La Plebe was an American punk rock band from

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Formed in early 2001, the band has been a consistent part of various music scenes ever since, marked notably by multiple tours of Mexico, Europe and

the Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

History

La Plebe was formed in early 2001 by childhood friends Guadalupe (Lupe) Bravo and José (Augie) Aguilera. The duo was joined by Mike Raytis (percussion), Alberto Cuéllar (trumpet), and Mark T. Harris (drums) and subsequently started playing shows around the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

. Raytis left at the end of 2001. Soon after, Alberto's brother Antonio joined to play valve trombone, thus rounding out the horn section, and solidifying the line-up for the next 2+ years. From early 2002 through mid-2004, La Plebe played 180+ shows throughout California, and into Mexico, playing

Tijuana Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
(US) and < ...

, Ensenada,

Tecate Tecate () is a city in Tecate Municipality, Baja California. It is across the Mexico-US border from Tecate, California. As of 2019, the city had a population of 108,860 inhabitants, while the metropolitan area has a population of 132,406 inha ...

, and

Mexicali Mexicali (; ) is the capital city of the Mexican state of Baja California. The city, seat of the Mexicali Municipality, has a population of 689,775, according to the 2010 census, while the Calexico–Mexicali metropolitan area is home to 1,000, ...

. They also twice ventured further south into central Mexico to play in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...

, along with many other smaller cities. In 2003 La Plebe released their first recording, '' Conquista 21'', A 6-song EP which included the popular "La Posta" as well as the cover "Vahos Del Ayer", by the late Argentina punk band

Flema Flema is an Argentine punk rock band, that managed to find a unique style in South America, among others. The last configuration of the band was: Ricky Espinosa (Vocals and Guitar), Fernando Rossi (Bass), Luis Garibaldo (Guitar), and Pepe Carvallo ...

. In 2004 they release a 4-song EP named '' Exploited People'', produced by

Faith No More Faith No More is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1979. Before settling on the current name in July 1983, the band performed under the names Sharp Young Men and later Faith No Man. Bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist/r ...

Billy Gould William David Gould (born April 24, 1963 in Los Angeles, California) is an American musician and producer. He is best known as the bassist of Faith No More. Biography Early years Billy said he is of Hungarian descent from his father's side. F ...

. Augie left the group in September 2004, and Adam (Pags) Paganini joined La Plebe in October 2004. The band started writing all new material. Their first official show back was in March 2005 at La Peña Cultural Center in

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

, California, after which the band got back to playing shows as much as possible, including more tours of central Mexico, multiple ventures into The Balkans (since 2006), along with a couple tours of Western Europe (since 2008). At their first ever show in London in 2008, they were joined on stage by

The Clash The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the wa ...

's Mick Jones to sing the song "

Guns Of Brixton A gun is a ranged weapon designed to use a shooting tube (gun barrel) to launch projectiles. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns/cannons, spray guns for painting or pressure washing, ...

". Notably, in their 10 year history, La Plebe has played in 17 (non-U.S.) countries in total, but in only 6 U.S. states. In July 2005, they released the 8-song EP '' Entre Cerveza, Ritmo, y Emoción...'', again produced by Billy Gould but this time engineered by

Jamie McMann Jamie McMann (born July 20, 1976) is an American record producer, mixer, and audio engineer, currently based in Rochester, New York, United States. Biography Jamie McMann has produced recordings spanning multiple genres of music professionally ...

. Songs included "Que Barbaridad", "Enfadada", and "Hijo Mio", as well as a cover of the

Ewan MacColl James Henry Miller (25 January 1915 – 22 October 1989), better known by his stage name Ewan MacColl, was a folk singer-songwriter, folk song collector, labour activist and actor. Born in England to Scottish parents, he is known as one of the ...

song "Dirty Old Town" (known best as done by

The Pogues The Pogues were an English or Anglo-Irish Celtic punk band fronted by Shane MacGowan and others, founded in Kings Cross, London in 1982, as "Pogue Mahone" – the anglicisation of the Irish Gaelic ''póg mo thóin'', meaning "kiss my arse". T ...

). 2007 saw the release of their first full-length album '' ¡Hasta La Muerte!''. Again produced by Billy Gould and engineered/ mixed by

, the album was released on Red Scare Records in the U.S., and on Gould's own record label

Koolarrow Records Koolarrow Records is an independent record label based in San Francisco, set up by Faith No More's bass guitarist Billy Gould. Current artists * 7notas, 7colores * Alexander Hacke * Brujeria * Como Asesinar a Felipes * Don Cikuta * Durefor ...

in Europe. The album contains show favorites "Mi Tierra", "Pinches Fronteras", "Plebe Por Vida", as well as the band's version of the

Louis Jordan Louis Thomas Jordan (July 8, 1908 – February 4, 1975) was an American saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and bandleader who was popular from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as " the King of the Jukebox", he earned his high ...

song "Run Joe". On July 27, 2010, La Plebe was voted ''"Best Poder to the People"'', an editors' award in the

San Francisco Bay Guardian The ''San Francisco Bay Guardian'' was a free alternative newspaper published weekly in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1966 by Bruce B. Brugmann and his wife, Jean Dibble. The paper was shut down on October 14, 2014. It was relaun ...

's Best of the Bay issue. The band released their most recent full-length recording ''

Brazo En Brazo The Brazo () missile was an American project of the 1970s, intended to produce an anti-radiation missile for air-to-air use. Developed by Hughes Aircraft and based on the AIM-7 Sparrow air-to-air missile, the Brazo underwent a series of succes ...

'' on November 9, 2010 through Koolarrow Records. This was the first time that the band released a recording on vinyl. In 2013 they released a shaped 7"

picture disc Picture discs are gramophone (phonograph) records that show images on their playing surface, rather than being of plain black or colored vinyl. Collectors traditionally reserve the term picture disc for records with graphics that extend at lea ...

Pirates Press Records Pirates Press Records is a punk rock record label founded in 2005. The label is based in the San Francisco Bay Area, with its headquarters located in Emeryville, California. The label releases music representing a variety of punk rock subgenres, ...

entitled '' Been Drinkin' Again''. The record is in the shape of a Mexican

lotería ''Lotería'' (Spanish word meaning "lottery") is a traditional game of chance, similar to bingo, but using images on a deck of cards instead of numbered ping pong balls. Every image has a name and an assigned number, but the number is usually ...

card (artwork by Johnny "Peebucks" Bonnel of

Swingin' Utters Swingin' Utters (often typeset as $wingin' Utter$, and originally called Johnny Peebucks and the Swingin' Utters) is a Californian punk rock band that formed in the late 1980s.Bush, JohnSwingin' Utters Biography, Allmusic, retrieved September 30, ...

; colorized by Josue Rojas). The record also comes packaged with a full lotería set. In April 2013, La Plebe collaborated with Bosnian band

Dubioza Kolektiv Dubioza kolektiv (also known simply as Dubioza) is a Bosnian avant-garde dub rock group known for their crossover style that incorporates elements of hip hop, dub, ska, reggae, rock, punk, electronic music, and Balkan music, and for their soci ...

on the song "'' 99%''," which appeared on Dubioza's album '' Apsurdistan''. The band played their final show on October 15, 2016.

Musical style

La Plebe describes their music as "''bilingual punk with horns 'n vomit...''" alluding to their early days where members sometimes vomited on stage due to overexertion. Their high energy music is based in early punk rock and hardcore, mostly played fast, with melodic overlays from the trumpet and trombone. They consider themselves a punk band, though often mis-categorized as

ska Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...

due to the presence of the horns. Song subjects are usually politically or socially motivated, covering topics ranging from class struggle, border issues, immigration, unity, vice, oppression, and more. Pags and Lupe share lead vocal duties. Their lyrics were initially written 50/50 English to Spanish, but more recently have leaned more to Spanish.

Current lineup

* Guadalupe (Lupe) Bravo — bass and vocals (2001–present) * Adam (Pags) Paganini — guitar and vocals (2004–present) * Alberto Cuéllar — trumpet (2001–present) * Antonio Cuéllar — valve trombone (2001–present) * Mark T. Harris — drums (2001–present)

Past members

*Jose "Augie" Aguilera — guitar and vocals (2001–2004) *Mike Raytis — percussion (2001)

Discography

* ''Conquista 21'' (self-release, 2003) * ''Exploited People'' (self-release, 2004) * ''Entre Cerveza, Ritmo, y Emoción...'' (self-release, 2005 / Re-released on

, 2009) * ''¡Hasta La Muerte!'' (

Red Scare Industries Red Scare Industries (sometimes referred to as Red Scare Records) is a punk rock record label. The label was started in San Francisco (but moved to Chicago) by former Fat Wreck Chords employee Toby Jeg. Jeg started the label in 2004 when his fr ...

, 2007) * ''Brazo En Brazo'' (

, 2010) * ''Been Drinkin' Again'' (7" picture disc on

, 2013)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Plebe Musical groups from San Francisco Punk rock groups from California Anarcho-punk groups Rock en Español music groups