If there was one institution that managed to differentiate Latin American electronic music from what was happening in the rest of the world, it was Nortec. This collective of Mexican musicians, who raised their sound from the border, popularized that blend of norteño music with European-influenced techno, getting the whole planet dancing for over 15 years. They were not only headliners at festivals worldwide and their music featured in countless personal and film soundtracks, but they also inspired many projects across the continent that, inspired by what they saw in Tijuana, began to fuse their native rhythms with the musical trends of the time.
Pepe Mogt, known as Fussible, was one of the founders of that exemplary company, and, along with Ramon Bostisch, one of the last surviving members of the project. After all this time, and following the release of their album Motel Baja a few months ago, they have announced the end of Nortec. The end of an era. Here is our conversation:
Motel Baja, They announced it a few months ago; it's scheduled as Nortec's last album. Do they still feel the same way? Is there no going back on that decision?
With Motel Baja We're closing the Nortec cycle. We'd been making electronic music for over 10 years before Nortec, and I think the 15 years the project lasted was enough. Ramón and I will continue working together, but making different electronic music. Nortec has been going for 15 years, and we've released several albums, remixes, and so on. There's no going back on this decision. We're doing the tour. Motel Baja, one or two years and we continue with the new thing we are doing.
Did the Nortec sound run out, or did you get tired of it?
The sound could offer more, but we've already explored everything with it. From its beginnings, which were pure sampling and synthesizers, to incorporating real musicians from the norteño scene and the band, and even working with a philharmonic orchestra. We've experimented quite a bit; 15 years is enough for us. We've learned a lot about Nortec; we learned it ourselves. It's simply not a life project. I don't see myself playing Nortec forever when there are countless things left to do in electronic music.
In any case, there will always be that nostalgic soul who, in one of their future live sets, will suggest returning to the past for a moment; that sound will be locked away in a safe, never to return…
Maybe I'll include it in a DJ set sometime. It's not that I never want to hear it again; everything I did with Nortec, fortunately, I enjoyed, otherwise I wouldn't have composed it. What I want to make clear is that we will never compose with that fusion again. Motel Baja was, so to speak, our thesis on the Nortec sound.
A thesis that was developed with distinguished guests. What contributions did these guests make to this latest production?
Uwe Schmidt was invited to discuss the topic of Lovely, He participated with synthesizers in his own unique style. We brought Argenis Brito to sing in Tele-VCO. Tina and Chris Franz of Tom Tom Club and founders of Talking Heads collaborated on the composition of the song Motel Baja. To Wolfgang Flür on the subject Makina Fashion, It seemed as if the lyrics were taken directly from her book. I Was A Robot and close friends from Tijuana such as Gerardo Molina, Melo Ruiz and Luis Elorza.
And what happened to the old members of the collective? It was a good time to include them in this latest work, wasn't it?
What? We haven't done anything together since 2007. It's been over nine years since we last recorded an album. That's why Bostich+Fussible went on to work on Tijuana Sound Machine and individual projects like Latinsizer and Point Loma. Between name theft, envy, and other nonsense, we decided it was best to focus on producing and composing music. After all, that's what we enjoy, and everything else can take its course. We're definitely on a different wavelength now.
How would you define, as we bring the experience to a close, the Nortec sound, apart from the logical detail of the fusion?
It's the deconstruction of the Norteño and Banda Sinaloense sound through electronic means. It's that simple: recycling that street sound and transforming it into something pleasing to our ears. Motel Baja (in my opinion) is a mature culmination of that sound. A decidedly more stylized, more "elegant" experience, wouldn't you say? As I said before, it's a kind of thesis on sound. Motel Baja brings together all those experiences we acquired since the late eighties, from our exclusively electronic work to what began as Nortec in 1999—all on one album.
Are they aware of how they put Tijuana on the map for the world?
Well, it's one of those things you don't expect. It started with a party we threw ourselves—friends and I—in Tijuana, and suddenly the people from the New York Times, Time Magazine, Rolling Stone, Wired, and others were here covering it in 2000-2001. That was the catalyst that put at least the electronic music scene in this region on the map. Tijuana has a long musical history, going back many years, from the 60s to the 30s. In fact, I think fusions like Nortec had already been happening here back then, not with Norteño, but with Mexican and foreign sounds, and that made the city popular in film and press back in the day.
But you were more popular in the endeavor, and it's not pretentious to acknowledge that.
Well, it was the era we lived through, and surely others are coming along who will have their turn.
We know about your side projects, will your musical future go in that direction? What's next for your personal sound?
I'm currently working on a project that will take me another two years to complete, titled La4 440 Hz (La4 Four Forty). This refers to the standard tuning frequency for musical pitch, which is the sound produced by a vibration repeating a cycle or event every second. This sound frequency is the tuning reference for both acoustic instruments and the synthesizers used in electronic music. La4 Four Forty is a work consisting of 40 electronic music pieces that will take me on a sonic and compositional journey through the last 40 years. Forty pieces, four decades of technology and sound—it's an adventure I'm very excited about. Ramón and I are preparing live sets that will be nothing more than pure improvisation, consisting solely of the music you'll hear at the performances. Additionally, Ramón's Point Loma and Latinsizer will continue producing music.
For more information, please see the following pages:
https://www.facebook.com/nortecbf
