About Quetzal

There are at least three artists named 'Quetzal': (1) In the early nineties, in a tiny cafe on the outskirts of Little Tokyo Los Angeles, Quetzal Flores, a son of two community organizers, formed Quetzal - A new experience in Chicano Music. His goal was to push the boundaries of Chicano Music as we knew it. Twelve years later Quetzal has become of one Los Angeles' most important and successful groups. Proclaimed by no less an authority than Los Lobos as "ready to carry the torch for Los Angeles's Chicano community," Quetzal embodies the soul and the struggle at the heart of the Mexican-American legacy. Their mix of Mexican and Afro-Cuban rhythms, Jazz, R&B, and Rock is supercharged by the dynamic vocals of Martha Gonzalez. Their commitment to using art as a tool for social change is informed and inspired by global grassroots movements. Aside from touring, the band frequently engages in organizing and participating in opening spaces for transnational dialogue. For the past five years they have been instrumental in developing Fandango Sin Fronteras, a dialogue between Chicanos from California and Jarochos (musicians from Veracruz, Mexico). They are currently finishing their fourth studio album to be released in June of 2006. (2) A post-hardcore band from Antwerp, Belgium. QUETZAL from antwerp (belgium) started in 1998 with their debut and masterpiece 'the messenger lies bleeding' on CONSPIRACY records, toured europe a lot and finally - 3 years later - in 2001 they deliver their 2nd and last album 'dead end tracks' before they finally split in 2003. named after a rare bird spezies from guatemala, a bird that will die in captivity - pronounced: ´k´ets´al. it's hard to describe their sound or even try to categorize them - screamo? maybe. but obivously influenced by bands like fugazi - song-oriented, fast forward ...hardcore (?) whatever, maybe that's one of the reasons why QUETZAL was an interesting band for us then, the impossibility to categorise them. and our interest leaded to our collaboration with CONSPIRACY/QUETZAL and to severeal great tours and show, loads of fun and friends in belgium. most of the members of QUETZAL play in In-kata now. 3) Quetzal, mostly know as a part of Onra & Quetzal, with inspiration from hip-hop's greatest producers, world music and dusty records.