Polymarchs
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| El Faraonico Polymarchs | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Polymarchs |
| Origin | Mexico City, Mexico |
| Genre(s) | Tribal, Hi-NRG, Techno, Reggaeton |
| Instrument(s) | Turntables |
| Years active | 1979 - present |
| Label(s) | Discos Musart, Scorpion Mexico |
| Website | [1] |
| Members | |
| Victor Estrella 1998 - present, Apolinar Silva de la Barrera 1979 - present | |
| Former members | |
| Tony Barrera 1981 - 1998, Jaime Ruelas 1979 - 1984 | |
Polymarchs is the name of a mobile DJ group based in Mexico City.
Contents |
[edit] Origin
At the end of the 1960s, the de Silva de la Barrera family had an idea. They wanted to start a mobile DJ system. The two primary creators, Apolinar and Maria, decided to combine their two names into one and called it Poly-marchs. They finally began their sound system in 1979; Apolinar Silva de La Barrera and Jaime Ruelas would be temporary DJs for a couple of years. Polymarchs performed many gigs in the vicinity of Mexico City, including the suburbs of Ecatepec, Naucalpan, Coacalco, and many others. Disco music was popular at the time and Polymarchs set up gigs so that teenagers could come and enjoy the latest music. As disco's popularity came to an end and hi-NRG music became more popular, Polymarchs switched to focus on hi-NRG style.
[edit] Growth in popularity
Polymarchs became well known in Mexico City by 1981 and by 1982, they had enough money to improve their equipment, including purchase of new "Technics" turntables favored by DJs. In 1983, Polymarchs became a pioneer in hi-NRG music by having hi-NRG legends like Patrick Cowley and Frank Loverde perform at their gigs. Polymarchs also started doing gigs in Puebla and Acapulco. That same year, Apolinar's brother Tony became the new DJ. Tony found his passion in Polymarchs and stayed with it for fifteen more years. Polymarchs continued to gain popularity and the gigs kept on coming. By 1984 a new mobile system called Patrick Miller showed up with technology never seen before in Latin America and with the latest music trends from Europe and the US. Despite all the efforts from the Silva de la Barrera family, they always came second in the preference of the people from then on.
[edit] Contract with Musart
Many Polymarchs fans loved hi-NRG music and wanted Tony to make mixed cassettes (there were no CDs at the time). One day the most popular label, Musart, approached Polymarchs to offer a recording contract. By 1984, Polymarchs had released their first mix album on vinyl and cassette, Polymarchs VOL. 1. The album included work by artists like Sylvester, Rofo, Paul Parker, Miquel Brown and Evelyn Thomas. It went platinum in 1985, and Polymarchs decided to follow with more albums. By 1985 they had released VOL. 2 and VOL. 3, and in 1986 they released 4, 5, and 6.
[edit] The mobile DJ phenomenon
Wanting to be like Polymarchs, several other people founded Mobile DJ sound systems; by 1986 there were more than 40 sound systems in Mexico City alone. Today there are more than 200 of these sound systems, but all vary in their styles of music. Most of the current sound systems focus on Techno or Cumbia.
[edit] Tapps' role in Polymarchs
The hi-NRG group Tapps performed a couple of concerts with Polymarchs in Mexico in the mid-'80s. Tony befriended the group's composer, Allan Coelho, and the two became good friends. In 1987, Tony worked with Coelho and with Hernani Raposo to compose several songs for the Mexican freestyle dance group Click. Afterwards, Tapps did another gig with Polymarchs in October of 1989 along with band Kinky Go. This time marked the master production for Polymarchs' Golden album. When hi-NRG music fell out of style, Polymarchs went Techno and so did Tony Barrera. He created an artist name, Tony B., and recorded a couple of songs with Coelho from 1991 to 1997.
[edit] Tragedy in 1998
In May 1998, Tony Barrera was found choked to death in a hotel room in southern Mexico City. The murderer was not found, but the motive was assumed to be a crime of homosexual passion. There had long been rumors that Tony B. was homosexual, which were completely true. After his death the Tony B. album was released on the Musart label. Deciding to continue on without Barrera, Polymarchs hired Victor Estrella, who had once been a DJ for a rival group called Winners.
[edit] Some successes in the New Millennium
Although Polymarchs regained its popularity and more gigs were held, the fans missed Tony and they knew that Polymarchs would never be the same as it was before. Polymarchs and Estrella decided to create a tribute concert for Tony at the Zocalo, and more than 20,000 people attended. The show was a success, but there were no more hi-NRG artist live gigs. So in 2003, commemorating the fifth anniversary of Tony's death, a special Tribute at Casa Popular was hosted and the hi-NRG legend Tapps returned from Canada. The event was 100% hi-NRG and the fans were glad. In the following year Polymarchs tried to get more hi-NRG artists to return to Mexico. Tapps returned, along with Yoh-Yo and Oh Romeo in a second hi-NRG event at Casa Popular. The second event was also successful. By the end of 2006 Polymarchs deceived their followers and the Mexican hi-NRG followers by promoting an event with Jessica Williams. Jessica never showed up and the people were charged for the event. The main purpose to do this was to discredit the efforts of bringing Fred Ventura to Mexico by their opponents "Albert One" that same day.
[edit] Today
DJ Victor Estrella has befriended tribal artists DJ Sobrino and DJ Vampiro, who have also released albums on the Musart label. In 2005, Estrella and Vampiro released "La Culebritica," a tribal/cumbia/electro track which premiered at the December 15 concert at the Zocalo (which more than 90,000 people attended that night). Techno, hi-NRG and Tribal sessions were played at this event. In 2006 the full EP was released on Musart, bringing renewed interest in Polymarchs and Victor Estrella's tracks. On December 31, 2006, Musart released Polymarchs Latino, full mix sessions which included tribal and reggaeton music.
