Fernando Aceves went from one stage to another for twelve years. What began as an adolescent concern for finding his own vision of music, and which took him on weekends to search for these images at music and dance fora, became transformed over time with inertia, emotion, pleasure and enjoyment in his profession, in a way of life.
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Lino Nava, México, D.F. 1998
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"I got into it", he summarizes, and then I didn’t have to pursue it. Aceves had become a figure of figures, especially from the boom times of massive concerts in Mexico from 1991 on.
And there he was, with Billy Joel during Carlos Santana’s first concert in Mexico in front of the IMSS, but the final apprenticeship came through the cream of the crop of rock —the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, people who are photographed all the time and for good reasons. But, in spite of this, these famous people hired him, they wanted him on stage, on the back side of their record covers, like The Scorpions’ recording.
He spent eight years on stage and another five traveling to the United States, Canada, and England. There were tours inside and outside Mexico, but, above all, the force of rock and roll. He spent years under poor lighting conditions, at unforeseen events, surprises on stage. By the time all of this was under control, Aceves was tired.
"Tired of feeling that my work was going nowhere, that it had reached a level of incompetence, as though it had a lid on it", Aceves clarifies.
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Roco , México, D.F. 1999
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From his questioning a new idea came about that opened up the possibility of doing something different without leaving what he loved best: music. Today, after a year and a half of independent work, with no fellowships or economic support, without looking for the sponsors that so many wait for to carry out a personal project, the idea took shape in the form of a book Retratos del Rock Mexicano, Ilusiones y Destellos (Portraits of Mexican Rock, Illusions and Flashes).
It is about pictorial images of the main rock stars in Mexico, from those who began with the Teen Tops or the Rebeldes del Ritmo, all the way up to the present with groups that are famous today, such as Café Tacuba, La Maldita Vecindad and Control Machete.
Altogether there are some 120 musicians that have represented a way of life for youth, an attitude in the face of life. At the same time we have to situate ourselves at the end of a millenium and just a step away from another century.
"We tried to find those people who were active in Mexico and who, without exception, have been exposed over a long period of time to audiences but later on are not well remembered", he points out.
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Piro , México, D.F. 1998
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This work was carried out as a feature story with no lighting and no studio, no production, as a way of becoming involved in daily life —a fresh snapshot.
"And it’s because I felt that nothing had been done in Spanish America to document this genre with its top representatives —not through photographs from the archives, but with up-to-date ones."
With more than a decade on stage, Aceves developed a sixth sense —that of a photojournalist— which in turn allowed him to wait for the proper moment —during a concert, for example, an instant that allows you to have at least the basic lighting conditions.
"I had to take that instinct on location, wait for the right time for the profile, a certain type of communication, wait for the right type of reaction when the atmosphere was more relaxed —it’s a matter of patience."
The list is an arbitrary one. It was like putting a puzzle together. The pieces come from investigating, from his own memories, or from musical authorities from different eras, or from the musicians themselves.
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Fernando (Fher) Olivera,
Guadalajara, Jalisco, 1999
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"I listened to some when I was a child, second hand, because I hadn’t even been born", he states. "I loved Jailhouse Rock but at that time I didn’t know who they were, who was playing, but they were auditive icons."
I not only had to decide who would be in the book, but also had to locate them. That meant an enormous piece of investigation.
"Those who were active during the seventies in Mexico City went back to their places of origin because the authorities weren’t at all open after Avándaro, or they voluntarily sought refuge in funky holes in the wall."
Others are still active, mostly in bars, and they include marginal groups, like the El Haragán, who are never heard over the radio but who bring together an impressive number of followers wherever they play.
I also had to dig around in Guadalajara, the cradle of rock in Mexico, as today perhaps would be the avant-garde and the marvelous groups of the golden days, such as La Revolución de Emiliano Zapata, Toncho Pilatos, La Fachada de Piedra, 39.4, Kenny y los Eléctricos, or Maná itself, originally known as Sombrero Verde.
"The selection criterion was not necessarily merit per se", he mentions in passing. "I would say that it was all those people who have devoted their lives to this —not everybody who was somebody is included, but everybody who is included was somebody."
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Sergio Arau, Los Angeles California, 1998
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These were 18 intense months of travel and searching, of using all free time, without neglecting what one has to do to earn a living. Five, six, seven people per week —sometimes none.
Today, these four decades of rock are imprinted forever in the up-to-date portraits of the top stars included in the book published by Plaza y Janés and presented during the Feria del Libro (Book Fair) in Guadalajara.
Aceves had to do something with rock and he did. He has now undertaken a similar project with the music he feels closest to: jazz.
