Posted: by The Alt Editing Staff
Photo by Melisa Lunar
“Once you overcome the one-inch tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films,” said Korean director Bong Joon Ho while accepting a Golden Globe for his movie Parasite. While his logic guided my experience watching CDMX-based Diles Que No Me Matan at Brooklyn’s Public Records, live music doesn’t have subtitles. The language barrier positioned me as an outsider whose experience was largely influenced by the audience’s behavior.
The quintet, composed of Jonás Dérbez, brothers Raúl and Gerardo Ponce, Jerónimo Elizondo-García, and Andrés Lupone, transcended language through a communal, body-moving experience – one which deeply resonated for members of the Latin American diaspora. A lot of it went over my head, but everyone understood live music as a space to communicate and combat isolation. Direct influence from jazz and krautrock rendered it impossible to keep still. Good music makes you move, clap, and wonder how you’re going to relay the moment to your friends.
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Giliann Karon
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