The spirits of nature make an appearance, four masked musicians merge through a showy paraphernalia with their guardian animal, and through compositions that range from rock, grunge, metal, folk and ethno, they present to the public a fusion proposal of the original Chiapas worldview with contemporary music.
To close the Multilingual DIN program. Indigenous contemporary music cycle, performed for the second time on Chopo University Museum, was presented at the Dinosaur Forum Vayijel ("Animal Guardian Spirit"), a band from San Juan Chamula, Chiapas. The audience, which almost filled the forum, attended a recital in which, perhaps for the first time, they heard the Tzotzil or Tsotsil language, typical of the regular members of the ensemble: Óscar López, voice and guitar, Hugo Lópezlead guitarist David, bearish and Xun Gomez, battery.
Vayijel he performed the songs from his first record material, "Vayijel"although it opened with "J'ilol", theme released earlier this year. "Vaichil", an interesting piece about fictional worlds, "Pukuj", "Jvalopat ok", an exciting piece about the fear of the Tzotziles to nature, specifically when it comes to imitating her and she travels through the wind to devour those who dare to imitate her voice. Bolomchon, perhaps his flagship song, which fuses traditional sounds with melodic rock and that according to Óscar, the vocalist, represents his people and state. And of course the extraordinary "Kux kux", which delves into the depths of the cosmology of the members of Vayijel.
The concert of Vayijel It is revealing not only because of the intrinsic value of the band's musical proposal, but also because it means a positive confrontation of the common spectator, accustomed to Spanish and English, with the mother tongue in which the group interprets their songs. Indeed, Vayijel on the stage it shows the lack of normality of the native languages in Mexico, that is, their general ignorance. It is very evident how disconcerting tzotzil may sound to the public, accustomed, especially psychologically, to the fact that rock is sung, primarily in English, and then in whatever it is.
Definitely Vayijel it will have to go through an evolution, it will be necessary to improve the vocal performance, as well as the stage presence of the band, however, the basic elements are already there to continue their rapid rise: the group's commitment to their project, and the lyrics of the songs, which revolve around elements of the cosmovision and idiosyncrasy of its people, thus opening a very important cultural window for listeners, who through familiar sounds, enter a fascinating universe, specifically fauna as well as its profound relationship with their land.
The above gives the possibility to Vayijel to create a fandom that develops their own and original gestural and verbal language that excites both indigenous and mestizos to shout, sing and surrender to the band in Tzotzil, just like any other band and its legion of followers in the languages of your choice.
In this time when there is a lot of music dedicated exclusively to immediate gratification, it is relevant that Vayijel suggests to the listener that he make an extra effort of investigation and support for his reason for being: "We sing in Tzotzil, which is our mother tongue, to strengthen the identity of young people, so that our language is not lost, to give strength to who we are, our culture".
It should be extended to the Museo del Chopo, especially its director, José Luis Paredes Pacho, for the success and quality of the Estruendos Multilingües cycle and we hope that it will become a great tradition of the museum under his charge.