Formation Lap Top Mixing with Nortec Collective's Fusible

Mexican duo Pepe Mogt and Jorge Ruiz are key players in the Nortec Collective, the term that describes the new electronic scene coming out of Tijuana. The duo record as Fusible and recently appearing alongside The Gotan Project at a fantastic gig at London's Royal Festival Hall. Taking time out from rehearsals, the band's Pepe Mogt hooked up with Skrufff's Benedetta Ferraro to fill her in on one of America's most interesting and firing scenes.

Skrufff: How important is to you to play here in Britain-

Fussibile (Pepe Mogt): "Well, this is the best way for us to show the rest of the world what our city is about. Most of the time, when people ask me where I come from, and I say Tijuana, they say 'What- Where-'. Those who know of Tijuana imagine it as it is portrayed in the movie "Traffic", or think it is extremely dangerous. It isn't. There is another side to the city, apart from drugs and crime, which is a burgeoning and amazing music and art scene."

Skrufff: So what is Tijuana really like-

Fussibile (Pepe Mogt): "Tijuana is just as dangerous as every other city. It's described as the most visited city in the world, but it's not beautiful, it has no great architecture or new buildings. It's just very old and run down. People go there on business, mostly back and forth from or to the US. I'm 33 years old, I've lived there for 27 and I have never witnessed any danger, and haven't even come across a gun. Sure there are gangs but they keep to themselves. I can assure you, you can go clubbing safely there, no problem at all."

Skrufff: Does Tijuana attract many clubbers from the US-

Fussibile (Pepe Mogt): "Oh definitely. The public perception is that our city is full of immigrants waiting to cross the border to the US, but in reality American kids illegally cross the border in their thousands every weekend to get drunk and have fun in Tijuana, since there are so many clubs and we don't have a legal age limit. The US border police are on guard from Wednesdays, to stop the under 21's from crossing over, without much success though."

Skrufff: How much does your music reflect the vibe of your city-

Fussibile (Pepe Mogt): "I think it totally reflects it. We come from an extreme place that incorporates many vibes and rhythms mostly coming from the streets, sounds that we try to integrate into our music."

Skrufff: You are often described as the Mexicans Chemical Brothers…

Fussibile (Pepe Mogt): "I believe so, though no disrespect but we don't like it. I mean initially we were influenced by western dance music in general, but we have in time developed our own style. Drums and percussions are part of our norteno and tambora inheritance, we have sequenced and sampled these rhythms to achieve this eclectic sound."

Skrufff: What is your audience like-

Fussibile (Pepe Mogt): "Generally we attract students or a young, educated crowd, graphic designers, poets, artists and so on. Tijuana has grown from 600 to 2,000,000 inhabitants in the last 20 years, our scene is growing with the city at a very fast pace. However we don't make music for any specific age group or class or scene, we just make music for whoever likes it out there."

Fussible's current single Odyssea is out now on Sonic 360 Records

http://www.fussible.com

http://www.sonic360.com
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