By Javiera Tapia @javieratapiaf Photo_ Agency One.
(Article originally published in Potq.cl)
It appears there was an earthquake this weekend., Chile hit its head, we woke up and suddenly we were in 1997. During these days, the discussion took place - just as in 2012 - about what is rock and what is not, based on the bands that made up the last 2017 edition of the Summit.
The tiresome discussion about what can be included in this musical genre, which seems to be a kind of Olympus, was repeated once again. The lineup for this event has included pop music since its first edition, increasingly, and how could it not be, since over the years these are the projects that no-son-rock those that have developed alongside an audience.
In 2007 Saiko was present at the National Stadium and so was Nicole. At the second Summit in 2009, Denisse Malebrán and the interpreter of Wake me up They were repeating the dish, along with other projects such as Teleradio Donoso, Francisca Valenzuela and Gepe.
By 2012 it was undeniable, pop music existed in Chile., It ceased to be what it once was viewed with such resentment. a decade ago And the guests are Ases Falsos, Dënver, Astro, Gepe, Alex Anwandter, Javiera Mena, Pedropiedra and Francisca Valenzuela.
The mere fact that there is still an event that brings together the best of local music and is called the Rock Summit, It tells us about an outdatedness. Some may think that the name doesn't matter, but the truth is that it does, because it carries a symbolic weight, whether we like it or not. And, well, what is that symbolic weight? The one we can see in concerts, artist lyrics, band lineups, or even hallway comments in rehearsal rooms.
Some simple examples that everyone may have seen at some point. At rock concerts, men traditionally make up the majority of the audience and are always at the front. Those on stage are also men. And how often have we heard things like this in rehearsal rooms? “But dude, that’s so gay,” “What a load of crap,” “Play some rock, dude,”, if any musician ever departs from the riff and creates a piece from a different sensibility, far removed from that masculine but textbook one. And in 2017, it was also a museum piece.
There is another very interesting point as well, regarding the complaint about the sign on this occasion and also in 2012. Since the first time this event was held (2007), in addition to pop, there were other genres, such as hip hop, funk, reggae and soul. There have never been any complaints about this inclusion, despite it not being rock. Projects like C-Funk, Funk Attack, Zaturno, De Kiruza, Papanegro, Quique Neira, and Movimiento Original, among others, can be part of that sacred space, without question. These are signs that could indicate that What's annoying is not that the Rock Summit isn't just about rock, but that the nature of what's being represented varies. The symbolic weight. That's where the anger comes in.
It is no coincidence that from 2007 to the present, the Summit lineup has included more and more acts that have nothing to do with pure, hard rock. Recent history has shown us that the most innovative proposals come from other genres, not only in Chile, but worldwide. It is undeniable that rock, as it has traditionally been known, has entered a loop of ideas, sound, and stances. What some call "attitude" could be recognized in 2017 as textbook behavior. And that's not the fault of other genres, it's not the fault of projects that don't see rock as a role model, and it's not the fault of new audiences either.
There are some - the same ones who continue the discussion of what rock is and who can or cannot enter that paradise - who also look down on anything that opposes their doctrine. “It's music to help you forget your thoughts.”, “They are songs without a political background”, “It's purely aesthetic.”"The same thing we've been hearing since the music industry was born as such, practically (and rather shameless, too, if we think that Rock was born from the white theft of the slaves' blues; nothing is that pure, my friends.).
But is it a rule that pop music is empty? Are local projects in this genre hollow? A quick look. What could be more attitude and thunderous power than that of Mon Laferte?, She left Chile to escape being defined by her time on Rojo Fama Contra Fama, arrived in Mexico playing in plazas, in the subway, and recording at home, and now returns to perform like a diva in a place that never gave her a second thought. (that same place that now invites her to collaborate and go on stage, again and again). What could have a more political background than that of Javiera Mena, who, when putting together a team to developvTo be in such a male-dominated field as music, hire women. And well, there's also Alex Anwandter., who was able to stand on stage and say that rock was a men's club, a truth that not even the -very few- women who have gone through that event in previous years have been able to declare, whether they like it or not.
The anger with the varied lineup of the Rock Summit has nothing to do with musical genres. It has to do with a paradigm shift, a change in meaning. Those same small changes we see in the streets, like when you realize it's no longer funny to laugh at the gay kid in class. The feeling you get when you see it's wrong to call your classmate a slut for being sexually liberated.
The anger over the summit poster this year and also that of 2012, It has to do with a change in language, with the direction the singing took and the perspective of the composition as well, at a certain point. That anger stems from the fact that there are other ways of thinking, of making music, and of being free. Something that bothers people in the music scene, on the streets, in schools, and even in Congress.
