After playing impressive shows at the LAMC (Latin American Music Conference) in New York and the Ruido Fest in Chicago, the young Argentinean band, Callate Mark visited Los Angeles and played two amazing shows, first, in the Red Room at Los Globos and El Reventon pre-show outside Staples Center.
Callate Mark is a rock band formed in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2008. After some time rehearsing in the garage, the band started to play live shows. In 2011 they continued to shape the sound and stage performances that today are what attracts audiences to this band.
In 2012, Callate Mark began to raise interest in the rock scene in Buenos Aires and the band was featured in shows at venues such as “La Trastienda”. 2013 was definitely the year where Callate Mark took off and have now played important festivals all over Latin America including Mexico’s Vive Latino.
At Los Globos, it was no exception and as the first chords rang out of Florián Fernández Capello’s guitar, we knew we were in for a treat. Most people at Los Globos were there to see Mexican iconic band, Los Amantes de Lola in the main room, but at the time Callate Mark took the stage, the main room was being host to another one of those obnoxious and mediocre cover bands, but when people in the main room heard what was happening in the Red Room, people began to trickle in and they stayed and that’s when things heated up. Singer Tadeo Luna was in full command of the small stage as he twirled and jumped around and twisted his body into unimaginable positions as he hung from his microphone stand while Laucha Rico Gómez kept his cool on the base whereas Juli Gondell maniacally attacked his drums at the back.
Earlier, the day of the show, I met up with the guys in the band and we talked about the band and their music and here is a peek at what we talked about:
Al Borde (AB): Tell us about how this band came about.
Callate Mark (CM) – We started when we were 13, at first it was just for fun and games, but we kept up with it and as we got older things got a bit more serious, especially once we began talking about recording and ever since then we are fully committed to the band and taking it in a more serious and professional manner.
AB – Why a band name like Callate Mark?
CM – The name came from a song by an Argentinean band from the 80’s, Sumo, who wrote this song about Mark Chapman, who killed John Lennon.
AB – What you can tell us about your first album, Balboa?
CM – Balboa contains songs that we had been playing on stage for a while and also songs that we worked on right up to the time we went into the studio. The album has songs that are very direct, we don’t like to go around and around, these are very straight forward songs that can be heard at any time and they represent how the band is, and of course, when we play live, the songs get a good dosage of extra intensity.
AB – What are the musical influences of band like Callate Mark?
CM – A lot of it has to do with the sounds we grew up hearing at home and things we picked up later. We have lot of 80’s new wave along with some punk and post punk and bands like The Clash, The Who and more contemporary bands like The Strokes, The Hives, Arctic Monkeys
AB – How was your experience at the LAMC and Ruido Fest?
CM – It was great, at the LAMC we played at the Highline Ballroom and people really responded well and in Chicago we were very impressed by the whole vibe of the festival and people also responded well to our music so we are very happy by the reception received in the United States and we hope to be back soon.
While we wait for Callate Mark to come back to the U.S., you can follow the band on their facebook page and their bandcamp and you can obtain their album at iTunes, Amazon and it can also be streamed on Spotify.
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