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Borders Collapse breaks the sound barrier

By Drew Wakefield

February 27, 2006

San Diego--What happens when Mexican and American musicians blast electronic music in an Eastern European-themed bar in North Park? The only thing that can happen: Borders Collapse.

Every month Kadan Club hosts a bi-cultural sonic explosion called Borders Collapse, which is an occasion to “free the border,” says co-founder El Poeta (a.k.a. Angelo Gastelum).

It features bands and laptop deejays blending Latin rhythms and strange noises with jazz, rock, hip hop and techno-like electronic pulses. And the end result of this hybrid Mexican-American music is more delicious than a caramel apple empanada from Taco Bell.

“The point of it,” Angelo says, “is to bring Mexican music to the U.S.”

Wero, deejay and co-founder of Borders Collapse, says that Tijuana is misperceived by San Diegans. There remains a stigma of violence and lawlessness attached to the city that is exaggerated by the media, leaving many Americans reluctant to embrace it. Because “San Diego is so protective of its beauty,” as Wero puts it, it will not accept that Tijuana shares its culture.  Borders Collapse may help to change this.

When I walked into Kadan Club, though, it appeared to be an unlikely environment for such an event. Along the wooden bar sat a row of people who clearly did not need identification to buy a drink, and on a black leather couch in the back sat an old man who was either unconscious or asleep. Next to him were several chessboards and the walls were plastered with medieval weapons. All the while the latest alternative rock hits poured out of wall-mounted speakers.

I sat at the bar, ordered a drink and waited for El Poeta to show up. When he finally walked in with a motley group of hipsters and musicians, the lackluster atmosphere transformed in a matter of minutes. The bartender killed the bright lights around the bar as The Trebles, hailing from Mexico, began their set.

Amid the growing din and steady stream of people passing through the door, I had a beer with Angelo and discovered just how vital music is to his life.

When asked if he had ever had sex to his own music, I expected him to laugh and curtail answering such an off-the-wall question. I mean, the guy just met me ten minutes ago and here I was inquiring about his coital habits.

Instead he fired back with an emphatic, “Fuck yeah, I recorded having sex with my girlfriend and put it on my album. Track number six.”

He then explained that an underlying drive behind his music is “to make bitches dance and make nipples hard.” Is there any doubt why he’s called El Poeta?

But there’s more to his sound than just ass-shaking grooves. For Angelo, who recently moved from San Diego to Tijuana, it is a release of emotions. “Tijuana boils you down to the core,” he states.

Waiting in line to cross the border on a daily basis is just one of the frustrations he faces living in Tijuana. At home, though, Angelo can vent his agitation, not with words, but with a peculiar mix of electronic beats and sounds.

Although life in Tijuana may wear on him, it also inspires and amazes him. “We are in the midst of a major growth spurt as TJ kicks and screams itself into modernization. It’s quite a sight.”

“So far,” he says, “I’ve accomplished more [in Tijuana] musically than in the several years on the other side.”

Besides day-to-day life, Angelo draws musical ideas from other sources as well…sticky green sources. Unabashedly he tells me that he is no stranger to pot, but he never sets out to make “a stoner track.” Rather, it helps him to reach a point in composing songs on his laptop where there is “no space between you and the machine.”

I ask if smoking weed fits him because he is a musician. He agrees, saying, “If your job is to put someone under the scalpel or drop bombs on people, you shouldn’t do drugs. It depends on who you are.”

Who you are, it seems, depends on where you’re from. As an artist in the blooming border culture, El Poeta is a musical ambassador to the U.S. Wero sees it in much the same way.

Americans view Mexican music as “broken music,” says Wero. But if you really listen to what’s going on in the border culture, you’ll find that Mexican music is modern and refreshing, not outdated and kitschy.

That’s why Wero believes it is important to open up a cultural dialogue between Tijuana and San Diego with events like Borders Collapse. “We are not far from each other, just separated.”

As a lifelong resident of Tijuana, Wero has been influenced by Mexican and American music alike. He remembers how San Diego’s 91X brought artists like Oingo Boingo, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Nirvana to his attention as a teenager, and how bands such as these would play at Tijuana clubs like Iguana’s. Perhaps in response to this American importation of music, Wero started his own Internet radio station to export Tijuana’s music all over the world.

Radio Global began three years ago “as a hobby and a joke,” says Wero. He did it simply for the love of music. Since that time it has grown into a credible source for border culture sounds with listeners in countries like Germany and Argentina. Recently he offered El Poeta a job hosting a weekly program called “Like Leaves on a Tree.”

El Poeta and Wero perform at Borders Collapse every fourth Saturday of the month, and El Poeta has released one album entitled “Musically Speaking.” A second album is in the works. For more information on El Poeta and Borders Collapse go to www.elpoeta.org or www.myspace.com/elpoeta. For more on Wero see www.radioglobal.org.

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