much as we do.

Tell me about the making of the new CD.

Patrick: Well, making this CD was a lot of fun. The songs pretty much came out by themselves. We were able to record and work with different people we admire in the music scene. We worked with people like musician Ady Hernandez, producer Mark Dufore, legendary Tejano songwriter/producer Luis Silva, Tejano legend Paco Rodriguez, and Tejano producer/musician J.B. Hernandez. We didn’t push any of the songs to come out in the studio. We worked at our own pace and it felt very natural recording the songs, and that made it easy for us to figure out exactly the sound we wanted for the different tracks. One of the advantages of being an independent band like us is having all the recording freedom in the studio. The only downfall was having to finance it ourselves.

Tell me about the song "No Se Por Que", which appears twice on the new CD.

Patrick: We did this song as a rock version with a twist at the end: We tear into the accordion and end it Tejano/Norteño style. This is a song that I had written years ago when I was doing my Tejano stuff. We brought it back because we thought it would be great to do it rock style, but then honor our roots and finish it as a ranchera. It’s a really cool fusion of these two styles. Then the song appears again as bonus track 13. This time we decided to do it more of how the song originally was written. J.B. Hernandez produced it for us and now it’s one of the more requested songs on the entire album. It’s funny how that works out. We’re a rock band, but our Tejano song is gaining a lot of recognition. It’s all music though and we love it!

What are Boca Abajo's plans for 2010?

Patrick: The plans for 2010 are simple: We want our music to reach places and people we have never reached before. This would mean getting the band out there more, doing more shows and increasing our fan base along the way. Ultimately, we want people to be able to relate to, or feel influenced by our music.

http://www.austinvida.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=261:interview-boca-abajo
- Austin Vida

"Boca Abajo en lo personal es la banda ke mejor representa el rock latino hecho en Austin, esa combinación de rock de los sesentas y setentas con tejano y cumbianchero, les da un sonido incomparable, una nota interesante es ke todos los miembros de la banda son parientes y eso es evidente al ver como interactuan en el escenario, es claro ke no solo gozan la música ke hacen si no ke es parte de ellos y su familia."
-por Alex Alonso - GoHispano.com

"The energy that is Boca Abajo is infectious" - Paul Saucido - ME Television

Drummer Peter Ramirez, percussionist Lionel Salinas and bassist Conrad Salinas formed a very tight, dynamic rhythm section, and lead guitarist Joe Ramirez and singer-guitarist Patrick Salinas had a strong rhythmic approach as well. (They’re all family members, but don’t ask us just how they’re related.) Joe Ramirez was both versatile and fluid, thrashing away at his guitar one minute and playing graceful arpeggios with classical elan the next.

Patrick Salinas has a strong, clear, flexible voice that he deployed with a refreshing absence of melodrama. His percussive yet liquid phrasing made Spanish sound like the natural language of rock ‘n’ roll. Lionel Salinas, who was delightfully animated throughout, sang fine harmonies as well.

Boca Abajo’s memorable tunes included the punk-pop-reggae fusion “Reggae n ‘G’ ” and twangy, hyper “Necesito Salvacion.” They’ve only released one album to date, but already have a mature sound.
- Austin 360.com

Austin, Texas -- Aug 24, 2015
September 25th will be another milestone for Austin’s pioneers of Latin Rock, Boca Abajo. Tu Y Yo Contra El Mundo will be the group’s latest release and is set to be revealed LIVE at 6th streets El Sol Y La Luna. The event is expected to be the largest gathering of Latin Rock Fans and the musical line up will insure a room full to capacity.

Austin’s Kalua, San Antonio’s Dejavu and Boca Abajo will be taking the stage and electrifying the Austin Music Scene with their talents. Hosting the event is none other than Bidi Bidi Banda’s Selena, Stephanie Bergara. Many have been anxiously waiting for Boca Abajo to release new music, and now the wait is over.

September 25th will be filled with great giveaways, lots of wonderful music and many memories that will be captured by all who attend this historical event. Come join us and help us celebrate Boca Abajo Day at El Sol Y La Luna.

With so many friends in and around the Latin Music scene you never know who will show up to this grand event, so make your plans to join Boca Abajo at El Sol Y La Luna on September 25th. - Batalla Management