In this way, the members of the community get away from the idea of being a ‘fan’ or a ‘soldier’ of the band, and embrace the idea of being part of a collective and having a responsibility of representing the deeper, political message that is related to the band.Īnd how do you see your role, politically, as the leader of this band and as an important figure for this community? And it is a younger generation that is connecting with these topics. Our song “De Política, Amor y Revolución” (Of Politics, Love and Revolution), for example is the story of a Chilean political activist that was disappeared during Pinochet’s dictatorship. I could see that many of the new people that were getting into the hinchada would see the political messages in our lyrics and got interested in learning more about history and politics. Instead of telling them who to vote for, I would explain the differences between the candidates. And they would ask me who should they vote for. For the last presidential election, I was very involved in campaigning for one of the candidates. I usually tell them “you are more than a hinchada”, you are a collective, you could have your own internal organization and debates about topics that go beyond music. How do you see that this affects their own identity as more than a fanclub, as a more political community? After all there is someone who is leading the band, or writing and composing the songs, or producing the concerts, but there is a disposition from both sides to construct a more horizontal relationship. There is of course, some innate verticality to the relationship. We are concerned in Villa Cariño to avoid creating those kind of relationships. Yes, we aim to break that relation of exploitation that some artists have with their public.
So there is a more horizontal relationship that the usual between a band and their fan base? So they have a political view that goes beyond musical affinity. We immediately agreed and declined to participate in the festival. The hinchada approached us to tell us that they thought it was inappropriate to be part of this party, in the midst of brutal aggression by the police to the people and active violation of human rights by the government. It was free, but the organizers would make money by selling food and drinks inside. We have also had very rich conversations about the different views regarding the situation in Venezuela or other contingent political topics for us.Īnother example: we were recently invited to play in a festival that was organized to celebrate the social uprising, celebrating that “Chile had woken up”. And nowadays, in the context of the social movement, they have organized their own public groups of discussion to think about the writing of the new constitution. And beyond that, they are totally aware of the political struggle behind this concert. In those concerts, the hinchada manufactures special flags and banners with political messages such as “Truth and Justice”, “Don’t forget nor forgive”, “Memory”, etc. And they are actively involved in that dimension as well.įor instance, we regularly play in the “Vivas Voces” festival, that is organized by Human Rights organizations. We are not only a cumbia band, we also try to spread a political message. They support us, but we support them as well. There is an explicit search for reciprocity in our relationship. We have always approached the folks of “Locura Villana” and other communities around the band to make them feel that they are not a fanclub or a hinchada, that they are an autonomous collective that accompanies the band, that has rights and power, and that the band has an obligation towards them. How is the relationship between the band and the hinchada?
Max Vivar, leader of the cumbia band Villa Cariño
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