Growing up in the border town of Tijuana, Mexico, Julieta Venegas found herself living amid two realities. Like many Mexican border cities, the city’s landscape exists in the shadow of the USA with streets filled with vendors and commerce dominated by maquiladoras, foreign-owned factories built in Mexican border cities to exploit cheap labor. Though she speaks perfect English, thanks to TV programming from San Diego only twelve miles away, Venegas chooses to only sing in Spanish as all of the life experiences that have been meaningful to her exist in Spanish. She has become a prominent female figure in Rock en Español, maintaining artistic control over her music. Maintaining an informal tradition of presenting strong women’s voices from the Latin Alternative scene, the JPMorgan Chase Latino Cultural Festival at the Queens Theatre in the Park will present Venegas on July 29, 2004 at 8:00 p.m.
While in High School, Venegas honed her chops performing with the local ska and reggae influenced band Chantaje, which led her to the band Tijuana No! At 22, Venegas moved to the cultural mecca of Mexico—Mexico City—where she picked up her signature instrument, the accordion. There she met up with Fratta and Café Tacuba with whom she worked on her first CD, “Aquí” in 1997.
Venegas exposed her music to the world on the soundtrack of Alejandro Gonzales Iñárrito’s debut film “Amores Perros.” The film—which was an award winner at the Cannes Film Festival in 2000—helped to change preconceived stereotypes of Mexican culture all over the world. It depicted the changing face of Mexico by presenting the everyday issues of Venegas’ generation living in urban areas of Mexico.
Although signed to a major record label, BMG, Julieta balances the paradoxical combination of social activism and a corporate record label. She maintains control of her production and lyrics. Previously known for her edgy accordion Latin Alternative rocker status, her third album, “Sí,” released in November of 2003, takes Venegas in a new direction crowning her as a pop queen.
“For me, it expresses a whole different moment as a writer and as a singer,” says Venegas. “I wanted to explore different emotions to those I had already shown in many of my songs. It is a happy record and I think it reflects mature songwriting and arrangements; the result is a more humble and emotional album.”
In the male dominated industry of Rock en Español, Venegas is considered a cultural icon paving the way for women through her success as a singer and songwriter. She is often asked to perform at significant Latin American events such as “El Sueño Existe,” a concert in honor of the 30th anniversary of the assassination of Chilean president Salvador Allende, the only elected Latin American communist ruler. She has also made appearances at “Arezzo Wave,” an important alternative music festival in Italy and the “Revolución” tour” alongside Jaguares, Jumbo, Las Gusana Ciegala, and Lisa Flores.
This is Venegas’ first year performing at the JPMorgan Chase Latino Cultural Festival. Her appearance is consistent with the festival’s tradition of showcasing powerful female musicians. Past women Rock en Español performers have included Mexico’s Ely Guerra (with whom Venegas appeared on the cover of Time magazine) and Argentina’s Coral. The Festival’s other performers range from contemporary Mexican dance, to folkloric music and dance from Colombia and fusion tango. This year also features a night of sensational Latina singers on August 3 featuring the Afro-Peruvian “Queen of Landó” Eva Ayllón, Colmbian vocalist Lucia Pulido, and Mexican/American singer Lila Downs.
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