The Special Edition Has Been Premiered At FIMPRO in Guadalajara and The Latin GRAMMYs in Las Vegas
La Banda Elástica’s 30th Anniversary Edition is Available on its Website As Well As Amoeba Music in Hollywood
In 1992, musician and graphic designer Emilio Morales and photographer María Madrigal launched a zine called La Banda Elástica in Los Angeles, unknowingly starting a movement.
For 30 years, La Banda Elástica (LBE) has documented the evolution of a scene in ways unseen in any other publication. From world-class music journalism, photography and design to artist showcases and award shows, LBE evolved into a global platform. Staying ahead of the curve as trends in Latin alternative music, media and technology changed, it was one of the first publications in the U.S. to start a website. The LBE team also branched into radio with the creation of its own online station, as well as video with the “Hecho En Casa” series of live performances (see the episode with Mon Laferte here).
To commemorate it’s 30th anniversary, LBE published a commemorative print edition, packed with fascinating reflections on the evolution of the scene over the last three decades.
Thanks to the generous support of our sponsors Live Nation and Altafonte Music, it recently premiered at the prestigious FIMPRO conference in Mexico, as well as at the Latin GRAMMYs in Las Vegas. The special edition will continue its premiere tour at the Feria del Libro in Tijuana on December 10, 2022.
This beautifully designed, limited-run magazine is sure to be a collector’s item. It offers 168 pages of Latin alternative’s greatest moments of the past three decades. Inside, music fans will find exclusive interviews, first-person essays and never-before-seen photos documenting the diversity, electricity, and elasticity of música alterlatina.
The special issue also includes:
● The Top 130 essential albums of the past three decades
● A tribute to the 30 producers who shaped the sounds of the rocanrol movement
● The 30 female voices that will influence the future
● An overview of seminal hip-hop latino artists and those blazing trails today and much more
Of note, the publication looks back at the rockero explosion that made Los Angeles sing en español and unite recent immigrants and the U.S.-born Latinos.
“We’re very proud of this special edition of La Banda Elástica. We brought together more than 40 music journalists and photographers from the Americas and Spain to celebrate 30 years of groundbreaking artists,” said Morales, from La Banda Elástica’s office in Los Angeles.
Morales said LBE was born out of the necessity to create a space for exposure and dialogue about a youth culture revolution that was taking hold throughout much of Latin America and recently in the U.S. – unapologetic, anti-authoritarian rock en español.
With its forever-punk rock ethos, LBE quickly dismissed the idea of borders (state and self-imposed) inside its pages, creating a generative middle ground that documented a scene from the perspective of those who sought refuge within it.
The magazine found a hungry audience, growing rapidly from a circulation of 500 to 20,000 in its first four years across the U.S. and Latin America. LBE became a home, in many senses, for the music and the community that surrounded it.
Music lovers eagerly anticipated each new edition of the magazine as a crucial source of discovery, contributing directly to the growth of artists’ careers — bridging gaps across borders that once seemed impossible to overcome. By 1998, The Los Angeles Times proclaimed, “La Banda Elástica has become the most influential publication in the Spanish rock world.”
La Banda Elástica’s 30th Anniversary Collector’s Edition, is available online at https://tiendita.labandaelastica.com/ AND at Amoeba Music Hollywood.
