Back for a second straight year, the Mission District’s own Soltrón will perform at Acción Latina’s 35th Annual Encuentro del Canto Popular—this time as its headliner. With a year of performances under their belt, new band members and the release of their first album, the 12-piece ensemble is honored to lead the night.
From its inception, Soltrón has been a band with a vision to awaken the minds and souls of the community. Believing strongly that music is at its best when it’s used for political activism, the group strives to tackle issues such as class warfare and the consequences of gentrification, along with cultural resistance. The Encuentro del Canto Popular—an event devoted to celebrating community and amid the turmoil of the changing city—seems the perfect stage.
“Playing at Encuentro is feeling the embrace of the community and knowing the Mission is with us,” said Daniel Riera, the band’s flautist. More importantly, the group identifies with the revolutionary spirit of the night.
Manolo Davila, guitarist and vocalist, explains that the “music has the ability to pave the path to how Soltrón would like to see people living,” referring to the hope for a world without borders. For Soltrón, their art is a way to get people thinking about race and class.
Soltrón confirmed that the dual pronunciation of their name is due to the bilingual spirit of their work. The members’ bilingual roots are clearly visible in the pronunciation as well as in the meaning behind the group’s name. “Sol” in Spanish refers to light and positivity and at the same time in English, refers to “soul,” as in the heart and soul of the Mission. Meanwhile “tron” refers to modernization and the future. Inspired by the 1980s animated cartoon series, “Voltron,” where several trons combine to form a larger tron, the band’s album artwork features a tron made up of instruments and music equipment. It represents a hero fighting to resist changes in the Mission with the power of music.
Soltrón came together in 2014 after several members reconnected and committed to jamming on Tuesday evenings. Many of the members had known each other over the years and had overlapped at various jam sessions and local art events. The members of Soltrón are products of cultural and arts institutions of San Francisco, such as Loco Bloco, Latin Jazz Youth Ensemble and the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts. They feel the responsibility to keep traditions alive for the next generation, to preserve music and also move it forward by incorporating their own sound.
Soltrón’s sound is influenced by multiple music genres, ranging from Afro Cuban, Latin jazz, rumba, salsa and funk to rock, hip-hop and R&B. They continue to be inspired by the music of their childhood and present day.
Soltrón’s self-titled debut album was released this fall; its seven tracks communicate messages of resistance to change and gentrification along with celebrating and honoring the strength of the Latino community. Soltrón partnered with renowned producers and mixers on their album, including: Greg Landau, a Grammy-nominated producer based in Northern California and Carlos Alvarez, a Grammy-winning mixer based in South Florida.
Since their first show at the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts in January, 2015, Soltrón has performed at the Elbo Room, The New Parish, Yerba Buena Gardens Festival and elsewhere around the Bay Area. But Soltrón is a Mission-born group through and through, playing at Precita Park, eating at Taqueria Vallarta and formerly meeting in a space known for activism, affectionately called “thug mansion” by the Mission community.
The group recently published “The Awakening,” a comic book featuring all 12 members as superheroes. The comic book is set in San Francisco in the year 2060 where themes of politics, technology and music are addressed. The band didn’t want to settle for CDs, alluding to the fact that the medium is outdated. Instead they wanted to create an artifact on a tangible medium that fans could enjoy. Their comic book includes the music credits just a like a CD booklet.
Soltrón is now set to enter a new period of creativity. In fact they have been invited to create the official song for the 39th Carnaval San Francisco Festival and Grand Parade.
Soltrón performs at the 35th Annual Encuentro Del Canto Popular on Dec. 11 at The Chapel, 777 Valencia St., San Francisco. Tickets can be purchased at encuentro35.eventbrite.com