La Nueva Ola De Cumbia | Location: Garfias Records, Santa Ana, CA | Photography by Helen Olena Fedas / Helen Mood Photography For RYM Magazine
Interview by Gustavo Martir, M.A. | Written by Victorio Gomez
“Ah, you know, music in general always goes sort of like in a cyclic manner, you know?” explains La Nueva Ola De Cumbia frontman Primitivo Rios, wearing a vibrant Lucha Libre mask as he reflects on the massive, modern resurgence of traditional Latin music.
“Ah, music in general always goes sort of in a cyclic manner, you know?” explains frontman Primitivo Rios, wearing a vibrant Lucha Libre mask as he reflects on the massive, modern resurgence of traditional Latin music. “Like, trends and tendencies usually come back around. And I think it was just a matter of time for Cumbia to really make its jump into the global audience’s taste. And now we have Cumbia happening all over the world, from Mexico to Japan, Peru, Colombia, Australia… everywhere there is Cumbia. So, I think it’s the right time to Cumbia-lize the world.”
For a band whose members represent a massive tapestry of geographic origins, their base of operations in Los Angeles serves as the ultimate breeding ground for an entirely new sonic movement.
For a band whose members represent a massive tapestry of geographic origins, their base of operations in Los Angeles serves as the ultimate breeding ground for an entirely new sonic movement. The collective features a lineup as eclectic as their sound: Chelindion representing Colombia, Lucio Sucio hailing from Guadalajara, Tacho tu Muchacho el Gabacho bringing a United States perspective, Primitivo Rios anchoring the roots of Mexico City, and the mysterious Hipólito, who the band jokes “comes from the stars.”
Fusing these backgrounds requires a delicate, often chaotic balancing act between honoring centuries of heritage and scratching a deep counterculture itch. This tension is exactly how the band carved out their signature style—reimagining massive alternative hit tracks from iconic bands like My Chemical Romance and Linkin Park through a traditional tropical lens.
“Well, I think we like music from different genres,” says Chelindion, laughing as she recalls her own roots. “For example, for myself, I like rock music, and I was into emo music a lot. So, that’s why we try to, you know, work towards that and create a new genre, but keeping the base of Cumbia.” It is a risky creative pivot that
could easily alienate traditionalists, a reality that Rios balances with a healthy dose of punk-rock defiance. “Yeah, because we don’t want to get crucified by the Cumbia fans, but at the same time, I want to do whatever I want to do! Stop telling me what to do!”
That creative chemistry isn’t born in a clinical boardroom; it is forged through the raw, unfiltered realities of touring and living together. “I mean, we spend an extensive amount of time together in very uncomfortable and awkward situations, with everybody complaining to each other at some point, and then everybody loving each other, actually, at another,” Rios admits.
“So, it’s this love and hate relationship that we have with each other that makes us do the Cumbia that we do. And also taking the influences from the Colombian Cumbia, and the emo part of her soul, and Tacho tu Muchacho el Gabacho keeps on wanting to do Eagles or Van Halen, which is not going to happen! But we keep on telling him that it will. Here Lucio loves the punchis-punchis, and the techno, and all of that.”.
Beyond the genre-bending audio, the visual identity of La Nueva Ola de Cumbia operates as a massive, deliberate marketing tool rooted in great cultural pride. Their Lucha Libre masks serve a dual purpose: they instantly capture the visual-heavy algorithmic attention of Gen Z on social media platforms, while paying a direct homage to their roots.
“I think we just sort of live in a global culture now,” Rios notes, tracking how the internet has democratized independent music. “Like, social media and technology have brought us all together. And for us, we’re always very proud of our heritage, of where we’re from. The look of the band is actually an homage to a big part of Mexican culture, which is Lucha Libre, you know? So do that with a lot of pride.
At the same time, I feel like it’s a great experience, a great honor for us to be able to share that culture with people who are not familiar with it. And that’s why I think the part where we absorb and Cumbia-lize songs, like Linkin Park or My Chemical Romance, makes people who are not familiar with Cumbia… appreciate it. And, a fin de cuentas, if you make people dance, it doesn’t matter if they’re from wherever they are, whatever background they come from… dance is dance. La sabrosura es la sabrosura, papá, criatura. Pa’ tu cintura.”
When pressed on how to translate that concept for their growing English-speaking industry audience, the band hits a comical roadblock. “No, there’s no translation for sabrosura. Tasty-ness?” puzzles Lucio Sucio. Rios instantly doubles down: “No, no, there’s no language translation. Sabrosura is sabrosura in any language.”
That untranslatable energy is exactly what audiences experience during their high-octane live sets. For La Nueva Ola de Cumbia, a performance is a form of collective escapism. “You can expect an explosion of sabrosura, sabrosura. Learn that word, in any language!” Lucio Sucio promises. “Explosion of just energy, good vibes. If it’s a 45-minute show, it’s 45 minutes that you’re going to forget all your problems, about your exes, about your future…” Rios chimes in to add his own narrative spin: “So, I can sing songs about my ex. You will learn about my ex and why she took my charger! And it was the original one! So yeah, you can expect fun. Fun, fun, fun.” This eccentric blend of major-label polish and internet shitposting has clearly paid dividends. Since solidifying their current lineup three years ago, the group’s trajectory has skyrocketed, culminating in a major signing with Universal Music and a team to help scale their digital footprint. “Ah, mostly not to end up under the bridge,” Rios jokes regarding their long-term career benchmarks. “But, we really are happy with the fact that it has come together for us… the trajectory of the band and things have come together for us in a way that we couldn’t imagine. Now we have a lot of support from our label, Universal Music. And, little by little, we have a team now that helps us with social media, who have actually helped us establish a little bit of that. So, we just mostly feel grateful.”
That gratitude is fully realized on their latest ten-track studio album with Universal, a physical roadmap of their cross-border journeys into Mexico and their maturation as professional recording artists. The record boasts heavy, alternative collaborations, including tracks with accordion virtuoso La Courañeda, regional force Doble Pleito on the viral hit “Ricky Ran”, and a highly anticipated punk-rock crossover with Micky Huidobro.
“The record is really a collection, a description,” Rios explains. It’s kind of like how we were able to put in physical format what our whole journey was since signing with Universal. It’s also just about learning how to come into our own as artists. So, we’re very happy with the product in the end… The album has ten songs, and they’re all a collection in the way we are La Nueva Ola de Cumbia. So yeah, the main theme of the whole thing is Cumbia. You’re going to find tinges of rock, reggaeton, pop, or merengue… because we really try to bring our overall influences and all our desires into this music, but at the same time, we never forget where the root of it all comes from, which is Cumbia. And that’s why we try to make sure the spirit is in there.”
The record’s lead single, “Casada Con La Cumbia”, serves as the ultimate thesis statement for the band’s current era, complete with booming, traditional Banda Sinaloense horns and a cinematic music video on YouTube. “It’s good because she’s married to Cumbia,” Rios concludes with a signature smirk, ensuring the band’s trademark humor remains fully intact. “Stop asking if she’s got a boyfriend or she’s got a girlfriend. She’s married to Cumbia.”
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