Growing up in Matamoros, in the northern state of Tamaulipas in Mexico, the members of División Minúscula, grew up listening to the sounds from across the border, but they were in the minority as the city was filled with the sounds of Rigo Tovar’s tropical music, cumbias and norteño music, but the band persevered and 10 years later, they are about to play the SXSW festival for the fourth time.
To learn more about the band and what moves them, we spoke to guitarist Ricci Perez and here’s a little bit of what we talked about:
What do you think about festivals like SXSW?
“It is always an honor to just be part of this type of festivals and we are always proud to represent our music and after 10 years of career, four albums and this being our fourth time going to SXSW, we feel like we can hold our own on any stage.”
Do you have plans for making a stronger presence in the U.S. by touring?
“Although we have played a few shows here and there, we have never done an actual tour, and we are looking at doing a tour through the most important cities like Chicago, New York, Houston, Los Angeles and other cities. We look forward to getting on a tour bus and hitting all those cities that have supported Spanish rock.”
For those not familiar with the band, what does the name of División Minúscula (Miniscule Division) mean?
“The name came from a sarcastic idea, when we were growing up, there was a small group of us who were into punk, but the musical landscape was divided by tropical music, cumbias, norteñas and even some heavy metal fans, so our “division” of the musical landscape was very small, hence ‘miniscule’.”
How would you describe your music and what are your influences?
“We began playing punk, or pop punk, and the faster and harder it sounded, the better, but as we matured, so did our music. Our music is now much more melodic and we pay a lot more attention to the lyrics. Our music has always been influenced by some of the American classic bands like Tom Petty, Metallica and others, so along with our influences and musical evolution, I think our music could be categorized as “pure rock & roll” but in Spanish.”
División Minúscula will have three presentations at the SXSW Festival in Austin, TX starting off on Tuesday March 11 at The Mohawk, Wednesday the 12th at The North Door and Friday the 14th at Buffalo Billiards.
