Studio helps grow local music scene

BY MARIA GALLUCCI
The News
Sept. 4, 2009

For many up-and-coming bands in Mexico, taking that first step onto the local music scene can be tricky. Recording tracks, producing sounds and piecing together press kits is costly, and if bands aren't selling discs yet, then how do they pay for all that?

En Petit Comite has asked itself that same question.

For over a year, the Mexico City project has been offering local bands a one-day free pass to its Jamaica studio in Colonia Roma, giving musicians the chance to record songs, shoot videos and snap photos at a professional level, in exchange for legal rights to the finished project.

The results are then uploaded to the project's MySpace page - like the music and photos up now by Los Kitsch - giving groups full exposure to around 15,000 monthly visitors during their one month run.

"This is like a tool to discover and expose new talent and bands," said producer Santiago González from inside the studio's laid-back apartment headquarters.

"It's a very slow [process] for a band to equip themselves with good material that they can present and use to start moving around. It's worth it to try and help these people, because to have great material can help the music scene flow, put out more proposals and create better music," he said.

Video producer Paco Cano said the project's name "En Petit Comite," a French phrase for "small group," reflects the vibe of the day-long sessions.

"With more people, you'll break any kind of intimacy," he said at the studio. "So what we try to do is have a super-reduced team, with three people recording, two cameramen and a photographer."

The idea initially arose in April last year, after the Jamaica production team invited the Mexican rock band Simplifires to record an acoustic session in the studio.

The producers soon approached the MySpace staff about creating a virtual concert hall, and, after wrapping up a session with psychedelic rockers Sour Soul, the En Petit Comite project officially went online that May.

Since then, the project has hosted the once-ímonth recording sessions with artists and bands like Torre Blanca, Los Telecaster, Dirty Karma, Tropikal Forever and Felipe y los Principes del Amor, among many others.

At the studio, a typical project day starts around 10 a.m., with bands loading instruments and equipment into the studio.

The rest of the afternoon strikes a casual balance between jamming and recording tracks, taking a cigarette break on the rooftop patio, grabbing lunch in the cozy kitchen, having a beer in the living room and heading back to the sound-proofed room to work some more.

If creativity is really flowing, Cano said, sometimes sessions can run until two o'clock in the morning, creating a "divine magic" of inspiration.

Once the music, videos and photographs have been captured and materials posted online, En Petit Comite holds the exclusive copyrights for the first month following the studio visit. After that 30-day period, the project and the bands will then share the rights.

While En Petit Comite doesn't poise itself as a public relations team, the project will help bands by hosting weekend showcases, presenting the latest bands to play to the public.

González said oftentimes bands refer their friends to the project or return themselves to record again, this time working with the in-house Tamarindo record label to produce a more complete album.

"On the other hand, we also just want to help develop talent, and if another company or record label takes them, it's great," he said. "The cool thing is that now the scene is flowing so that there can continue to be a market for all these things."

"There's a lot of talent here in the city. Bands are reviving the scene that for several years was practically dead. There are a lot of people with a lot of desire."

Visit En Petit Comite at www.my space.com/enpetitcomite