Bandalos Chinos, the Argentine band led by Goyo Degano, has been making waves in the music scene for over a decade. Formed in 2009, they have become a staple in the indie scene, yet they still feel like a band on the rise. This conundrum is largely by design, as they prioritize building a story, a career, and a discography over exponential growth.
The band is currently on their Vandalos tour, which has taken them to new places such as Denmark, Bolivia, and the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. They recently kicked off the North American leg of their tour, and the fact that they’re talking about their international expansion a day after their first show in Mexico is not lost on them.
International Expansion
Mexico is where Bandalos Chinos learned to build a relationship with their fans, and it’s where they experienced fandom outside of Argentina. The band recalls doing soundchecks and having people bearing gifts at the door, which was a new experience for them. Mexican audiences were an international school of sorts, and it’s where they learned to expand their fan base.
The path toward expansion was also shaped by an underdog attitude that has followed Bandalos Chinos since their early days. They struggled to find an audience in the Argentine scene, and they were always carving out their own path from the sidelines. This stubbornness eventually led to their breakthrough album BACH in 2018, which made them the poster boys for the local indie scene.
Creative Evolution
Bandalos Chinos have found a sound that works with producer Adán Jodorowsky at Sonic Ranch in Texas. However, they eventually felt that they were becoming a copy of themselves, and they decided to change producers and working methods for their latest album Vándalos. They recruited Fermín Ugarte and shifted the recording location back to Argentina, which forced them to do things differently and led them to a new creative space.
After years of steadily building audiences across Latin America, Bandalos Chinos are increasingly comfortable testing their reach elsewhere. They have developed a feel for how different audiences behave and what draws each of them to their music. They rehearse a pool of 30 to 40 songs from which they can adjust their nightly setlist depending on where they are, and they try to maintain their essence while learning from new audiences.
A Balancing Act
Bandalos Chinos have spent years refining a balancing act between learning from new audiences and maintaining their identity. They try to stay true to themselves and not allow their audiences to dictate who they become. This approach reflects a creative ambition behind their music, and it’s what has led them to where they are today.
The band is part of a larger movement in Argentina, where artists like Bizarrap, Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso, Nicki Nicole, Tini, and Lali are pushing the country’s music further onto the international stage. Bandalos Chinos are helping to widen the space for alternative music, regional music, and the different colors and folklore of each place.
As a band, Bandalos Chinos have become an example for younger musicians, not just musically but as a model for how to grow. Having become an example for someone else, Goyo Degano sees little reason to change the principles that got them here. The responsibility for him is still the same as it was in the beginning: to be true to themselves.
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