Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Corre Diablo taps into the Rage

"Maybe you guys should consider getting a white guy to sing lead for you."

Don't bother calling out for a Sublime cover at a Corre Diablo gig.
Don't bother calling out for a Sublime cover at a Corre Diablo gig.

While the San Diego/L.A. band artist migration usually goes south to north, for Xavier Delgado it was the other way around. He moved here two years ago from East L.A. to get his master’s in education from USD.

“I did my undergraduate work at UCLA, which was a lot bigger, more diverse. When I got [to USD] I remember thinking that this place was staggeringly Caucasian. I wear T-shirts and black jeans. Everyone [at USD] looked like they came straight from the beach. I stood out a bit.”

Last year the singer/songwriter/guitarist, who has been in bands since he was 15, launched Corre Diablo, a punk trio that’s been sonically compared to Jawbreaker but has the lefty leanings of Rage Against the Machine.

Sponsored
Sponsored

He notes the differences between cities. “I remember going out for drinks with some friends to a bar in P.B. This band played a Sublime song, followed by a 311 song, followed by a Red Hot Chili Peppers song. Then they went into another Sublime song…. I looked at my wife and said, ‘Where the hell are we?’

“Everything is a lot more lighthearted in San Diego. Even the names of bands. We played with this one band down here called Fishing for Chips. You just wouldn’t see that in L.A., not that it’s a bad or good name…. Maybe because the [music] industry is based there, everybody takes everything so seriously. I remember when my old band the Remedies got some notice, someone in the industry said, ‘Maybe you guys should consider getting a white guy to sing lead for you.’” Delgado was the Latino frontman.

“Needing to be white to be in a band was something I struggled with growing up.” He says except for maybe Rage Against the Machine, “The bands I looked up to didn’t have a lot of people with last names that ended in a vowel. Except maybe El Hefe from NOFX, who was more of a caricature, you just didn’t see many Latinos.”

Delgado is perplexed as to why, in this Trump era, there aren’t more national bands spitting truth-to-power as Rage Against the Machine did 20 years ago.

“That voice in music is not as present as it should be. I’m Latino and my wife is half-Iranian, half-Mexican. I felt I had to do something.”

While not all of Delgado’s songs are overtly political, “‘Mother Tongue’ is about people of Latino heritage who voted Republican. I wrote ‘Fears Reborn’ the day after Trump got elected, thinking I did not want to get out of bed.”

Corre Diablo (Spanish for “get out, devil,” also the name of a spiritual candle that dashes evil spirits) appears Friday, February 9, 8 p.m. with World War (L.A.) at Red Brontosaurus Records in North Park.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Everything You’ve Ever Wanted To Know About doTERRA

Don't bother calling out for a Sublime cover at a Corre Diablo gig.
Don't bother calling out for a Sublime cover at a Corre Diablo gig.

While the San Diego/L.A. band artist migration usually goes south to north, for Xavier Delgado it was the other way around. He moved here two years ago from East L.A. to get his master’s in education from USD.

“I did my undergraduate work at UCLA, which was a lot bigger, more diverse. When I got [to USD] I remember thinking that this place was staggeringly Caucasian. I wear T-shirts and black jeans. Everyone [at USD] looked like they came straight from the beach. I stood out a bit.”

Last year the singer/songwriter/guitarist, who has been in bands since he was 15, launched Corre Diablo, a punk trio that’s been sonically compared to Jawbreaker but has the lefty leanings of Rage Against the Machine.

Sponsored
Sponsored

He notes the differences between cities. “I remember going out for drinks with some friends to a bar in P.B. This band played a Sublime song, followed by a 311 song, followed by a Red Hot Chili Peppers song. Then they went into another Sublime song…. I looked at my wife and said, ‘Where the hell are we?’

“Everything is a lot more lighthearted in San Diego. Even the names of bands. We played with this one band down here called Fishing for Chips. You just wouldn’t see that in L.A., not that it’s a bad or good name…. Maybe because the [music] industry is based there, everybody takes everything so seriously. I remember when my old band the Remedies got some notice, someone in the industry said, ‘Maybe you guys should consider getting a white guy to sing lead for you.’” Delgado was the Latino frontman.

“Needing to be white to be in a band was something I struggled with growing up.” He says except for maybe Rage Against the Machine, “The bands I looked up to didn’t have a lot of people with last names that ended in a vowel. Except maybe El Hefe from NOFX, who was more of a caricature, you just didn’t see many Latinos.”

Delgado is perplexed as to why, in this Trump era, there aren’t more national bands spitting truth-to-power as Rage Against the Machine did 20 years ago.

“That voice in music is not as present as it should be. I’m Latino and my wife is half-Iranian, half-Mexican. I felt I had to do something.”

While not all of Delgado’s songs are overtly political, “‘Mother Tongue’ is about people of Latino heritage who voted Republican. I wrote ‘Fears Reborn’ the day after Trump got elected, thinking I did not want to get out of bed.”

Corre Diablo (Spanish for “get out, devil,” also the name of a spiritual candle that dashes evil spirits) appears Friday, February 9, 8 p.m. with World War (L.A.) at Red Brontosaurus Records in North Park.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

WAV College Church reminds kids that time is short

College is a formational time for decisions about belief
Next Article

Gonzo Report: Three nights of Mission Bayfest bring bliss

“This is a top-notch production.”
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader