Female sonorities: Theoretical inquiries on the feminine voice and the musical experience; a study of three women.

by

Marusia Pola Mayorga, M.M

A Thesis

In

Musicology

Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of

Master of Music

Approved

Dr. Christopher J. Smith Chair of Committee

Dr. Lauryn Salazar

Dr. Peter Martens

Mark Sheridan Dean of the Graduate School

August, 2016

Copyright 2016, Marusia Pola Mayorga Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my beloved family and friends for their continuous support and love. My most sincere thanks also goes to my wonderful mentor and main advisor, Dr. Christopher Smith. His wonderful guidance helped me throughout the time of research and writing and I will always cherish his wisdoms and life lessons.

Besides my advisor, I would like to thank the rest of my thesis committee: Dr. Salazar and Dr. Martens and their wonderful encouragement and insightful comments.

I also want to thank to all Texas Tech School of Music faculty for their guidance and teaching.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...... ii

ABSTRACT ...... iv

I. INTRODUCTION: SEARCHING FOR THE FEMININE VOICE ...... 1

Review of Related Research ...... 2 Methodology and Materials ...... 5 II. GENDER PERFORMATIVITY IN RANCHERO MEXICAN MUSIC: CHAVELA VARGAS AND THE ‘ETERNAL FEMININE’ ...... 10

Framing cultural models ...... 14 Music performativity and feminist agendas in Vargas’s reinterpretation of ranchero music...... 16 III. MALDITO!!: MUSICAL LYRICISM AND THE FEMININE EMBODIMENT OF TRANSGRESSION IN A POST-PUNK RIOT GRRRL ...... 34

Setting Context: Rocking’ in Mexico ...... 35 Jessy Bulbo: The last Mexican riot grrrl...... 37 Maldito!!: Transgressive poetics and musical narratives ...... 42 Changemonium: The search for a Mexican futuristic sound ...... 48 IV. THE OTHER WOMEN: THE FEMININE VOICE OF LEIKA MOCHAN ...... 59

Kaleidojismos: Sound kaleidcospe and musical subjects...... 64 Challenging archetypes: The two women inside Leika...... 72 V. CONCLUSION AND FINAL THOUGHTS ...... 84

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 91

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ABSTRACT

Patriarchal ideologies and attitudes have obscured, concealed, and devalued women’s music over centuries. However important or vital their engagement, women’s role in music has been submitted to a historical process of invisibility. Either as composers, patrons and teachers, women role in Music history is still going through a historical revisionism that aims to proclaim their historical place within the musical history. Regarding the significant efforts, women creative role in music is still regarded as something different that deals with the problems of misrepresentation and notions of ‘otherness’.

This problematic approach to women-in music raises many questions relevant to my own research and my own role within music. I seek an approach to the study of women in music as a history within which female education, gender power relations and domestication converge, raising issues of colonialism and gender empowering.

By looking at female musical bodies as recipients of memory, capable of multiple incarnations, I design an analytical model of the nuances and cultural and creative implications surrounding women’s music work.

I aim for a model of female musical identity proceeding from a non-prejudice theoretical frame that considers the multiple bodies implicated in the creative process of female performers and artists. By looking at the multiple strategies and socio- cultural frames used by selected female musicians I developed a scholarly perspective which can examine the creative process to reveal context, content and intention.

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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION: SEARCHING FOR THE FEMININE VOICE

1991’s Feminine Endings by Susan McClary was one of the first full-length titles in the musicological literature to directly address problematics regarding gender and sexuality.1 Twenty-four years later, McClary’s critical approach still resonates strongly in our field. However, twenty-four years later, her call for a unique scholarly approach capable of addressing the work of women within a post-colonial non- patriarchal discourse remains unanswered.

Patriarchal ideologies and attitudes have obscured, concealed, and devalued women’s music over centuries. However important or vital their engagement, women’s role in music has been submitted to a historical process of invisibility.

Whether as composers, patrons and teachers, women’s role in music history is still going through a historical revisionism that seeks to more accurately understand their historical place within music. Women’s creative role in music is still regarded as an area of difference, one that deals with problematics of misrepresentation and notions of ‘otherness’. Compilations like the New Historical Anthology of Music by Women issued by Indiana University Press in 2004 or courses on women in music are certainly legitimate efforts to address these issues. However, the fundamental problem of considering women’s musical work as something else outside the ‘canon’ and standard

1 Susan McClary, Feminine Endings: Music, Gender and Sexuality (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1991). 1

Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 curriculum still reveals elements of patriarchal ideologies.2 The study of women and music is still taught as a “special topic,” beyond, or separate from, the mainstream curriculum.

This “othering” approach to women in music raises questions relevant to my own research and my own role within music. I seek an approach to the study of women in music as a history within which female education, gender power relations, and domestication converge, raising issues of colonialism and gender empowerment. I wish to build a discourse through which analysis of a female embodiment of the creative process can illuminate women’s musical history and artistic experiences.

By looking at female musical bodies as recipients of memory, capable of multiple incarnations, I propose different theoretical models of the nuances and cultural and creative implications surrounding women’s music work.

I seek a non-prejudiced theoretical frame that considers the multiple musical bodies implicated in the creative process of female performers and artists. In this document I provide a close reading of the work of three different Mexican artists and unfold some of the multiple musical strategies and socio-cultural frames used by them, in order to develop a scholarly perspective which can reveal context, content, and intention.

Review of Related Research

Feminist critical approaches greatly enlivened the discipline of musicology in the 1970s, when scholars produced seminal research critiques of women’s role in

2 James R Briscoe, ed. New Historical Anthology of Music by Women, (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2004). 2

Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 music history.3 Susan McClary and Marcia J. Citron are two who have guided musicological work in this direction.4 Works like Gender and the Musical Canon

(1993) and Feminine Endings (1991) open the path to a more engaged research in which the history of women and the “feminine” in music is not forgotten.5 Both are influential works in music literature and their theoretical frames and multi-disciplinary approaches greatly impact my own work. The search for a true ‘feminine voice’, one that is able to explain and reflect, from a non-patriarchal basis, the music and artistic process of female musicians is one of the research premises fundamental to my own work.

Queering the Pitch: The New Gay and Lesbian Musicology (1994), edited by

Philip Brett, Elizabeth Wood and Gary C. Thomas, is another seminal piece of scholarly literature: the first collection of gay and lesbian critical theory in music and musicology.6 The work problematizes music analysis through a gendered approach which permits discussion of notions of sexuality and sexual identity. Under this schema, it is possible to identify musical agency and political intention by looking at how gender construction and identity is articulated through a musical discourse, another central topic of my research.

Towards a Twenty-First-Century Feminist Politics of Music is a more recent work, published in 2010, that proposes a new way of theorizing the absence of

3 Kimberly Reitsma, “A New Approach: The feminist Musicology studies of Susan McClary and Marcia J. Citron,” Musical Offerings 5, no. 1 (Spring 2014): 38 4 Marcia J. Citron, Gender and the Musical Canon (Chicago: University Press, 1993). 5 Reitsma, A New Approach. 6 Philip Brett, Elizabeth Wood and Gary C. Thomas eds., Queering the Pitch: The New Gay and Lesbian Musicology (New York: Routledge, 1994). 3

Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 women’s music and ‘re-theorizes identity and subjectivity as fluid and ever-changing constructs’.7 Its discussion of politics and power-gender relations and its desire to make-visible the work of women artists is a concept that helps frame my own document.

Music and Gender (2000), edited by Pirkko Moisala and Beverley Diamond, problematizes the multiple gender identities associated with music performance and music embodiment.8 The search for multiple feminine embodiments and musical identities within the subjectivity of the artist process is a unifying element in my document and shapes the multiple strategies I use in my discussion.

An encouraging recent trend is that academic research regarding women studies and feminism in musicology offers an expanding range of authors and works combining thoughtful insight and interdisciplinary approaches which together address multiple layers of analysis concerning music and feminine embodiment. However, specifically in the area of popular music, there is still a lack of engaging works which study women’s roles in depth. This is where my document proposes to fit. While research concerning women’s role in popular music history is increasing, that literature is still mostly devoted to recounting the historical involvement of women.

While the visibility and acknowledgement of women in popular music studies is a positive movement toward a more equal academia, it remains true that a move from historical accounts to a more engaged analysis is urgently needed.

7 Sally Macarthur, Towards a Twenty-First-Century Feminist Politics of Music (Burlington: Ashgate, 2010), 90. 8 Pirkko Moisala, and Beverley Diamond editors., Music and Gender (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2000). 4

Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016

Women and Popular Music: Sexuality, Identity and Subjectivity and The Space

Between the Notes: Rock and the Counter-Culture both by Sheila Whiteley, explored the changing role of women musicians within the essential relationship of counter- culture to the interpretation of rock music.9 Both impact my own interpretations.

Works like Sexing the Groove: Popular Music and Gender, edited by Sheila

Whiteley, offer a more in-depth analysis of gender identity within a popular music frame.10 Disruptive Divas: Feminism, Identity & Popular Music (2001) by Lori Burns and Mélisse Lafrance aims to build a bridge between popular music scholarship, music theory, and cultural studies.11 It is probably the most inspiring work that I have found regarding women and popular music, and offers insights on popular music divas from several academic perspectives combining music analysis, cultural studies, performance studies and gender. Latin American musicologist Susan Campos Fonseca specializes in a synthesis of cultural studies, feminist musicology and post-colonial discourse.12 Her insights regarding the search for a feminist identity within scholarly music analysis are a primary foundation of my own research.13

Methodology and Materials

The above works are some of the principal scholarly materials that inspire and give theoretical insights to my argument. Additional materials that I have been

9 Sheila Whiteley, Women and Popular Music: Sexuality, Identity and Subjectivity, (London: Routledge, 2000). 10 Sheila Whiteley ed., Sexing The Groove (New York: Routledge, 1997), xiii. 11 Lori Burns, and Melisse Lafrance. Disruptive Divas: Feminism, Identity and Popular Music (New York: Routledge, 2002). 12 Ph.D. Susan Campos Fonseca is a musicology focus on philosophy of culture and Music. 13 Luc Delannoy, Convergencias (México DF: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 2012), 320. 5

Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 gathering over time (see Bibliography) and especially first-person interviews provide other sources for reference and information. My argument is built upon three main topics of analysis through which musical female corporeality can be addressed; cultural identity and vernacular music, transgression and musical allusions, and musical subjects and feminine expression. I concentrate my study specifically upon 1) music performativity and the construction of a public persona, 2) poetic narratives and musical lyricism, and 3) music composition and the creative process. In order to address these three topics, I have chosen three case studies that support my analysis and serve as platforms to demonstrate my theoretical inquiries.

Chavela Vargas (1919 - 2012) is one of the most influential Mexican ranchero singers, and her unique take on this highly patriarchal vernacular styles opens up rich possibilities for studies and analysis. In the chapter: “Gender Performativity in

Ranchero Mexican Music: Chavela Vargas and the ‘Eternal Feminine,” I discuss performative strategies and aesthetic choices that speak of an artistic transgression happening within a vernacular musical language. Vargas died in 2012, although I had the opportunity to attend one of her concerts in 2002 in Mexico. Over time I have looked at two biographies, one by Vargas herself and the other one by one of her closest friends, along with several interviews and documentaries, and have developed a very substantial audio collection which I believe has provided me sufficient knowledge to discuss her work and artistic career, since an interview was impossible.

Thus, this chapter discusses two specific songs performed by Chavela Vargas and composed by Mexican composer, Jose Alfredo Jimenez. My theoretical methodologies

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Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 and insights focus upon gender archetypes articulated from both artists in different times and places. Their subjectivities can be revealed by unpacking how both performances discuss gender relations, relating Mexican culture with the feminist agenda and gender transgression provided by Vargas’s artistry.

My second case study is Mexican singer Jessy Bulbo (born circa 1978), an underground rock singer considered the heiress of the Riot Grrrl movement of the

1990s. Bulbo has been an active performer since the 1990s and her multiple projects are marked by transgressive and outspoken stances, some of them discussed in the chapter. Her unique take on a post-punk rock style is particularly characterized by her controversial lyrics, rough performances, and specific musical allusions. In the chapter; “Maldito!!: Musical Lyricism and the Feminine Embodiment of

Transgression in a Post-Punk Riot Grrl,” I analyze how Bulbo’s artistic evolution works as an aesthetic tool to confront gender prejudice and patriarchal conventions within a post-punk musical scene. I have gathered several interviews, newspaper articles, videos and audio tracks which I have further enriched with a personal interview provided by Ms. Bulbo. The personal insights gathered from this experience along with my scholarly research help me unfold some of the political insights found in Bulbo’s musical language.

In my third study case is Mexican singer Lieika Mochan (born circa 1977), who has been active since the 1990s. She started her musical studies as a classical musician and ended with a Bachelor’s degree in Jazz vocal studies from the Mexican National

Conservatory. Her unique musical training has provided her with a remarkable vocal

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Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 quality, characterized by a distinctive technical and stylistic versatility, which has allowed her to experiment with multiple techniques. As a solo artist, Mochan is a multidisciplinary performer who combines electronic devices and technological tools to expand her vocal possibilities, along with avant-garde stylistic resources. Her 2010 album Kaleidojismos provided me the opportunity to frame a theoretical model that is based on the search for ‘unified subjects’ found in Mochan’s sounding landscapes.

Such subjects defined the musical language and are meant to express different intentions and meaning within Mochan’s music. My discussion is enriched with an interview I conducted in January 2016 during one of Ms Mochan’s performances.

I intend that my case studies will address some of the issues arising in the construction of a musicological narrative where issues of identity and gender can be addressed in a more ethical and informed way. While working with music that belongs to the ‘Latin American’ repertoire of popular music I have chosen my artists based on certain parameters. First I prioritized Mexican female performers whose authorship allowed me to look at their music without concerns of ‘third parties’. That is to say, I tried to work with artists known for keeping a certain ‘artistic freedom,’ either through working with independent labels, like Mochan and Bulbo, or such artistic freedom as is provided by a long and respected music career like that of Vargas. Second, I chose my case studies based on the contrasting musical discourses portrayed in each of these artists’ work.

In the case of Vargas, it is remarkable that such a famous and respected artist was still capable of reinventing a vernacular repertoire in such a transgressive way.

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With Bulbo, her importance results not only from her being one of the few Latin

American female rock musicians to employ the aesthetics of the Riot Grrrl movement, but it is also quite remarkable to see her musical evolution as a conscious attempt to seek a musical language that articulates a sense of Mexican identity. In contrast,

Mochan is a musician that moves away from the strong ‘personas’ found both in

Vargas and Bulbo. Her music and musicianship have sought more introspective ways to reclaim feminine agency, at the same time that the subjectivities related to her own expression also speak of a woman seeking to conciliate motherhood and domestic life without losing her own voice.

I try to pursue my search for alternative analytical frames in ways that acknowledge and recognized the socio-cultural implications in where each artist operates. By giving them a visible history I assert that there is a ‘female voice’ which can be identified from different analytical angles that will converge in a gendered plot.

The discursive implications result of my case studies indicate that the interconnection of performance practices and creative process structures lead to a more comprehensive understanding of the evolution and scope of the popular music. It is also possible to identify in each artist a quest to insert themselves into a national musical imagery where identity can be performed in a more genuine and honest way. Each artist works within a musical language that retains cultural marks and associations with Mexican music at the same time that aims to a reconfiguration of what it means to be a women and a musician. Such a quest is particularly emblematic in the life and art of Chavela

Vargas, whose work I discuss in the following chapter.

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CHAPTER II GENDER PERFORMATIVITY IN RANCHERO MEXICAN

MUSIC: CHAVELA VARGAS AND THE ‘ETERNAL FEMININE’.

Chavela Vargas (1919) died on a Sunday in October 2012 in Cuernavaca,

Morelos in Mexico. Even as the world was starting to digest her loss, mariachi groups from all over the country were already playing some of her favorite tunes to honor her.

Not since the death of Pedro Infante in 1957 had Mexico witnessed an event of such importance regarding a vernacular artist.14 Homages and special events were presented all over Mexico for the following year and Vargas was elevated to the stature of national icon in Mexican cultural imagery.

Certainly Vargas’s significance and cultural impact transcended her role in the

Mexican music scene. Her influence and feminist agenda transformed the significance and role of the “traditional Mexican”. Her unique embodiment of traditional music created a whole new set of aesthetic codes that still resonate strongly in younger generations of performers and made her into one of the first female ranchero performances able to appropriate a culture created for and by men.15

Chavela Vargas’s feminist agency translates into an experience where her whole artistic self was inhabited by social and historical discourses that shaped her performance. Vargas’s work defined a musical ‘identity’ within which issues of a globalized multiculturalism play out: a multiculturalism that deals with the need to

14 Pedro Infante (1917 – 1957) is considered one of the greatest actors and singers of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. 15 While is true that Vargas spoke little of her personal relationships she was openly gay. 10

Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 shape identities and cultural values capable of adapting to changing times. Vargas’s vernacular performances broke the cultural barriers of a regional genre, not only achieving international recognition but embodying a post-feminist identification.16

Such identification happen at a cultural level that problematizes historical associations found in ranchero culture such as the notion of a national identity and the hyper masculinization of male characters.

Her unique position in ranchero music and her exceptional performance practice of the folklore repertoire brought to light political and sociocultural topics uncommon in this particular genre. Her unique personality and public persona emerged under the traditional values of ranchero culture, yet her sophisticated manipulation of gender performativity completely changed ranchero discourse.

By analyzing the performance practices employed in her interpretations of “En el ultimo trago” and “Un mundo raro”, both by Mexican composer Jose Alfredo

Jimenez, I intend to reveal aspects and principal characteristics of Vargas’s personal style and feminist agenda. Vargas’s vocal takes on both songs reflect a deep understanding of ranchero traditions. In ranchero imagery, music and cultural rituals are shaped under a set of codes where male performativity exists within a culture that is deeply grounded in patriarchal values. Some of the bohemian nuances related to

‘cantina’ life and alcohol are retained by Vargas and transformed through aesthetic choices in her performance. Vargas’s reinterpretation of ranchero challenges patriarchal and traditional values by appropriating rituals that were once exclusive for

16 Amelia Jones, Seeing Differently: A History and Theory of identification and the Visual Arts (New York: Routledge, 2012), xxi. 11

Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 males. This feminist agency opened the way for younger generations of artists and singers who love Mexican traditions but are eager to challenge values grounded in patriarchal and post-colonial prejudices.

I will frame my discussion in light of certain books and academic articles in the existing scholarship. Regarding the composer Jose Alfredo Jimenez, I will reference his complete song book, which includes a very comprehensive introduction by Mexican writer and cultural analyst Carlos Monsivais.17 In addition I am using two

Chavela Vargas biographies, including one published in 2002 which is considered the only document authored by Vargas herself.18 The other biography was published in

2012 and is written by Maria Cortina, one of Vargas’s closest friends. Both biographies represent valuable documents shedding light on some of Vargas’s thinking and persona; this was especially important since an interview was of course impossible.19

Since Vargas’s death, the academic world has taken a special interest in her legacy: dissertations, newspaper articles and citations of her work are starting to appear, and will be detailed in my bibliography. However, most of this writing is focused on the importance of Vargas in the construction of post-nationalist music identity and her significance as a female and feminist performer.

My take on Chavela Vargas’s work builds upon all this analysis, but my particular focus is upon her aesthetic choices, as reflected in her performance practice

17 Manuel Arrroyo-Stephens, Jose Alfredo Jimenez: Cancionero Completo (Mexico, DF: Oceano, 2002). 18 Chavela Varga, Y si quieres saber de mi pasado (D.F.: Aguilar, 2002). 19 Maria Cortina, Las Verdades de Chavela (D.F., Oceano, 2012). 12

Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 and musical delivery. This performance practice refers to musical and vocal techniques employed by her in her manipulation of the ranchero genre, whereas musical delivery focusses especially on her personal embodiment of the ranchero aesthetic.

Particularly significant among all the interviews and videos of Vargas is a documentary filmed in 2005 by a young Mexican filmmaker: Hasta el ultimo trago by

Beto Gomez.20 The documentary collects interviews with some of the most remarkable women singers and instrumentalists engaged with the folkloric Mexican scene, Vargas among them. The documentary is a rich source for understanding the unique perspectives upon folkloric repertoire associated with each of the performers. It also provides a wider examination of the interplay between folkloric traditions and contemporary feminism. My discussion takes up this topic, specifically via analysis of

Vargas’s public persona and feminist agency.

In Intoxicated Identities, the author centers his discussion on alcohol’s role in history from a culture studies perspective. 21 His chapter on music and borrachera is the major inspiration shaping my discussion of ranchero music and alcoholic love rituals. 22 Ranchero music is deeply associated with cathartic events in which the performer’s role is to guide the audience through a ceremony which seeks to exorcise love demons and melancholia. Vargas’s unique vocal style pays homage to ranchero rituals which center in a pain that seeks its relief in the alcohol. Vargas’s vocal

20 Hasta el Último Trago Corazón. Directed by Beto Gómez (Universidad de Guadalajara, 2005), DVD. 21 Tim Mitchel, Intoxicated Identities: Alcohol’s Power in Mexican History and Culture (New York, NY: Routledge, 2004). 22 Binge drinking. 13

Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 manipulation and performance practice emulates the borrachera setting and its quest for consolation. The historical and sociocultural analysis provided by Mitchel serve as an umbrella concept, permitting me to analyze alcoholic love rituals as emblematic of ranchero culture and music. I will likewise acknowledge the importance of Jose

Alfredo Jimenez in understanding of ranchero culture and Vargas’s reinterpretation of it.23

I am using three layers of analysis to frame my discussion: first, on the level of soundscapes, through which I will deal with musical settings on recordings, examining aesthetic choices and intentions. Secondly, my analysis of musical narratives will focus on lyrics and the layers of meaning found within them. Finally, consideration of context and meaning will deal with tradition and socio-cultural elements of ranchero culture and its significance within Mexican identity.

Framing cultural models

As Simon de Beauvoir points out in her feminist manifesto, The Second Sex:

“Since the earliest days of patriarchal societies, men have kept in their hands all concrete power by keeping women in a state of dependence”.24 The myth of the eternal feminine, in which feminine identity is seen through a set of codes based on the figures (in Catholic theology) of Eve and the Virgin Mary, has shaped and reinforced Mexican stereotypes in which patriarchal gender definitions subordinate

23 Tim Mitchel, Intoxicated Identities: Alcohol’s Power in Mexican History and Culture (New York, NY: Routledge, 2004). 24 Simon de Beauvoir, The second sex (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2010), 27. 14

Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 what it means to be a woman and what is expected of women.25 Feminine identity in

Mexican culture, and the ranchero genre within it, is often framed under a set of three female archetypes that define almost every song in the repertoire: La Virgen de

Guadalupe, (A mestizo embodiment of the Virign Mary) the malinche (Azteca woman that was interpreter of Hernan Cortes) and the llorona (The weeping woman is a

Mexican myth).26

Chavela Vargas’ public persona dwells somewhere between these three concepts, melding the eternal feminine associated with chastity and purity found in the

Virgen de Guadalupe imagery with the “evil woman” associated with la malinche and la llorona.27 By appropriating these concepts, Vargas’s performance offers a radical reinterpretation of the ranchero ‘blues’ and of feminine embodiment within the culture. Such models framed Mexican cultural conceptions used for centuries to define what femininity is and at the same time establish control over female conduct.

Vargas’s embrace and manipulation of such models re-articulates meaning and significance within the vernacular repertoire. Her embodiment of the ranchero tradition evokes the dichotomy found in these cultural models and translates them into a set of aesthetic codes that define her performance practice.

25 Sharon Sieber,” The deconstruction of Gender as Archetype in Rosario Castellanos “El eterno femenino,” Letras Femeninas 25 (1999): 39 - 48. 26 La Virgen de Guadalupe is a mestizo embodiment of the Virgin Mary, the Malinche is depicted as a historical character that played an important role as a translator and guide for the Spanish conquers. The llorona is a myth conceived in colonial times. 27 For further information about these three cultural models consult Shirlene Soto’s article cite on my bibliography section. 15

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In Vargas’s work, music and meaning converge in her persona where a clear defiance of traditional women aesthetics is express in her choice of wardrobe.

Vargas’s traditional wardrobe consisted on a pair of white pants, men shoes or boots and her iconic red Jorongo. Vargas’s personal style was a major statement since most vernacular singers associated with ranchero like Lucha Villa and Lola Beltran wore always wardrobe consisted sophisticated dresses.28 Her vocal delivery on the other hand, evokes a strong femininity and an intimate tone that embodies sexual desire and deep grief at the same time. Vargas’s deep raspy tone and weeping tone allows her to convey grief and to connect to the pain depicted in the lyrics. At the same time her expressive inflexions and whispering tone denotes desire and embodies sexual connotations related to her queer performativity body.29

Music performativity and feminist agendas in Vargas’s reinterpretation of ranchero music.

Ranchero music as a genre can be seen as resulting from a unique and extended evolution of folkloric musical genres including Spanish dances, Sones mestizos and Mexican corrido.30 However, ranchero as an explicit cultural tool was consciously established by the Federal government during the 1930’s as a way to unify

Mexican identity with nascent nationalist movements of the period. During those years, mainstream media industries, such as radio and film, played an essential role in

28 Chavela Vargas is known for always performed in male clothing. 29 Vargas’s queer aesthetics are governed by her public persona, the masculinity embraced in her style contrast with the emotional engaging she uses while performing. 30 Yolanda Moreno Rivas, Historia de la Música Popular Mexicana. (Mexico, D.F.: Editorial Patria, 1979), 181. 16

Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 developing icons of national belonging essential to the consolidation of Mexico’s post- revolutionary regime. This appropriated ranchero culture attempted to refashion an

“authentic” and accessible nationalism meant for international consumption. The search for cultural representation led to the construction of a ‘simplistic’ aesthetic where authenticity could be performed. One example of this was the vast production of movies with a nationalistic thematic between the 1930s and the 1950s, that romanticized country living and conservative traditional family values.31 Such films laid the groundwork for several identity notions that privileged race and class over historical reality and helped to legitimize a failed revolution that had led to economic and social devastation. Under this umbrella, another cultural myth took shape, within which gender relations were shaped in a cultural model plagued by discrimination and prejudices.

Bolero ranchero became popular in Mexico during the 1950’s and melded the musical characteristics of traditional ranchero music with a more bohemian nature, one in which melancholia and sentimentalism are central emotional reactions towards the pain brought by colonialism.32 Jose Alfredo Jimenez is considered the most prolific and recognizable composer of ranchero music; like Vargas herself, he was seen as an exemplar of his song’s cultural values; as William Gradante put it “A

31 Pictures like Flor Silvestre and Maria Candelaria by Mexican director Emilio Fernandez depicted a romanticized countryside ruled by traditional values and a ‘whitened’ indigenous identity. 32 “The sentimentalism, it is true, has a popular origin: it is well known, and not only in Mexico, that deeply emotional reactions occur when industrial civilization takes possession of popular milieus” (Roger Bartra,105). 17

Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 bohemian in the fullest sense for the word, Jose Alfredo not only sang his songs, he lived them”.33

“En el ultimo trago” (circa 1960), by Jimenez, is one of his most famous and recognizable songs in the ranchero style. Based upon a traditional musical setting, the song is typically interpreted by a male singer accompanied by a Mariachi. In Jose

Alfredo’s version, the soundscape of the song employs the typical mariachi musical aesthetics of his era: 3 violins, two trumpets, guitar and guitarron.34 “En el ultimo trago” employs the typical genre and gender expectations of ranchero music; the song is a narration where a male character is being confronted with facts that led him to recall a failed love story in which declaration and loss are the main subjects. However,

Alfredo’s lyrics convey different narratives discussed later in the chapter; despite this fact, the performance of “en el ultimo trago” reinscribes cultural aspects expected of the genre. The sonic textures provided by the mariachi ensemble are thick and the piece has a fast, almost festive character. The poetic and musical structure of the song suggests a corrido ranchero integrating certain corrido norteño structures with the characteristic sung style of ranchera song.35 Like most corridos, the piece opens with short introductory material presented by the trumpet and violins. The music in the

33 William Gradante, “El HIjo del Pueblo: Jose Alfredo Jimenez and the Mexican Cancion Ranchera,” Latin American Music Review, no. 3 (1982): 37. 34 Early mariachi recordings of Jose Alfredo used a smaller mariachi ensemble, in the recording of Hasta el ultimo trago the mariachi ensemble is larger, 3 violins instead of 2 and the use of a second trumpet which allowed me to speculate about the date circa 1960 -1970. 35 William Gradante, “El HIjo del Pueblo: Jose Alfredo Jimenez and the Mexican Cancion Ranchera,” Latin American Music Review 3 (1982): 25. 18

Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 introduction keeps a festive tone reinforced by the fast tempo, the ascending melody and the trumpet timbre.

Illustration 1. Introduction of “El ultimo trago” version Jose Alfredo Jimenez

As in most corridos performances, Jose Alfredo’s version keeps a steady rhythm throughout it, emphasized by the strumming of the vihuela and guitar. The primary scenario is the cantina, a common site for his stories and compositional processes. The cantina becomes the symbolic world where the reality narrated in the lyrics takes on heightened meaning.36 The space becomes confessional, and glory and humiliation inhabit it together, within a tragic love song narrative. Jose Alfredo’s first stanza reinforces the tone first evoked by the musical introduction.

Tomate esta botella conmigo Y en el último trago nos vamos Quiero ver a que sabe tu olvido Sin poner en mis ojos tus manos.

36Arroyo-Stephens, Manuel, Jose Alfredo Jimenez: Cancionero Completo (Mexico, DF: Oceano, 2002), 25. 19

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Esta noche no voy a rogarte Esta noche te vas de a deveras Que difícil tener que dejarte Sin que sienta que ya no me quieras.

Take this bottle with me I want to taste your forgetfulness Without putting my eyes in your hands.

This night I won’t be begging you Tonight you are really living. How hard is to let you go Without me feeling your lack of love.

The first stanza calls for a celebration grounded on grief from a lost love. His raspy vocals and the celebratory character evoke a sort of ironic pride found in the pain and loss. The chorus of the song contrasts with and intensifies the first image: the narratives found in the chorus speak to a more truthful pain and suffering coming out of love’s despair.37

Nada me han enseñado los años Siempre caigo en los mismos errores Otra vez a brindar con extraños Y a llorar por los mismos dolores.

Years have taught me nothing I always made the same mistakes Drinking with strangers Crying the same pains.

37 The social rituals in ranchero culture imply a sort of popular catharsis where an ancestral sadness coming out of cultural values and economic impossibilities is performed and embodied in a tragic love narrative. (Fernandez Poncela, 183). 20

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The archetypes use by Jose Alfredo --the mariachi, the borracho – became part of a popular ranchero imagery that still endures.38 In his songs, the festive associations of mariachi and alcohol challenge his own sorrow and pain. The allegory and irony found in his depictions of alcoholic ritual play with the image of the macho Mexicano.

The song is delivered as a hymn, in which heartache and sorrow mean nothing because, to the Macho, alcohol and mariachi can ease the pain.

Archetypal ranchero song arises from a ‘privileged’ culture, appropriated as an idyllic musical representation of nationalistic feelings mixed with a romanticized, almost pastoral, love for the countryside. It sought to create a political discourse which could legitimize a regime characterized by social injustice and racial segregation.

However, it is remarkable how, in Jose Alfredo’s hands, the genre’s initial yearning mood is transformed into a more intimate and confessional setting, finally mutating into a cathartic genre which problematizes social rituals, masculinity and gender politics. The nationalistic spirit summoned by ranchera begins in festive mood but ends in grief.39

Vargas’s musical settings in “en el ultimo trago” differ greatly from Jose

Alfredo’s traditional sound and reflects the significant impact of the aesthetic manifesto embodied in her performances and recordings. Her performance reveals intention, and her gender and political agendas are depicted in the intimate, almost minimalistic setting of her interpretations. Her choice of a significantly smaller

38 Drunk. 39Arroyo-Stephens, Manuel, Jose Alfredo Jimenez: Cancionero Completo (Mexico, DF: Oceano, 2002), 29. 21

Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 ensemble of only two guitars forces the audience to focus on the lyrics and singer interpretation. The lack of a mariachi ensemble strips the song of some of the ‘festive’ elements found in Jose Alfredo’s version. While the melodic timbre found in the guitar duo provides the perfect foundation for Chavela’s singing, it also allows her more stylistic freedom than a traditional mariachi singer. The sound elements framing

Varga’s performance shape her interpretation, while the timbre and vocal quality of her deep alto voice and raspy sound reinforced the narratives of the song.

While her reinterpretation of the national repertoire elicits a ‘Mexican’ feeling and identity, retaining vernacular musical elements in her accompaniment along with a carefully chosen instrumentation, Vargas is not rescuing a sound from the past. Rather, she forces audiences to listen and engage with her pain, which echoes through her voice, her vocal delivery and singing style. Vargas’s lament style contains submerged histories of transgression and domestication queering in her masculine ranchero lament.40 In Vargas the scenario becomes a confessional space where her audience engage deeply with her performance responding to her own involve within the music.

Vargas’s interpretation of “en el ultimo trago” implicates different narratives, through appropriation of a historical repertoire continues to speak to Mexican audiences but is also capable of evoking current socio-cultural needs, a strong aesthetic mark on

Vargas’s music, as I discussed later in the chapter.

Vargas removed the mariachi, thus removing the genre’s traditional associations. This radical shift of instrumentation did not remove the Mexican identity

40 Lorena Alvarado, “Corporealities of Feeling: Mexican Sentimiento and Gender Politics” (doctoral dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles, 2012), 99. 22

Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 from her music, but rather accented its aesthetics, expanding the limits of the songs’ ritual implications.

This expansion of limits is also true in her performances: Vargas seems to speak directly to her audience, her performative style demanding reactions and involvement from her public. In Jose Alfredo’s version the vocal delivery of the singer engages more with a traditional mariachi setting, less personal, less provocative. Vargas delivers the song in a style near crying, with a strong, broken voice. A sentimental emphasis suggests a deep personal engagement of the singer with the literal meaning of the song and the aesthetic codes make possible a dynamic where the audience is actively reacting to Chavela’s emotional performance by clapping and shouting with her.

While the guitar introduction in Vargas’s version quotes Jose Alfredo’s mariachi introduction in an allusion to tradition, the significantly slower tempo of her version provides a contrasting frame.

Figure 2. Jose Alfredo's version introduction.

Illustration 2. Chavela Vargas version introduction

Vargas’s feminine revision of the song reflects a narrative of ranchero blues, sung in a style where pain and sorrow take over the vocal style. She almost recites the

23

Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 song, to emphasize the lyrics and to engage her audience into the musical rite, evoking a cantina scene but within a stage.

The familiar characteristics of the song are relatively obvious: the traditional song is sung by Jose Alfredo in Eb Major, which Vargas changes to E Major, a much better key for the guitar. The traditional guitar accompaniment rhythms are maintained by Vargas’s guitar players, performing in an ‘old school’ technique, keeping clean thirds and a waltz tempo, certainly evoking the style of ranchera song.41 However,

Vargas’s vocal performance adds a second layer of meaning. Her reinterpretation is delivered in a feminine manner in which the improvisatory character of her voice is reenacting a feminist incarnation of the tradition.42 The loneliness sentiment implied in her minimalistic performance changes the typical setting of a ranchero performance adding meaning to Vargas’s feminine incarnation.43 The improvisatory nature of her vocals creates a space in which unpredictable confession occurs and the sentimental meaning found in the song succeed over the patriarchal fantasy of love and patriotism in which ranchero culture is stereotypically grounded.44

Ranchero repertoire is rooted in a tradition of western love in which love emerges from suffering and death. It exemplifies a recurring topic found in Occidental love lyricism, in which neither the pleasure of the senses nor the fruitful peace of a

41 Ranchera song have a ‘simple’ harmonic and rhythm structure (I-V-IV-V-I), Vargas did not change this structure in her interpretations. 42 Varga’s embodiment of the culture evokes cultural transformations that speaks of intrinsic characteristics of a feminist transgression. Thus the free, almost improvisatory character of Vargas’s singing can be interpreted as symbolic rapture with the patriarchal foundation of the style (Csordas, 3). 43 The lack of a mariachi setting is one of major aesthetic statements in Vargas’s style. 44 Lorena Alvarado, Que te Vaya Bonito” Breath and Sentimiento According to Chavela Vargas, in “Thinking Gender Papers, 5. http://escholarship.org/uc/item/6mq189pz 24

Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 healthy relationship shapes the context. In this particular recurring trope, most of the times there is no happy love or happy ending. In the ranchera ethos, for example, love is mortal, endangered, and sentenced for life itself.45 These archetypes inhabit ranchero poetics but in the end it is the performer who either reinscribes or challenges them. In Jose Alfredo’s version of en el ultimo trago the mariachi presence and his own delivery of the song fits the codes accepted in ranchero culture. Jose Alfredo’s singing evokes the artifices of the drunk, exorcising his pains within a cantina imagery, a place where a notion of masculinity can be performed and re-enacted with the expected bravery and macho connotations.

However, “en el ultimo trago” implies different layers of meaning within the narrative’s lyrics. On a first glimpse, we have a traditional ranchero song in which the protagonist, a male, has been abandoned by the object of his desire under vague circumstances that leave him with a broken heart. This first layer of narrative employs the female archetype of the ‘ungrateful’ and ‘evil’ woman abandoning a melancholic male (macho melancolico) in total despair. Jose Alfredo’s imagery is thus constructed within a world where patriarchal dichotomies found in the narratives of the virgin

Mary and the malinche/evil woman converge with male protagonists, who sing their sorrows under the protective shadow of alcohol, in a dark corner of a cantina, where it is socially acceptable to perform the ranchero blues.46 However, as we have seen, there is a sub-textual narrative within the song, a different reading that provides a

45 Denis De Rougemont, El amor y Occidente (Barcelona: Editorial Kairos, 1978) 16. 46 Some of female patriarchal archetypes found in Mexican culture are the Malinche, la llorona and the Guadalupana. Such archetypes can be summarizing as the dichotomy of virgin vs evil. 25

Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 deeper meaning and helps us understand some of the subtler nuances from which ranchero culture and Jose Alfredo Jimenez originate.

“Un mundo raro”, also by Jose Alfredo Jimenez, is a second song providing useful insights. Robert Ramirez Ayala describes both romantic and descriptive variants of the ranchero aesthetic.47 Under this classification Jose Alfredo’s song “un mundo raro” is a romantic song in which a passionate affair is described via the inner monologue of the protagonist. However, we can also understand “un mundo raro” as conveying the same narratives found in “en el ultimo trago”: the male protagonist is abandoned by his object of desire, under circumstances which are unclear but which leave him with a broken heart.48 So far, we have the same use of the female stereotype of the ungrateful evil woman who leaves a macho melancolico in complete desolation.

However, as with “en el ultimo trago”, there is a second narrative in “un mundo raro”, a different reading that reveals a deeper meaning and helps us to understand some of the subtler nuances of ranchero culture and Chavela Vargas’s own embodiment. “Un mundo raro” / a strange world, offers a glimpse of Mexican culture and the traditional values under which most Mexican men are raised.

Y si quieren saber de mi pasado Es preciso decir otra mentira Les diré que llegué de un mundo raro Que no sé del dolor Que triunfé en el amor y que nunca he llorado

47 Roberto Ramirez Ayala was a well-known popular music teacher during the 1970s and he provides two main classifications of the ranchero genre in his popular guitar method: Guitarra moderna. 48 Maria Herera-sobek offers a different classification of Mexican corrido in her book Mexican Corrido: a Feminist analysis. 26

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And if they want to know about my past It is necessary to tell another lie I will tell them I came from a strange world That I don't know about sorrow That I triumphed in love and that I have never cried

This strange world demands that men keep their feelings to themselves, deny any physical manifestation of pain and sorrow, and never cry. Alfredo’s imagery is built upon a narrative that, again, reinscribes gender stereotypes that impose a performative masculinity defined by conservative cultural codes.

Vargas’s feminine inhabitation of the song reflects both layers of narrative.

“Un mundo raro” in Vargas’s version acquires a layer of connotations through which the ranchero blues is re-enacted in a fashion where pain and sorrow take over Vargas’s vocal style. In “un mundo raro”, Vargas is almost reciting the song, highlighting its narratives rather than musical opulence.

Moreover, Vargas’s more recent recording of “un mundo raro” ( 2010) is also a sort of ‘aesthetic’ manifesto. Por mi culpa! was released in 2010 and was her penultimate work under the Corason record label. Vargas was 90 years old when she recorded this record and she considered it one her most intimate personal albums. In an interview preview to the release of the album she spoke of her deep connection with this collection of her favorite Mexican songs, “I am 90 years old and I am not afraid of anything anymore”.49 This album symbolizes Vargas’s deep connection to

49 Cecilia Kuhne, “’Por mi culpa!’, el Nuevo disco de Chavela Vargas,” El Economista, April 27, 2010, accessed January 24, 2016, http://eleconomista.com.mx/entretenimiento/2010/04/27/mi-culpa- nuevo-disco-chavela-vargas. 27

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the vernacular repertoire. The fact that every song in the album is performed as a duet

is also a way for her to speak of her artistic heritage, working with some of the most

remarkable figures in the vernacular scene like Lila Down in the song Vamonos and

Eugenia Leon in Las Ciudades. Vargas likewise chooses to sing with Jimena Jimenez

Cacho, one of the leading figures in Mexican classic music scene.

In “un mundo raro” Vargas also changes her usual instrumentation of two

guitars and singer and adds a second voice to perform the songs in duet fashion.

Vargas’s relation with Jimena Jimenez cannot be perceived as a random artistic

coincidence; both were among the artists that performed at “El habito”, a well-known

artistic forum in Mexico City, dedicated to alternative artistic expressions and one of

the first places for cabaret performances in Mexico. Vargas and Jimenez’s

collaboration brought together two artists known for her bold performances and

feminist agency.50

In “un mundo raro”, Jimena Jimenez’s cello melody (Illustration 3) functions

as a second independent melodic line, while Vargas’s speech-singing style converges

with the melody carefully crafted by the guitar.

Illustration 3. Un mundo raro cello part

50 Jimena Jimenez is known for her collaborations with Jesusa Rodriguez and Liliana Felipe, both reamarkable artists and longlife activists for the LGTBQ Mexican community. 28

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The familiar aspects of the song are there: the chords and traditional bolero form are easily recognizable; the use of ¾ waltz tempo; the use of seventh chords to bring more harmonic richness and melodic freedom to the voice. However, the second layer added by the cello tells us more; the unusual presence of the cello in a classical ranchero song disrupts traditional expectations of the genre and Jimena Jimenez’s free interpretation of the melodic line further transforms the tune. Her cello phrasing mirrors some of Varga’s vocal characteristics; the cello’s sentimental tone, along with an intentional rhythmic freedom, forces us, as audience, to reimagine the song’s possibilities. Jimena Jimenez’s cello line acts as an independent melody that conveys emotion reflected in the long notes and slow musical phrasing, transforming the cello line into an external musical character.

In Vargas’s performance, she employs two layers, through which the feminine embodiment of ranchero sorrow is invented. In the first layer, we have Vargas’s vocal style, raspy and deep, where her 90-year-old character conveys the artistic authority of a woman of age, full of life experience. Her vocal timbre conveys a sort of mystical feminine embodiment, in which the recitation style of the vocal delivery evokes a cathartic experience where she is singing and living the song while keeping a subtle weeping color in her voice.

Jimena Jimenez’s external musical voice grants the cello a sonic profile of its own and its sound can be heard independently of the general meaning. However, I would argue that the freedom of the cello’s musical line in Jimena Jimenez’s

29

Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 performance conveys both a reinforcement of Vargas’s sorrow but also acts out the song’s content. In this interpretation, the duet may be understood as depicting two active protagonists merging in a ritual whose improvisatory and free character is given agency by the performance, an agency found in the expressive choices made by both artists. The song’s traditional cantina setting becomes confessional and the sorrow in both Vargas’s voice and in the cello line provides additional layers of meaning.

Vargas sings the lyrics in an intentionally androgynous fashion and the object of desire is left unspoken; thus, the most active protagonist of the performance is not Vargas’s character, nor the stereotypical tragic love narratives of the song, but the sorrow in her voice. Jimena Jimenez balances this stark sorrow by offering a melodic line which frames Vargas’s voice, adding freedom and an expressiveness and romantic tone.

“Un mundo raro” / a strange world offers a glimpse of the traditional gender values and expectations within which most Mexican men are still raised. The content reveals context; the song itself reflects a patriarchal agenda and reinscribes gender expectations of its time and genre. Yet, Vargas’s appropriation challenges the archetypical identity found in ranchero. By changing musical aesthetics, the narratives of “un mundo raro” and “en el ultimo trago” became confessional, and in Vargas’s voice the subtleties of the original version sung by the author, are expanded, nuanced, and complicated within her more intimate and personal performance. The melancholic, rather than macho, character of Vargas’s enactment reinforces her political agenda and gives voice to a subaltern community, one that does not conform to the stereotypes of ranchero culture. The androgynous or queer implication of

30

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Vargas’s recording blurs the boundaries of authenticity and recovers political agency.

Her feminist embodiment of ranchero music challenges power relations related to gender constructions. Ranchero culture is closely associated with a mestizo identity, heiress of a synthesis between indigenous and European traditions. A re-construction and re-embodiment of such tradition provides an imagery that contests colonial presumptions and provides the possibility of forming new histories and new cultural values.51

The feelings expressed in Vargas’s style represent a struggle for meaning in which her queer body becomes a repository of feelings associated with post-colonial cultural prejudices; where suffering and sorrow are considered and where the ancestral condition of melancholy is linked to the colonial condition.

In Vargas’s music, individual human agency exerts itself despite the pressures of social conditioning.52 Her realizations offer resistance to patriarchal and post- colonial ideologies found in ranchero culture narratives. A feminine embodiment is found in her expressive gestures and a depiction of emotional burden which provides to her performance a place where melancholy and anger coexist. Her intentionally- paradoxical performances become a feminist manifesto within which resistance is expressed through aesthetic choices.

51 Alicia Arrizon, Queering Mestizaje: Transculturation and Performance (Michigan: The University of Michigan Press, 2006), 1. 52 Noland, Carrie. Agency and Embodiment: Performing Gestures/Producing Culture (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2009),1. 31

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Vargas developed a concept of political agency capable of acting outside a nationalistic discourse despite of the pressures of social conditioning existing in

Mexican vernacular music aesthetics.53 Her sophisticated and meticulous performances offer resistance to patriarchal and post-colonial ideologies found in ranchero cultural narratives. A feminine embodiment of genre finds a vessel in her expressive gestures and emotional world. Her musical performance encompasses qualities that relate directly to Mexican cultural history, in which the need to confront the old nationalistic ways offers a mirror of the possibilities of vernacular heritage.

Her performances are a feminist manifesto in which her agency is no longer governed by anonymous power structures. Her resistance is expressed through performance that engage a condition that is evocative, present, and participatory all at once.

Vargas’s performances can be seen as a corporeal expression where gender performativity and sexuality occupies an oppositional stance toward cultural codes associated with ranchero such as grief and love. Her performances demonstrate that it is possible to frame a feminist Mexican identity built upon contributions made by subaltern groups to the popular culture. This subaltern perspective has forced new scholars to search for new methodological approaches to analyze tradition from an academic but decolonized point of view. Songs the ones I analyze offer new perspectives upon vernacular traditions. In songs like these we can investigate topics related to social class, gender relationships, justice and everyday life. In the case of

Jose Alfredo Jimenez and Chavela Vargas, the historical time frame traced by their

53 Ibid., 1. 32

Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 different performances and recordings reflects the changing nature of the vernacular repertoire, the effort to preserve one of Mexico’s most cherished traditions.

33

Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016

CHAPTER III MALDITO!!: MUSICAL LYRICISM AND THE FEMININE

EMBODIMENT OF TRANSGRESSION IN A POST-PUNK

RIOT GRRRL.

As has been seen in the case of Chavela Vargas, rock music has also, typically represented a patriarchal tradition. Since its beginnings, rock & roll has been widely considered a sort of male character within which patriarchal cultural perceptions on masculinity have defined its aesthetics and musical codes. In this sense, sexual aggression and hypermasculinization are often regarded as characteristics basic of a rock aesthetics. In contrast, rock’s female protagonists have often been perceived as unwanted guests and relegated most often to an audience or onlooker role. In the

1950s and 1960s, women’s involvement in rock culture entailed a role as audience and external legitimators of a world that was not considered appropriate for women. The intensity, energy, violent and sexual references usually associated with rock music worked against women performing active roles.54 However, these restrictions do not mean that women were not protagonists in early rock history. In Tere Estrada’s book

Sirenas al Ataque, a historical account of Mexican women in rock, she traces over one hundred and six female rock musicians who disrupted the patriarchy of the Mexican music scene from 1956 to 1969; a similar phenomenon can be found in the United

54 Tere Estrada, Sirenas al Ataque: Historia de las Mujeres Rockeras Mexicanas (1956 – 2006), (México, D.F: Océano, 2008), 15. 34

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States.55 The absence of literature on these rock women seems paradoxical. In a patriarchal music business system that thought of women as decorative elements, such participation vanished, or was discounted as of no importance.

Setting Context: Rocking’ in Mexico

Mexico embraced rock ‘n’ roll in the mid-1950s when the imported style was incorporated into existing musical genres. Bolero, mambo, merengue, rumba, danzon and cha-cha were popular music styles widely heard and danced by an audience consisting of both young and adult listeners.56 During this same period Mexico was undergoing social changes and transformations through which traditional values clashed with values and fashions associated with young social movements and the ‘so- called American Way of life’.57 In Mexico the early rock ‘n’ roll scene was intrinsically associated with cultural imperialism because of its American origins, but still represented a sense of young rebellion against traditional core principles. Such rebellious sentiments provided ‘easy’ and consumable access to a cosmopolitan modernity toward which middle class Mexicans aspired.58 The rock ‘n’ roll scene in

Mexico was in fact co-opted by the Mexican film industry, which constructed a rock

‘n’ roll image that felt prefabricated and less defiant than the American scene.59

55 Ibid,, 16. Tere Estrada is a sociologist and rock performance that had dedicated most of her research to the female protagonist of the Mexican Music including rock scene, vernacular traditions and classical music. 56 Deborah Pacini Hernandez, Hector Fernandez L’Hoeste et all. Eds. Rockin’ Las Americas: The Global Politics of Rock in Latin/o America, (Pittsburgh.: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2004), 142. 57 Ibid., 143. 58 Alejandro Madrid, Music in Mexico: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013), 109. 59 Ibid., 109. 35

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In Laura Martinez-Hernandez’s doctoral dissertation “Alternative Discourses:

Mexican Rock at the End of the Twentieth Century”, she traces four historical stages in a time line of the Mexican rock ‘n’ roll scene.60 The first period, between 1950 –

1965, is associated with the film industry and the promotion of music figures singing covers of American rock songs. These artists were characterized by a ‘prefabricated’ image linked to the Mexican middle classes.61 The second stage is located between the second half of the 1960s and the early 1970s and is characterized by the distribution of original compositions by Mexican rock musicians and the intentional disruption of la onda: a counterculture movement.62 The third stage is marked by two watershed moments in Mexican history: the 1968 student massacre and the Avandaro festival in

1971.63 Both historical events led to a marginalization of cultural representations related to rock music but also, to a more ‘honest’ musical production focused mainly on protest and social movements. The fourth stage proceeds from the 1980s till now.

During the 1980s the underground scene was concentrated in Mexico City,

Guadalajara, and Tijuana.64 In an effort to unify these musical communities the underground scene adopted a term utilized by record labels to differentiate rock sung in Spanish from English manifestations. Rock en tu idioma began as a marketing

60 Laura Martinez-Hernandez, “Alternative Discourses: Mexican Rock at the End of the Twentieth Century” (doctoral dissertation, Michigan State University, 2005), 31. 61 Figures like Cesar Costa, Enrique Guzman and Angelica Maria were known for representing the core values of middle catholic Mexican society. 62 La onda was a sort of appropriation of Mexican young communities of the beatnik movement of 1950s. 63 The 1968 student massacre in Tlatelolco square in Mexico City left over 500 hundred deaths, mostly students and civilians. The 1971 Avandaro festival was the first music festival of its kind in Mexico and was widely condemned by the Mexican press and conservative parties. 64 Alejandro Madrid, Music in Mexico: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013), 116. 36

Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 campaign to advertise rock bands coming mostly from Mexico, Spain, and Argentina.

Middle class listeners embraced this phenomenon, which allowed some of the bands to distribute their music to larger audiences by signing with major record labels.65 While it seemed that some of these bands might manage to keep their artistic principles as they entered the mainstream, eventually a rupture developed between mainstream artists and others still belonging to the underground scene. Choosing to operate as an independent artist in turn precipitated the development of a more experimental and challenging sound in the Mexican Rock scene.

Jessy Bulbo: The last Mexican riot grrrl.

The Riot Grrrl movement began in Washington DC at the beginning of the

1990s when all girl bands like Bikini Kill and Sleater-Kinney adopted a consciously punk style and a feminist agenda. Riot grrrl was the first concerted attempt in the history of Rock to create a musical scene informed and driven for and by women. The

Riot Grrrl movement emerged from punk narratives, taking advantage of that oppositional music’s irreducible nature and extensive underground distribution.66 As often occurs with subcultures, the Riot Grrrl movement appeared to vanish very quickly. However, it left a legacy widely influential upon artists of younger generations who still promulgate some of its core values. Riot Grrrl principles and aesthetics still resonate for many young female artists.

65 Ibid., 119. 66 Jessica Rosenberg and Gitana Garofalo, “Riot Grrrl: Revolutions from within,” Feminism and Youth Cultures 23, no. 3 (Spring, 1998): 810. 37

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In Mexico the punk phenomenon made its debut in the late 1970s. Bands like

Three Souls in my Mind, Naftalina and Los Dug Dug incorporated some punk aesthetics into their musical discourse. However, as an imported counterculture, punk was embraced in a modified form that allowed for the addition of some regional identity elements. Thus, in Mexico, punk aesthetics tended toward a kitsch nostalgia that managed to appropriate elements of North American punk culture, while adding to the mix elements of romanticized mestizo and indigenous expression. Punk flourished among young urban dwellers of low social status who embraced punk as a powerful empowerment narrative for underground communities engaged in political and social gatherings. Although punk occurred in a highly virile environment, some women succeeded at integrating and becoming accepted within the punk scene. From the late 1970s, female punk musicians have performed with Mexican bands.

As had been the case with punk, the Riot Grrrl movement received a modified embrace in Mexico. While it did not generate a lot of bands closely fitting its aesthetics, one of the best known in Mexico was Jessy Bulbo’s first band, Las

Ultrasonicas.

Las Ultrasonicas generated attention because of its unusual aggressiveness and straight forward messages.67 The 1990s were a difficult moment in Mexican politics and social movements: Mexico was experiencing a period of political revolt, with the

1994 Zapatistas revolutionary uprising and the general pessimism previously precipitated by the 1968 student massacre and the 1970s dirty war against Mexican

67 Tere Estrada. Sirenas al Ataque: Historia de las Mujeres Rockeras Mexicanas (1956-2006), (Mexico, D.F.: Editoria Oceano, 2008), 254. 38

Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 southern peasants, along with the suffering caused by the terrible 1985 Mexico City earthquake.68 Within this environment rock bands embraced a whole range of ideological opportunities that generated new performance spaces for musicians.

Specifically, Las Ultrasonicas helped to establish a safe place for women in the underground Mexican punk scene. In their lyrics, the band openly called out patriarchal cultural references and sexism, while framing the message within a strong garage punk style. In songs like “Vente en Mi Boca”/“Come in My Mouth,” a free take on the English punk band The Headcoatees theme, the lyrics convey a sexually explicit theme through an empowered discourse grounded in female sexuality.69

Vente en mi boca chiquillo vente ya vente en mi boca te quiero saborear me sabe como a moka saca la coca no importa que sea poca vente en mi boca guau!

Come in my mouth boy come now come in my mouth, I would love to taste it taste like moka take out the coke, no matter how little, come in my mouth wow!

In “No quiero un Novio”/”I do not want a Boyfriend,” the lyrics speak of free women’s sexuality and deny patriarchal notions of ‘formal dating’.

No busco amor, lo doy a cambio de sexo No quiero un novio, nada de amor

I do not want love, I exchange it for sex I do not want a boyfriend, no love at all

68 The Zapatist Army of National Liberation (EZLN) is a revolutionary leftist political and militant group based in Chiapas Mexico. 69 The Headcoatees was an English all-female garage band in 1991. 39

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Themes like female sexuality, abortion, and sex-positivity were a novelty for such a popular band, especially one formed by middle class women.

After the disbanding of the group, Jessy developed a solo career that, in the beginning, kept the feminist and aggressive themes found in Las Ultrasonicas. Her first solo release was in 2006 with Saga Mama.70 Her solo projects embraced and embodied the feminist agenda inherited from Riot Grrrl principles and with the legacy of the Ultrasonicas. However, it is clear that by her first solo album Saga mama she was starting to evolve a more sophisticated approach, which moved to a sound built around allusions that spoke of her multiple musical identities. Her post-Ultrasonicas music style thus developed as a combination of pop, salsa, bachata, cumbia and punk.

Such aesthetic choices provided an opportunity to widen both her musical template and her visibility in Latin music.71

Saga Mama is a powerful and loud punk rock album built under the semiotic codes of the aggressive Riot Grrrl style; however, some subtle musical allusions reflect her desire to evolve that sound. Songs like “Bombon” and “Chaca Chaca” explored a more experimental approach that evokes the atmospheric synth pop sounds of 1980s. In Bulbo’s ‘infamous’ cover of the classic rock song “Love me 2 times” by

The Doors, she not only modifies the tempo and employs a chipmunk voice effect; in addition, the bass line is subtly evokes a Mexican ranchera song harmonic scheme, reinforced by the heavy 2/2 and the claves.

70 Jessy Bulbo. Saga Mama. Recorded February 15, 2006. Los Nuevos Ricos, 2006, CD. 71 Tatiana Tenreyro, Impose, All You See in Me is Death: The Importance of Latina Feminist Rock Bands, February 25, 2016, http://www.imposemagazine.com/features/latina-feminist-rock-bands. Accessed X date. 40

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The album was released by Nuevos Ricos, an independent record label founded in 2004 by Julian Lede and Carlos A. Morales, with a specific focus on signing artists using bold and experimental approaches. Among the artists released on this label we can find some of the most representative names of the Indie Mexican scene during the 2000s. Mexican Bands like Titan and Maria Daniela y su sonido

Lasser were among them.72 Nuevos ricos artists found in kitschy nostalgia a unified artistic perspective that served as a cultural discourse to frame their projects.73 The kitsch aesthetics reveal a need to recover a sense of a national identity outside the demagogic speech common in left and right 1990s political discourse. Such kitsch aesthetics are present in the irony framed in Bulbo’s lyrics and the musical allusions borrowed from music styles associated with ‘lower’ social atmospheres. While her lyrics portrayed stereotypical narratives associated with love songs, Bulbo’s musical setting set ambiguity in the outcome product. The result is charged with social criticism and challenges the boundaries between what is considered ‘good’ and ‘bad’ music. This phenomenon becomes even clearer in Bulbo’s later work.

In an interview with the artist, Bulbo describes the impact of the family environment she comes from.74 Her politically active parents engaged during the

1960s and 1970s in several social movements. “I grew up feeling a sort of social guilty, guilt for being happy, guilty for having what others couldn’t.” Bulbo’s political

72 Titan and Maria Daniela y su sonido lasser were known for their electronic fusion style of vernacular music genres like cumbia and musica grupera with electronic samples and manipulations. 73 Kitsch can be defined as the conscious use of aesthetics that evoke a sort of ‘bad taste’ by borrowing elements of pop culture that respond to a sense of ‘nostalgia’. The final result is charge with irony and a social critique discourse. 74 Jessy Bulbo, interview by Marusia Pola, February 29, 2016. 41

Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 education and later rejection of the political values she grew up with speaks of a generation that could not relate to old-school Latin American revolutionary movements. Years of Civil war in Central America and the inability of the Mexican government to respond to the 1990s Zapatistas phenomenon yielded a distrustful generation eager for new ideological and philosophical narratives that addressed the changing times.75

The embrace of a kitsch aesthetic in Bulbo’s work, as in that of other bands, suggests that they were embracing the idea of their cultural production as ‘cultural commodities’ able to fill ‘cultural voids’. In Bulbo’s work this kitsch aesthetic impacts her musical allusions and fusion style, like the allusions to 1980s pop or 1990s sonidero. Bulbo’s kitsch infatuation is stronger in her later work, especially her most recent album, Changemonium (2015), but, Saga Mama (2006) points toward what

Bulbo calls a ‘futuristic Mexican sound’.76

Maldito!!: Transgressive poetics and musical narratives

“Maldito” is one of the most memorable songs from saga mama of 2006.

Bulbo refers to the song as the only tune she must play in every performance:

“Maldito is probably my most famous and recognizable song, it is impossible to me to leave a stage without performing it.”77 “Maldito” evokes, from the beginning, a strong and lively garage punk, style easily recognizable in the choppy and raucous guitar sound and aggressive drums. In the official video, we observe a performance by Bulbo

75 Zapatistas (EZLN). 76 Jessy Bulbo, interview by Marusia Pola, February 29, 2016. 77 Ibid. 42

Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 and her band in an urban landscape of old and rotten buildings, probably one of the sub-urban areas of Mexico City. The video is simple, just her performance, intercut with footage of live performances where a young urban audience slam-dances frenetically.78

The song is in A major, with a short introduction that leads to an open vocal scream by Bulbo, a powerful opener that instantly announces the energy of the song.

Illustration 4. Maldito!! Jesy Bulbo

The E major and G major chords found in the song caused a sort of harmonic ambiguity, a small allusion to the minor key that provokes a contrasting sonic effect.

Such chords are also traditional representations of a power chord where you have the emphasis on the root and the fifth and no third. The chord signify a kind of aggressive energy characteristic of rock ‘n’ roll. In “Maldito” such changes directs the audience’s attention to the lines emphasized at the end of each chorus.

78 Slam is a characteristic dancing style associated with music styles like ska, hardcore, crust, garage, punk and metal. It consisted of jumping and pushing each other on an uncontrolled fashion. In other countries it is known as pongo, mosh or stage. Its origins can be traced back to the English punk scene and in popular culture it is attributed to Sid Vicious from Sex Pistols. 43

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Illustration 5. Maldito! Second chorus

The percussive, syllabic delivery of the lyrics strongly emphasizes the rhythmic

qualities of the song and further invites the audience to engage in dancing.

Illlustration 6. Maldito!! first stanza

The small interlude found in the second part and before the little ‘coda’ conveys an

improvisatory character, one that changes between recorded versions and live

performances, probably in response to the energy and dancing of the audience. At the

end of the song there is another small and unexpected coda after the instrumental

interlude.

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Illustration 7. Maldito!! Coda

The coda consists of a final statement “Si, la cague, y que…” (“Yes, I fuck it up, so what?”), and 67 syllabic repetitions of “so what”. This passage particularly strongly emphasizes the provocative feminist tone of the whole song. Such reaffirmation adds a tone of cynicism. “Maldito’s” narratives are the antithesis of a more traditional love song: in this story the girl is not waiting for love to come or grieving the loss of her object of affection, but speaking directly to him in a responsive tone

Estoy desconsolada porque me abandonaste Y tú eres el único capacitado para consolarme Cuando hago algo mal y tú no me lo perdonas, Necesito que me abraces y no llega la hora.

Porque yo te hice enojar, Me pones un castigo, Me pones a sufrir Y lo más triste de todo es que no se va a repetir Porque no me quieres ver, Mientras más yo te persigo más te enojas tu conmigo Si tanto me quisiste no me tires al olvido.

I am heartbroken that you left me And you're the only one able to comfort me When I do something wrong and you do not forgive me, I need to hold me but the time does not come.

Because I got you angry, 45

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I’ve been punishing, I have to suffer And the most sad of all is that it won't be repeated Because you do not want to see me, While more I pursue you more you get angry your with me If you wanted me so much do not throw me to oblivion

The first stanza set the narratives in which a girl is speaking to a beloved one, questioning him for his forgetfulness. As in Chavela Vargas’s vocals, Bulbo’s use of an aggressive musical style to sing these rather banal lyrics conveys ironic detachment from what the lyrics are saying. The love song is being screamed and danced by an angry and energetic audience. Its text is reminiscent of a typical love song, but

Bulbo’s aggressive tone and music undercut the pop banality. In the official video we see a frantic Bulbo, jumping and pounding on her guitar while singing: she is smiling and engaging in the slam-dance ritual along with her audience.

Maldito maldito maldito Porque me abandonas cuando más te necesito Maldito maldito maldito En la cama y en la cárcel se conoce a los amigos

Damn you, damn you, damn you Why you leave me when I need you the most Damn you, damn you, damn you In bed and in prison is where you really know your friends

The chorus is very straightforward: she calls out the male character addressed at the beginning and curses him repeatedly. In live performances it is clear that the chorus is the climatic part of the song and it is the part where the public engaged with Bulbo

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Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 performance by chanting and shouting along with her. It is this chorus with which

Bulbo’s audience most strongly identifies. The significances of the chorus is in the

‘act’ of the audience to scream out loud, cursing a man who has done you wrong, accompanied by a frenetic punk sound, such response from the public is almost ritualistic act on a rock ‘n’ roll performance.

Bulbo take this “calling-out” a step further in the coda (Illustration 8). The unexpected end is repeated and its agitated rhythms directly reinforce the dance quality. Bulbo is making a last statement, recognizing her mistake and repeating in a pounding syllabic fashion: “so what, so what, so what…”

Illustration 8. Maldito Coda

Audience appropriations have elevated ”Maldito” to the status of feminist manifesto, invoked often in feminist political acts such 4th festival for the right to choose,

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Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 organized by the National University (UNAM) in 2011, where Jessy Bulbo was guest artist.

However, it is seemingly by chance that the song came to be understood as a feminist manifesto. Bulbo stated in an interview that when she originally wrote the song it was simply a reference to a personal experience with an ex-boyfriend:

”Certainly, it was not my conscious intention to write a feminist anthem, I was just going thought some personal things and the song is a reflection of that.”79 Yet now every performance of “Maldito” can be seen as a participatory act of creation, in which gender politics and feminist perceptions are engaged through the appropriation of the song by the audience. This phenomenon occurs often in popular music, when popular tunes are embraced, and thereafter reinterpreted and adapted to suit the audience’s own agenda. Bulbo recognized this phenomenon and accepted it, even though it quite contradicts her original intentions in writing the song. ”Maldito” became for Bulbo a ‘happy coincidence’ that led to unanticipated opportunities. Bulbo has resigned the personal evocations found in the song and instead has accepted the feminist agenda provided by her audience and fans.

Changemonium: The search for a Mexican futuristic sound

Bulbo released her second studio album in 2008: Taras Bulba.80 The garage style still strongly present in saga mama vanishes in this release. The Ultrasonicas sound is likewise abandoned and her musical style sounds more crafted and personal.

The vocal style in Taras Bulba is delivered in a more meticulous and controlled

79 Jessy Bulbo, interview by Marusia Pola, February 29, 2016. 80 Jessy Bulbo. Taras Bulba. Recorded March 17, 2009. Los Nuevos Ricos, 2009, CD. 48

Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 fashion and it is possible to hear a more experimental Bulbo moving away from the punk style of her first works.

Her third studio album Telememe, released in 2011, is Bulbo’s first album released by her independent label and contains Bulbo’s first experimentation with the ranchero genre.81 “La Cruda Moral”/”Moral Hangover” is Bulbo’s personal homage to one of the most emblematic figures in Mexican vernacular music. Chava Flores (1920

– 1987) was a Mexican singer and composer known for a unique style that combined vernacular musical genres with an ironic touch of humor. In Chava Flores’s catalog, the classic love tragedies beloved by ranchera are replaced by funny evocations of the middle class: her most common topics include binge drinking, Mexican parties and family narratives. It is thus no surprise that Bulbo employed Chava Flores as an avenue to venture into the ranchero genre. Although Telememe is an album where

Bullbo’s personal style emerges, my main interest, lies with Bulbo most recent studio recording, Changemonium. This album more effectively serves my analytical inquiries.

Bulbo released Changemonium in 2015 as an independent work: no label was involved. She has spoken recently of the difficult times the music industry is experiencing, especially in the indie scene and describes her difficulty persuading radio stations to play the album: “It did not happen, Mexican radio stations are not playing independent artists anymore and this is a tragedy.” 82 Changemonium shows a sophisticated artist capable of repeated reinvention. There is not a single punk song on

81 Jessy Bulbo. Telememe. Recorde 2011. Sello independiente, 2011, CD. 82 Jessy Bulbo, interview by Marusia Pola, February 29, 2016. 49

Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 the album: yet while the Riot Grrrl sonic aesthetic has vanished completely, she maintains its oppositional political evocations.

Changemonium is probably also Bulbo’s most personal album. She describes this album as encapsulating the fullness of a hedonistic spirit: “In this album I let myself be completely, I surrender to my favorite music genres, every song is crafted as a long process of self-discovery, I was searching for my sound, a Mexican futuristic sound.”

83 Bulbo’s statement is consistent with Changemonium’s homage to a plethora of popular Mexican music genres, and its exploitation of the aesthetics of both 1970s romantic ballads and 1980s pop songs. The album displays a kind of a twisted pop spirit, infused with cumbia rebajada, bachata, salsa, funk and even Mexican banda music.

It is not a coincidence that Bulbo employs vernacular styles associated with popular environments: music that at an intellectual level might be dismissed as not

‘good enough’ or related to uneducated environments. Bulbo makes her own intentions clear: “Some vernacular genres like jarocho or even ranchera, have been appropriated by the intellectual circles, it seems to me that this music in some way has stopped to represent the people”.84 Bulbo’s statement is charged with a strong political agenda: she recognizes the cultural value of popular music genres associated with

Mexican identity, while also recognizing that these styles’ heightened visibility in the mainstream scene has eroded their connections with the common people.

83Ibid. 84 Ibid. 50

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At the same time, some of the styles that Bulbo references are very popular among suburban listeners. These belong to the sonidero culture, a movement arising in the 1970s in popular neighborhoods of Mexico City. The sonideros were social gatherings where popular dance music was played in big sound systems operated by local DJs, revealing a strong connection with the rise of the Hip-Hop culture in the

US. Sonideros’s significance lies not only in the popular musical genres developed by the DJs in charge, but also because it created vital communal spaces where diverse people from different social strata could engage in cultural exchange and dance rituals.

“No Es Pa Tanto” and “Cuando Rie” are the songs that evoke most strongly the sonidero sound. “No es pa tanto” is a playful dancing tune in a classic cumbia rebajada style. The synth sounds create a melancholy mood characteristic of the cumbia rebajada aesthetic. The dance associated with the song is more hypnotic and slow than a traditional cumbia and articulates an identity born of the sonidero culture.

The song begins with a classic sonidero call out and an accompaniment of synthesizer horns. We can hear Jessy’s Bulbo voice calling for beer.

Saca los barrilitos, mandala por una chela. Y para todo el mundo desde Tlalnepantla

Bring out the beers, go get one. This goes for everybody from Tlalnepantla

The tone is set with a direct quote to classic sonideros: “bring out the beers, this goes for everybody from Tlalnepantla”. Tlalnepantla is one of the most iconic popular

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neighborhoods in Mexico City where sonidero culture flourished and thus represents a

significant homage on Bulbo’s part. The song is set in a rhythmic accompanying

figure that also serves as rhythmic cell for the chorus.

Illustration 9. No es pa tanto horns intro

Illustration 10. Ni es pa tanto chorus

The rhythmic cell, set initially by the horns, is taken up by Bulbo in the chorus line. A

syncopated rhythmic found in many popular sonideros from the 1990s, this is not a

direct quote, but definitely alludes to the cumbia sonidera style.

“Cuando Rie” also evokes sonidero nuances. Here, Jessy exploits timbres

associated with sonidero culture, like the distorted male sound announcing nonsense,

and a strong merengue rhythmic base emphasizing electronic sounds and synthesized

timbres. “Cuando Rie” invites us to dance and to engage in a nostalgia where kitsch

and vernacular aesthetics converge. The song is also an example of the complex ways

in which Bulbo’s art clashes with the aesthetics of corporate radio and the mainstream

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Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 scene. In an anecdote she shared with me, Bulbo articulated a complex negotiation in order to persuade Mexican radio to give any coverage to her album. Bullbo claims that when “Cuando Rie” was released as a single, corporate radio took an interest in the tune and offered to keep it in rotation for a month in exchange for a few thousand dollars and some editing to the lyrics. Bulbo refused and her last chance at radio coverage disappeared.85 However, she maintains a positive attitude towards the changing music industry: “I am truly curious of what is going to happen with the music industry, is changing every day so I can only hope for good things.”86 The case of Changemonium provides a glimpse of an artist trying to survive with integrity intact in a world that neglects independent music production.

“Ay Ay Ay,” another song found in Changemonium, represents Bulbo’s second attempt to get closer to a more vernacular sound: specifically, that of the ranchera genre. “Ay Ay Ay” is a ballad couched in a kind of late 1980s pop lyricism, in which Bulbo more fully exploits the melodic possibilities of her vocal delivery. The song makes use of guitars and was composed initially to be performed in a ranchero style with a light guitar accompaniment. However, the song morphed into a sort of de- constructed ranchera that retained some elements of the traditional genre while also winking at the clichés of 1980s romantic ballads, where the acoustic elements are replaced by ‘corny’ synthesizers.

85 Ze Garcia, “Jessy Bulbo – Changuemonium.” Club Fonograma, August 11, 2015, accessed February 19, 2016, http://www.clubfonograma.com/2015/08/jessy-bulbo-changuemonium.html. 86 Jessy Bulbo, interview by Marusia Pola, February 29, 2016.

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The song begins with the chorus singing on a melodic line where the inflection

“ay ay ay” is deliver in a clean lyrical fashion. The ay ay ay’s is one of the most characteristic expressive inflections related to the ranchera style, but in a ranchera setting, the ay ay ay’s are always sung to express deep pain and sorrow. In contrast,

Bulbo’s ay ay ay’s do not evoke the deep sorrowful tone expected in a ranchera song.

Rather, she provides an examination of her own pain, framed in a 1980s pop ballad style, where pain is filtered through a smoother aesthetic. While Bulbo’s ay ay ay’s do not particularly resemble those of the rancheras, it is indisputable that the older idiom is their source.

The synthesizer introduces the first theme, which Bulbo will later sing an octave higher. This prepares the melancholic tone of Bulbo’s first vocal line. Within the melodic line of the ay ay ay’s some clever stylistic characteristics suggesting the ranchero genre (figure 8). But here, Jessy’s wink to a vernacular genre occurs without ranchero’s full aesthetic conventions; these serves to effectively de-construct the style musically. A subtle appoggiatura in the second part of the ay ay ay’s emphasizes the sentimental character of the melody, while the ornamentation of the downward scale highlights the dramatic tone.

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Illustration 11. Ay Ay Ay intro and first chorus

The first stanza sets the tone of the song; it is sung in a syllabic manner that

emphasizes the lyrics.

Hombre si yo soy rea-gradable compañía No es justo que me trates de visita conyugal

Ay ay ay……

Man if I'm real-pleasant company is not fair that you treat me like a conjugal visit

This section is very similar to the style and timbre used by the popular 1980s Spanish

pop band Mecano in their popular song of 1988 “Un Año Mas”; this may be an

intentionally-kitschy musical allusion. The song is monody, set in F; however a

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peculiar tritone found in the melodic line B to F natural (Illustration 12) changes the

overall speech-like style into a more dramatic event.

Illustration 12. Ay Ay Ay third stanza

Interestingly, the tritone is a onetime event: in the second and third stanza the leap is

avoided by an appoggiatura on D. However, this does not result in a lessening of the

melancholy character. The melodic figures made by the synthesizer at the end and last

ay ay ay’s reminds us of that sorrowful tone, subtle but present.

Illustration 13. Ay Ay Ay synthesizer coda and last chorus

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While the musical narratives are conveyed in a melancholic, almost post-modern ranchera song, the lyrics embody Jessy Bulbo’s characteristic irony:

Hombre si yo soy rea-gradable compañía No es justo que me trates de visita conyugal Que no te das cuenta yo prefiero ser tu amiga Me caes de pocas pulgas lo demás no me interesa

Ay ay ay……

Man if I'm real-pleasant company is not fair that you treat me like conjugal visit me You do not realize that I'd rather be your friend I like you a lot, everything else I do not care

The song problematizes male aggression by speaking of casual sex and women empowerment (“You don’t realize that I’d rather be your friend“), an interesting and intentional contrast to the usual tragic stories found in ranchero.

Bulbo is capable of employing the experiences and musical styles of her past as part of her continual artistic evolution. The musical allusions and themes are constructed in service of self-identification: that is, a search to evoke her persona and life experiences. In Bubo’s as in other female artists’ works, reflection upon unique ideas, timbre, music’, and discourse articulation have led to a search for a ‘voice of her own’: the desire to define and shape the musical discourse through a reading that can preserve a gender identity. As Bulbo described it, her conscious identification as a

‘feminine’ body is crucial to the boldness and sensitivity of her creative process. She

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Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 says “‘I can define my work as intense and aggressive, however those are adjectives usually related to masculinity, aren’t they? [laughs].”87

Is it possible for Bulbo to define a sound and identity of her own through problematizing gender aesthetics? The answer lies perhaps in the intersection between a ‘performative’ body and an artistic community. Bulbo is perceived as an artist with a strong heritage grounded in the principles and aesthetics of the Riot Grrrl movement.

Considerations of her artistic roots led her to an understanding of her work in terms of audience reception and creative process. Such analysis brings out socio-cultural characteristics which can best be understood through analysis of the discourse and narratives in the music and the attempt to articulate such narratives from a gendered perspective. The search for a ‘voice of her own’ led Jessy Bulbo to challenge established canons grounded on patriarchal ideologies, and allowed for a feminine rock and roll empowerment legitimized by academic theory. Such considerations usefully problematize canonic processes and point the way toward a more ethical, less privileged analysis of women artists and their involvement in popular music.

87 Jessy Bulbo, interview by Marusia Pola, February 29, 2016.

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CHAPTER IV

THE OTHER WOMEN: THE FEMININE VOICE OF LEIKA

MOCHAN

Nicola Dibben wrote, in her 2006 article “Subjectivity and the Construction of

Emotion in the Music of Bjork”: “Music represents or embodies a particular emotional experience, and also contributes to the construction of the very idea of what emotion is and of how it is experience.”88 While this is true, music can also help us to understand how a personal identity can be constructed within a ‘subjective’ field. I would like to take Dibben’s statement further and discuss the capacities of popular music to express and evoke an emotional experience from a gendered voice; a feminine voice. In this particular case, I will look for that voice in the music of Mexican artist Leika Mochan.

From an anthropological perspective, emotions are not universal facts but are directly related to socio-cultural marks of a specific experience. Therefore, a close reading of music and its creative process has the potential to unfold some of the cultural structures within which emotional experiences are being articulated.89 From a feminist perspective, a musical language is capable of building subjective structures within which gender notions are negotiated and expressed. While in past chapters I have discussed Mexican cultural views about gender relations and transgressive discourses, and musical allusions and feminine agency within a vernacular language,

88 Nicola Dibben, “Subjectivity and the Construction of Emotion in the Music of Bjork,” Music Analysis 25, no. 1 (October 23, 2007), 171. 89 Ibid,. 172. 59

Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 my principal goal in this chapter will be to unfold the creative process through which

Leika Mochan’s music offers a way to experience and recognize, as a listener, the emotions of feminine embodiment.

In the Latin American music market, the Indie scene provides some of the best examples of musical exploration between pop-rock, folklore, jazz, and even experimental music.90 As Susana Gonzalez says; “As far as Mexican popular music is concerned, in the last fifteen years it has opened up to new voices, all joined in a quest to define their independent individualities.”91 Among these voices I am engaged with those that look for cultural integration and self-definition within a musical language.

Leika Mochan’s work is hard to categorize. In some interviews she will describe her style as jazz-synth-pop, while in others she will resist all categorization:

“I’ve been asked many times and I always answer different, I guess what I do is just music”.92 Certainly Mochan is an artist whose musical creativity merges with her multiple musical identities. Mochan’s work provides a useful illustration of how the female voice can become the main subject of a musical language.

An artist with both classical and jazz training, Mochan is neither the radical feminist activist we have discovered in Jessy Bulbo’s persona nor the outspoken queer singer found in Chavela Vargas’s artistry. Mochan’s feminist agency relies on an artistic process that seeks to integrate her life experiences within a unique musical discourse and in the ‘musical subjects’ found in her record Kaleidojismos (2010). Such

90 Susana Gonzalez Aktories, “Lila Downs: The Voice of a Butterfly,” Song and Popular Culture 53, (2008): 153. 91 Ibid,. 153. 92 Leika Mochan interviewed by Marusia Pola, January 7, 2016. 60

Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 subjective construction can be understood by looking at the sound experience framed within a hearing structure emerging from the different identities depicted in Mochan’s work.93

Mochan began her musical studies at age five taking violin lessons and singing in various choruses. She speaks of her teachers fondly, especially of Chela Cervantes,

Isabel Tercero and Iraida Noriega: three emblematic artists whose personal styles roam between flamenco, Mexican vernacular music, rock-folk and Jazz.94 However, what they share is a unique interdisciplinary approach to singing and an active involvement in performances combining visual arts, poetry and music research.

Chela Cervantes (born 1968) is a Chicano artist based in Mexico whose artistic explorations include dance, music and poetry. Isabel Tercero (born 1947) is another transnational figure whose singing style evokes everything from an operatic aesthetic to Mexican music, cante jondo and cabaret. She is known for her work with avant- garde figures like jazz musician Arturo Cipriano and film maker Alejandro

Jorodowsky. Iraida Noriega (born 1971) is considered one of the leading figures in

Mexican jazz with a particularly solid and constant artistic trajectory.

Mochan’s musical work therefore, can be framed by her own biography, history, and search for a ‘musical voice’; she says, “I have always perceived singing as the ideal medicine to relieve emotions that threaten to eat your insides.”95 Mochan’s

93 Andrew Dell’Antonio, Beyond Structual Listening? Postmodern Modes of Hearing (California: University of California Press, 2004), 4. 94 “I have several great teachers that not only taught me about music but about art and life.” (Leika Mochan interview by Marusia Pola, January 7, 2016.) 95Ibid,. 61

Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 visceral depiction of artistic agency captures her creative process. She seeks a compositional authority that implicates a confessional tone since she is the lyricist, composer, and performer of all her music.96 She is very interested in vernacular genres like beat boxing and in extended techniques from other world traditions like

Cante Jondo, Inuit singing, Bulgarian chant, and Hindu music. Significantly, she says,

“I am particularly interested in vernacular genres, music styles that speak by themselves.”97

Despite her interest in vernacular music genres Mochan’s personal work aims to create an individual sound and a musical discourse of her own; she therefore avoids a Mexican traditional sound. She draws upon her jazz training in side projects like Los

Aguakates and Proyecto Gecko, both ensembles dedicated to original compositions in jazz and rock genres. However, it is with Muna Zul, an all-female vocal ensemble founded in 2001 by Mochan, Sandra Cuevas, and Dora Juarez, that Mocha began to explore the possibilities provided by the human voice within an avant-garde musical frame. Muna Zul’s repertoire employs a vernacular style heavily influenced by jazz aesthetics, avant-garde music, and Hip Hop culture. That sound further results from

Mochan’s quest for a style founded in the purity of the human voice; she says: “We are three voices circumstantially unified by an aesthetic quest defined by the search for form, sound and texture.”98

96 In Kaleidojismos Leika Mochan played and record each one of the instruments and sounds. 97 Leika Mochan interview by Marusia Pola, January 7, 2016. Emphasis added. 98 Oscar Adad, “El viaje de Muna Zul,” El Universal, March 24, 2007, accesed March 10, 2016, http://archivo.eluniversal.com.mx/espectaculos/75381.html 62

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However, it is in Mochan’s solo performances that we see a sensibility articulated most directly through her voice and body. Her use of extended vocal technical resources like beatboxing, scat singing, and vocal sampling, among other effects, speaks of both a deep understanding of vocal techniques and an intuitive imagination.

Mochan’s public persona likewise merges with her artistic self. She avoids an artistic identity that is differentiated from her private self. As an example: I had the opportunity to interview her before a performance in a Jazz club in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, MX on January 7 2016. When I arrived at the club she was finishing her sound check. She was wearing a long denim skirt, and, colorful socks with sandals, no makeup, and loose and messy hair, the exact same outfit she wore at the concert. She introduced herself in a friendly manner, as if we were old friends, and our conversation lasted for over an hour.99 After the interview, she staged her act with a small table where she placed her tools: a synthesizer, a kalimba, a jarana segunda, a sound effect processor 6-DL4, and a nose whistler.100

To witness a Leika Mochan performance is to observe a musical ritual conceived in the spirit of a formal music recital. The audience is invited to engage in silence. There is little or no audience involvement or response, other than the traditional clapping at the end of each song. In such a performance audience interaction happens at an introspective level, engaged with the sounding landscapes

99 Leika Mochan interview by Marusia Pola, January 7, 2016. 100 Leika often employs in her music a nose whistler, different rattles and small stringed instruments like a ukulele and Mexican Jaranas. 63

Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 evoked by Mochan’s voice. The result is a concert that proposes a different way of listening to popular music, a way that is more related to sound as a vehicle through which to arrive at musical forms. When an audience witnesses her performing, it participates in a creative process in which themes are developed as a consequence of the rich uncertainties of vocal improvisation. She consciously moves away from appropriating a character that can be perceived as an outsider to her music. Her seeming absence of a persona offers the chance, as audience, to look for the characters

‘hidden’ in her sound.

Kaleidojismos: Sound kaleidcospe and musical subjects.

Mochan’s first solo work Kaleidojismos was released in 2010 by the

Intoleracia record label, a Mexican company characterized by their indie music catalogue of artists and their strong presence among music festivals in Latin America such as Vive Latino and SXSW. Kaleidojismos, as described by Mochan, is music made with samples and loops created mainly with the voice and body.101 Her spectrum of vocal techniques is explored in each song and each is conceived as its own story.

While the songs seem very different from one another, it is possible to find unified subjects that act as signifiers of the different identities found in Mochan’s music. The musical allusions found in Kaleidojismos and its timbre, harmonies, and sound layers are subjugated to the narratives found in the lyrics. Each song will be defined by its soundscape and vice versa. This resource provides a field that allows wide scope for interpretation.

101 Leika Mochan, “Kaleidojismos.” (Press release, 2010). 64

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Mochan’s take on the ‘one woman show’ concept depicts her as a storyteller of woman’s life. Each song in Kaleidojismos therefore employs different vocal layers that create a solid base upon which the song is developed. The album’s title expresses

Mochan’s intention to play with different sounds, textures, colors, and, timbres in order to recreate different moods and evoke personal experiences.102

Kaleidojismos explores the rawness of the human voice by experimenting with a plethora of sounds, pitches and musical textures. Mochan’s vocal take on

Kaleidojismos is delivered in an improvisatory fashion that allows great variation between live enactments and studio recordings, thus adding a sense of freedom in her performances. Despite the differences between versions, the unified subjects that define the vocal samples and sound layers add recognizable and consistent characteristics to each song. Thus, improvisation within the sound-field of each song is the first principle unifying Mochan’s record and performances.

Kaleidojismos can be perceived as expressing an artist’s intention to create sound landscapes which can act as colors and shapes do on a kaleidoscope, providing a musical dialogue where the sound layers and vocals merge into a plethora of possibilities. The use of sound patterns delineates a plot that unifies the whole album.

Such unity is achieved through the repetitive musical gestures, constant use of looping sounds, and built-in layers that act as autonomous entities offering a thematic unity to the whole album. Such concepts provide for cultural axes that can be related to a

102 Ibid,. 65

Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 female-identification within Mochan’s music.103 She describes her creative process as an introspective work with her own self: “I conceived this record as a way to deal with all my demons, things that one need to work, the result are songs that at the end brought light into my life.”104 Kaleidojismos, thus, is conceived as a personal narrative that encompasses every song; moreover, the possibilities of further interpretation of

Mochan’s musical surrender offer opportunities to discuss a musical language under a gendered frame; that is, the ‘feminine voice’.

In my quest for meaning in Mochan’s music, I propose to draw three analytical schemas to analyze the different ‘musical subjects’ found in her work. Such schemas are built under a frame of “signifier” and “signified,” borrowed from Derrida’s theory of signs.105 While the signifiers will be the musical cells that appear to us as ‘stable,’ they will be undeniably connected to the changing nature of the signified, who is open to re-readings and further interpretations. Therefore, the signifiers are the musical objects that act to create unified subjects in each song, whereas the signified is the general meaning subject to my own interpretation of the whole musical setting; neither signifiers nor signified are tenable objects; instead, their ‘subjective’ nature correlates to performer and listener.

In Kaleidojismos I have focused upon three different ‘subjects’ that define each song and the musical layers used to create them. The analysis of each subject helps me

103 Sheila Whiteley, Women and Popular Music: Sexuality, Identity and Subjectivity, (London: Routledge, 2000): 197. 104 Leika Mochan interview by Marusia Pola, January 7, 2016. 105Lucie Guillemette and Josiane Cossete, “Deconstruction and difference,” Signo (2006): accessed April 10, 2016, http://www.signosemio.com/derrida/deconstruction-and-differance.asp. 66

Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 to unfold the plots registered in each song and provide me with interpretive means to unwrap the different timbres, lyrics and musical settings found throughout the record.

The first subject I have identifies is characterized by an ‘experimental sound’, defined by the use of sound effects and voice techniques that imitate different landscapes, both natural and urban. This ‘experimental sound’ is characterized by a rough vocal delivery and by an ambiguous poetic narrative. Songs that employ this ‘experimental sound’ are “Sumerjome”, “La Semilla”, “El Tren”, and “Awaken”, a free take on the

British singer Sheila Chandra’s “La Sagesse” (Woman I’m calling you).106 In these specific music themes, Mochan employs voice and sounds as a means to create landscapes that induce reflective moods in the listener. The multi-layered voices that serve as background in “Sumerjome” and “La Semilla” imitate natural landscapes related to natural elements: water and earth. The natural elements are epitomized by a water drop sound sample made by Mochan’s voice in “Sumerjome” that acts as a rhythmic layer. In “La Semilla” a kalimba rhythmic pattern will remind us of the earthy characteristic and serve as musical background for Mochan’s vocals.107

The poetry in both songs is delivered in a smooth, almost whispery tone that makes it virtually impossible to make out specific words. Such a quality invites the listener to focus on the sound landscapes created by the voice and samples. Both songs use depictions and evocations of natural elements. “Sumerjome” literately means to

”submerge” and Mochan’s use of water drop sounds and an echoed vocal tone are a

106 Sheila Chandra is British pop singer of Indian descent known for her projects that include solo voice performances and the use of sound landscapes. 107 The kalimba or mbira or thumb piano is an African wooden instrument. 67

Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 direct reference to singing projected through water. In “La Semilla,” the depiction is more related to earth, to the woods. The kalimba starts the song, with a melody that transforms into a rhythmic background that in turn serves as rhythmic layer for the vocal. The song is sung with an initially ‘childish’ tone that quickly morphs into a more lyrical deep tone manipulated by her sound machine. The song ends with her singing a simple lyric line over the sounding layers made by her own voice: “Crece y crece la semilla, la flora” (The seed grows and grows, the flowers). The song seems to speak of the natural stages of human life, the childish vocal tone contrasting with the deeper lyrical tone that closes in Mochan’s regular voice singing this line.

In “El Tren”, in contrast to the sounding layers of “Sumerjome” and “La

Semilla”, the sound layers depicted are rough and emulate an urban landscape. The layers are electronic manipulations of a train horn sound, along with other effects. The song begins with Mochan’s voice singing “Mama dear, they said, they said the train is coming”. From there the layers converge in an almost chaotic mass. The song evokes a landscape of “strange urban sounds’ in which Mochan’s electronic manipulated tone acts as a signifier, giving voice to the urban setting. “El Tren” is thus perhaps one of the most ‘experimental’ tracks in Kaleidojismos.

In the third experimental track, “Awaken”, Mochan pays homage to one of her greatest influences, British singer Sheila Chandra.108 The song is a free take on

Chandra’s tune “La Sagesse”. While the original tune is performed by Chandra in a

108 “I love this song, especially because it evokes a sort of self-empowerment.” Leika Mochan interview by Marusia Pola, January 7, 2016.

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Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 completely a cappella fashion, Mochan’s own version uses a Tibetan bowl to harmonize her singing. Such experimental tracks employ musical resources that merge into a sort of musical poetry within which subjective elements can be interpreted.

While the recurrent sounding layers are components of Mochan’s characteristic sound, the experimental tracks are perceived as ‘sonic irruptions’ that surprise the listener.

The signified of such irruptions is that they provide a musical language where the

‘subjects’ or signifiers are unspoken but nevertheless evoked.

A second recurrent subject found in Kaleidojismos is a sort of ‘childish voice’, a musical character that alludes to the aesthetics and cultural references of children’s songs. Here also a more vernacular lyrical style can be perceived. Songs like “Ivan”,

“La Luna Nuez”, and “3 Colores” are built under these more recognizable aesthetics and the experimental sounds are almost absent. Instead, these second three songs display a diversity of musical influences and provide a glimpse of Mochan’s artistic history and training.

“Ivan” is built around a manouche jazz style kept in the “strumming” rhythmic figures used by a jarana.109 Its lyrics engage wordplay by using the title as both proper noun and verb. The result is a clever catchy tune.

“La Luna Nuez” is a cumbia built over a layer of rhythmic sounds emulating different percussive instruments, but made purely by Mocha’s vocals. The poetics on the song also play with the words which draw into a poetic imagery. “La luna no es de

109 The rhythm guitar cells commonly used by manouche players is also known as la pompe and provides the music with a fast swinging felling that emphasizes two and four beats. 69

Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 queso la luna no es de arena…/The moon is not made of cheese neither sand,” maintains the reference to a children’s song.

“3 Colores” lacks the sound layer element found in all the other tracks and is constructed only by Leika’s lyrics and a simple ukulele accompaniment. The song is delivered in a fashion imitative of a lullaby. The texture and sounds are quite transparent and act as signifiers of a more organic setting. The absence of

‘experimental textures’ in these songs, perhaps intends less assumptions. This leads me to interpret them as endeavors from the artist to play with aesthetics that recall lullabies and children songs. Such aesthetics can be interpreted as an invocation of the artist’s personal history.

The third musical subject I identify in Kaleidojismos is a ‘feminine’ character’, a subjective construction that conveys feminine identity as defined by both sonic and lyric references. Both elements act as channels, signifiers through which the gendered voice occurs. In these tracks I identify a desire from the artist to express experiences and narratives where her voice is acting from her own quasi-autobiographical story, providing the song with personal associations. These songs differ greatly from the balance of the ‘musical subjects’ because they maintain a sense of personal identification that projects Mochan’s ‘inner’ personal world in performance.

The music settings of songs like “Settledown” and “Filin Blu” share musical conventions close to R&B and jazz styles. Both employ a repetitive harmonic base that acts as a surrounding groove built with Mochan’s vocal electronic manipulations.

The looping sounds form a musical structure against which the vocal delivery is

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Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 performed, in the style of an improvisatory performance. Both songs share lyrics in which the artist is singing from a personal experience where an unspoken but implicit, pursuit for self-identify is expressed. In “Settledown” the lyrics are transmitting a personal desire: “I should settle down with my feet back on the ground.” However, this statement contrasts with a reflection on the past that draws more complex emotions into association: “All the things I’ve done and said will be better off on someone else’s air.” Such emotions are looking back in the past, suggesting some regret, an schema that Mochan repeats on the next song.

“Filin Blu” employs also a personal statement but in a more melancholy setting; “And I am feeling blue, it ain’t nothing new. I’ve got this thing inside that changes my view.” The second statement again employs the ‘looking into the past’ schema: “All the things I did I thought I will never do but now I am just feeling blue, there is nothing nobody can do.” While both songs emphasize a desire to move forward from personal experiences, they explore a juxtaposition of positive and negative subjectivities that result in a personal reflection in Mochan’s voice. Thus, the truthfulness implied in both songs draws a connection between the singer and the song

(signifier and signified) as aligned with a ‘feminine identity’. The transitory experiences of the lyrics provide insights into Mochan’s personal agenda.

The grammatical ‘mistakes’ found in both titles, and the mixture of Spanish and English lyrics, are not a coincidence. Rather, this speaks of a conscious move, perhaps ironic, on the part of the artist to embrace the English language as part of her musical history and training, without losing Hispanic identity. Therefore, both song

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Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 titles are written as a Spanish-speaker would literally hear them. Such move can be interpreted as a move on Mochan’s side to play with phonetics the same way she plays with sounds and moods a manner to show the mutable nature of the different ‘objects’ she employs in her work.

Challenging archetypes: The two women inside Leika

In terms of my ‘feminine’ musical subject, two songs from Kaleidojismos are most relevant. “Esa Mujer” and “La Princesa” use feminine archetypes found in most of the vernacular Mexican repertoire, of the sort we have discussed in the case of

Vargas’s and Bulbo’s work. However, Mochan’s take on those archetypes differs significantly from a vernacular usage.

“Esa Mujer” was the first single from Kaleidojismos and is perhaps its most recognizable and popular song. Mochan says: “I conceived the song while going through a rough patch in my life, a moment where I decided not to be that one, therefore, the significance of the song.”110 “Esa Mujer” particularly exploits the lyrical capabilities of her vocal techniques. While the harmonic setting keeps a clear tonal frame, the vocal delivery employs a clear expressive tone, free of any electronic manipulation or timbral effect. The emotional tone of the naked voice is complemented with a rich vocal accompaniment of sound layers that interact with one another to add richness to the harmonic texture.

110 Leika Mochan interview by Marusia Pola, January 7, 2016. 72

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Illustration 14. Esa Mujer introduction

The syncopated rhythms of the song’s introduction (Illustration 14) are delivered as vocal samples emulating a Latin rhythmic base made by drums. This sense of groove gives the song a feeling of rhythmic complexity in spite of the relatively homophonic texture.

The lyrics are particularly significant. The first stanza opens with a bald statement: “No quiero ser esa” (I do not want to be that one). The powerful message of the stanza frames the meaning of the whole song.

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No quiero ser esa, esperando a que cambie tu humor No quiero ser esa, divida en dos No quiero ser esa, olvidando lo que dijiste ayer No quiero ser esa, esperan que me quieras querer

I do not want to be that one, waiting for you to change your mood I do not want to be that one, divided in two I do not want to be that one, forgetting what you said yesterday I do not want to be that one, waiting for you to love me.

The imagery of the lyrics frames a declarative action that keeps a sense of openness and sincerity which balances feminist introspection. She does not want to be ‘that one’, the woman who waits, accepts, or loses herself (Illustration 15). This sort of declarative action challenges a more traditional love song, where usually the subject will be declaring her or his emotional state. This is certainly a remarkable change from the lyrical frame found in some vernacular love songs, specifically the ranchera song discussed before in the chapter on Vargas.

Illustration 15. Esa Mujer first stanza

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When the first stanza is delivered over a rhythmic pattern of two layers, the melody adds an additional layer and further enriches the harmonic texture. (Figure 3)

Particularly notable is the chordal complexity. (Illustration 16)

Illustration 16. Esa Mujer end of the first stanza

Illustration 17. Esa Mujer Different sound layers

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While the harmonic texture is filled in, the effect upon the listening ear is of a sort of wrapping texture, which is maintained until the end. The choral texture, likewise, adds lyrical enforcement to the melody.

Illustration 18. Esa Mujer first chorus

The chorus is as remarkable. Mochan sings the lyrics over patterns found in the rhythmic base (Illustration 18). Their syncopated nature adds a strong and independent character to the lyrics: “No quiero ser, esa mujer, no te lo puedo prometer….’ (I do not want to be that woman, I cannot promise it.)

My next example, “La Princesa.” differs significantly from the approach of

“Esa Mujer” although some characteristics are still shared; the general soundscape involves several sonic layers all operating simultaneously, interconnected within the general looping strategy, all alluding to the narrative of the song. The major

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Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 differences lie in the timbral strategies and the general harmonic treatment, full of tensions and less tonally-oriented. “La Princesa” begins with a rhythmic groove articulated by beat boxing vocals which are manipulated electronically to sound an octave lower than Mochan’s vocal range; they suggest a minor D harmony. The result is a strange timbre, deep and hollow (Illustration 19).

Illustration 19. La Princesa Introduction

The timbral result of the electronic manipulation resonates throughout the song, giving a ‘dark’ color throughout. Mochan sings the first stanza using a different color and timbre from that of “Esa Mujer:” less lyrical and closer to a rock style. The melody is delivered very freely and the avoidance of a steady rhythmic pattern clearly suggests an improvisatory setting. The first stanza set the narratives: “La princesa, puta se levanta…” (The whore princess wakes up).

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Illustration 20. La Princesa first stanza

The word Puta is sung for the first time using an ornamentation on a d minor chord which provides emphasis (Illustration 20). Despite the free character of the musical phrasing, the ground-bass pattern offers movement and a sense of directionality: here again, we have the presence of the non-stopping looping which has unified the whole record. The words of the song evoke a ‘twisted’ fairy tale.

La princesa, puta se levanta Mira a ventana, mira su cama Hay un cliente más, misma cara Mismo nombre, mismo cuerpo que el de ayer….

The princes, wake up as a whore Looks through the window, stare at her bed Where a client lays down, same face Same name, same body as before….

The lyrics set a picture of a common day in what it seems to be as the experience of a prostitute. However, the contrast between the two initial words - princess and whore – seems to intend something else in addition. After the first stanza appears an interlude: a choral texture full of harmonic tensions based on loops and joining the ground-bass line. Here also, the result is a fuller harmonic sound (Illustration 21).

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Illustration 21. La Princesa Interlude

The choral textures add a thickness to the sound landscape, a harmonic thickness that adds to the already general darkness. This seems consistent with

Mochan’s own statements regarding the song’s intent: “This song is very strong for me, it aims for a self-conscious reflection about all the meaning contained in just one word, an irruption in the everyday, a harsh call to look at ‘other’ realities.”111 This statement leads me to infer that, besides the initial imagery of the day in the life of this princess-whore, the real emphasis is on the use of the word puta (whore). Mochan’s built her song engaging with a conscious linguistic ambiguity; Princess/whore, which permits further interpretation. The musical treatment forces the listener to focus on a word known for being socially ‘uncomfortable’ since it holds a strong derogatory

111 Leika Mochan interview by Marusia Pola, January 7, 2016. 79

Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 meaning. This focus on “puta” provides a vindicating way to challenge the word and its stereotyping connotations in Mexican culture. The chorus sets a line between the initial narratives: while the steady sonic layers are kept, Mochan sings:

Mela, mela, melancholia de amar y dar Y adentro el amor explota igual

Melancholy of love and give And inside love exploits.

While strongly emphasizing the word melancholia (Illustration 22), the lyrics take a poetic turn toward love, keeping, again, a sense of ambiguity.

Illustration 22. La Princesa chorus

In the second stanza the word puta resonates even strongly when it is re-exposed a half step higher. (Illustration 23)

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Illustration 23. La Princesa second stanza

The formal structure of the song is quite regular (A B A B), with the exception of a sudden disruption between the second stanza and second chorus, where an unexpected silent interlude stops the music.

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Illustration 24. La Princesa

This irruption (Illustration 24) is spoken, not sung, and is delivered in a vocal tone that suggests a certain irony: “Eso le pasa a las putas que se creen princesas…O a las princesas que quieren ser putas…” (“That is what happens to the whores that want to be princesses… Or the princesses that want to be whores“) the intent is clear: the irruption sustains a tone of ‘moral lecture’ like the moral found at the end of a fable or a fairy tale. However, as in the rest of the song, the ‘twisted’ turn is there: the princess-whore analogy is conveying an intentionally ambiguous meaning which leads the focus again to the repetitive use of the word puta.

The interpretative arguments presented in this chapter seek to illustrate the capabilities of musical language and the possible re-interpretations that such depictions seek to offer. The ‘musical subjects’ found in Leika Mochan’s work reflect a unique authorship built from the elements of her own story. Her training as a musician, along with her personal journey, illustrates several feminine subjectivities

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Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 found in both music and text. Such depictions yield a musical language where both signifiers and signified result in a set of aesthetic characteristics that situate a voice within a gender discourse. In Mochan’s music, her gendered voice speaks through the musical subtleties and sonic manipulations found in her music that reveal intentional self-identification. Such devices are capable of empowering a musical discourse while at the same time opening up scholarly interpretations which permit discussion of ‘the feminine’ voice of a female creator.

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CHAPTER V CONCLUSION AND FINAL THOUGHTS

Over the course of this document, we have seen how Chavela Vargas, Jessy

Bulbo, and Leika Mochan, in their musical performances, challenged the manner in which the feminine is represented and personified in the deeply fixed heteronormative structures found in Mexican popular music. I have suggested that music, as a whole, contributes to the construction of emotions and profiles that reflect feminine attributes.

The gendered voices found within the work and artistic processes of my three case studies raised interpretations and considerations connected to the ‘gender complex’.

From a cultural perspective, the search for a gendered voice in music may acknowledge some sexual differences in order to happen. Certainly, some modes of expression are culturally related to a binary categorization of male/female, but such attributes fail to define what feminine corporeality is. As Fred Everett Maus points out in his essay “Music, Gender, and Sexuality:” “Gender is culturally variable and is subject to change.”112 Gender complexity can highlight the multiple dialogues happening between performance and listener.

While the personal and emotional engagement of each musician is evident, the analysis of such subjective expressions risks an ‘interpretative excess’. I tried to overcome this by maintaining close engagement with my case studies. Careful analysis of multimedia and written content related to their work and lives, along with

112 Fred Everett Maus. “Music,, Gender, And Sexuality,” in The Cultural Study of Music: A Critical Introduction eds. Martin Clayton, Trevor Herbert and Richard Middleton (London: Routledge, 2003), 318. 84

Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 the personal interviews provided by Bulbo and Mochan, have helped me to frame my theoretical inquiries, while keeping in mind the artists’ own intentions.

Music is surrounded by a discursive nature that can provide to the listener privileged access to the musician’s inner self and emotional life. When trying to unfold the aesthetic characteristics contained in each performative experience, I found a personal agenda delineated each voice. Some of the emotions and subjectivities explored in my arguments can be interpreted as intentional strategies by which artists reveal cultural material. In my particular approach, my main concern has been with the subjectivities related to the construction of a ‘feminine voice’; to see music as the recipient of self-contained gendered ‘identities’.

Vargas’s appropriation of the ranchero culture, and of Jose Alfredo Jimenez’s songs particularly, speaks of a cultural negotiation through which it is possible to challenge heteronormative cultural values. Vargas’s musical renditions shift the subjective parameters within which ranchera is grounded and frames a queer resistance to the afflicted masculinity traditionally associated with ranchero culture.113

Vargas’s aesthetical resources; vocal quality, wardrobe, instrumentation, and musical phrasing consistently illustrate values related to her political agenda. For example. her choice of wardrobe became an archetypal characteristic of Vargas’s performance. Her wardrobe typically consisted or a mixture of male regional clothing; white manta pants, loose simple blouses, and a red jorongo. This personal style not only speaks of a conscious move to incarnate a queer persona but also to evoke an image related to the

113 113 Lorena Alvarado, “Corporealities of Feeling: Mexican Sentimiento and Gender Politics” (doctoral dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles, 2012), 95. 85

Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 real roots of Mexican music in the the countryside. By removing the mariachi, Vargas made a radical shift away from the traditional associations of ranchera. These bold reversals became over time one of the biggest artistic contributions made by Vargas to the vernacular world. By stripping mariachi away, she expanded the ritual implications of her performances. The minimalistic settings used in both “Un Mundo Raro” and

“En el Ultimo Trago” enhance the confessional tone of both songs and strip them of the artifice employed in other performances. While both songs depicted lyrics related to doomed love and longing, in the original by Jose Alfredo Jimenez we can hear a sense of triumph, a resistance to surrender; a typical macho performance. Vargas’s performance, on the other hand, offers a full surrender to the pain and sorrow depicted in the lyrics, enhanced by her vocals. The feelings neglected in the traditional performances flourish in Vargas’s voice, shifting the cultural implications of the genre. Vargas’s style and imagery provide cultural constructions through which mythical nationalistic markers can be discussed and re-interpreted in a political frame where gender relations and feminism materialize.

Jessy Bulbo’s artistry is defined by an ‘authenticity’ delineated by the spaces she choose to perform (independent venues, independent record labels, political gatherings) and the musical practices associated with her performance. She has full authorship of her music. Bulbo’s performances reflect an agenda framed as a quest for artistic authority able to flourish outside the mainstream market. ‘Authenticity’ can be questioned if it is invoked as a marketing strategy; however, in the indie scene, authenticity is a value that intentionally differentiates an artist from a mainstream

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Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 sound. Jessy Bulbo build her musical imagery by adopting a persona is distinct from her own identity; Bulbo describes the importance of “difference” at the beginning of her career, especially in her post-Ultrasonicas phase.114 However, she said: “I got kind of bored of the novelty of a persona I guess, nowadays I don’t think I think of that,

Jessy Bulbo has become me.”115 What begins as a search of an invented identity became a cultural reference point for Bulbo’s music. She riffs on a characterization of the ‘ultimate rock badass chick,’ while her musical allusions speak of a motivation to challenge the boundaries of music aesthetics framed under social differences.

Her sound, over time, has also morphed along with her public persona. Bulbo’s references to punk culture and the Riot Grrrl movement have shifted to a more sophisticated articulation of a personal quest for a musical language. Her musical allusions are charged with political statements that relate to her education and social reality. However, it is perhaps in her iconic ‘ironic’ tone that the first Bulbo identity can still be heard. Certainly, Bulbo’s career has positioned her as a female rock icon within the Mexican popular music scene, a quite remarkable event in a scene still prone to sexist practices.

In the case of Leika Mochan, her creativity reflects a tendency toward certain cultural marks that became essential to her identity. Mochan expresses in her musical language a tendency towards nurturance, reflexive moods, nature landscapes, and domestic suggestions. Such traits combine to form the feminine embodiment that

114 Bulbo’s real name is Jessica Araceli Carrillo Cuevas. 115 Jessy Bulbo, interview by Marusia Pola, February 29, 2016.

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Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 occurs in Mochan’s work. This feminist agenda relates to her own life, where motherhood has played a crucial role. In the other interviews I carefully reviewed, along with the one I performed, I detected a conscious attempt from Mochan to extract herself from political discourse. Her answers regarding her political views are always intentionally vague and redirected. Her concerns are more related to the role of arts within a community and to her own artistry and creative process. T

This does not mean that her music lacks a feminist voice. Rather, it is precisely in this different approach to feminine subjectivities that Mochan shapes her own agenda. For her, musical embodiment happens as a function of the cultural practices involved in her life. Therefore, her musical discourse reflects the cultural context where it is produced. Mochan’s music sails across several music styles and traditions including jazz, pop, and vernacular elements. This can be interpreted as h attempt to build a musical language capable of echoing such allusions but within her own personal voice. Through decoding her music, I drew attention to the subtleties of her emotional and subjective framework, and the ways such expressiveness work among audience and this performer. My interpretative strategies explored the gender potential and scope of Mochan’s musical language. Exploring her invocation of emotion enabled an interpretation that finds feminine identity within vocals and musical settings. The articulation of culture within her music happens within a unified musical narrative. The repetitive atmosphere in the loops, timbres, and sound layers provides references that connected the different identities portrayed by Mochan’. Her artistry

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Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 mirrors a unique authorship built from the elements of her own story, a story that reveals a gendered voice and a carefully constructed feminine character.

Although each case study identifies a distinctive set of different meanings related to each artist’s individual aesthetic vision, there is a cultural and aesthetic connection between each. Each of my case studies linked her own agenda to the search for a particular sound and the value of musical authorship. The concepts and representations resulting from my analysis are particularly relevant when discussing the different ‘enactments’ of the feminine through vocal delivery, music composition, lyricism, and performance practices. While it is true that each of their musical performances can be subjected to re-interpretations, an aesthetic conception capable of mediating this uncertainty can be located in the manipulations of vernacular sound conveyed by each artist. It is in this intentional removal of the vernacular from its patriarchal roots that reveals an aesthetical connection between their feminine identities and musical practices. Such strategies challenge the means by which the feminine is represented in Mexican popular culture.

The imagery provided by each musical identity challenges dominant (male) cultural imaginary. The queer persona incarnated in Vargas, the ‘rock diva’ characterized by Bulbo, and the organic spirituality found in Mochan, represent diverse elements that challenge old conventions and reveal symbolic change. The

‘insubordinate’ elements found in each of these songs express an ‘otherness’ that opens up further inquiries. As a listener and research I found it necessary to conceive music by establishing a fluid dialogue between the ‘active’ and the ‘passive.’ Female

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Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016 subjectivities resist their passive places by providing means to challenge and re-write culture.116

116 Esther Zaplana Rodriguez, “Voice, Body and Performance in Tori Amos, Björk and Diamanda Galas: Towards a Theory of Feminine Vocal Performance” (PhD diss., University of Newcastle, 2009), 287. 90

Texas Tech University, Marusia Pola Mayorga, August, 2016

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