‘SuenaTron,’ proud creators of Mexican-American 'Popteño'

Shortly before they officially formed the up-and-coming Mexican pop band, Raul y Mexia + SuenaTron, the Hernandez brothers had a surprise encounter with the late rancher singer Jenni Rivera.

The brothers, Raul Hernandez and Hernan Eduardo “Mexia” Hernandez - sons of the bassist of Mexican Norteño band Los Tigres del Norte, Hernan Hernandez - were at an awards show in Guadalajara when they were approached by Rivera.

“Hey, little tigers! I’m a big fan of Los Tigres,” she said. At the time, the brothers were at a rocky point in their careers. They were exhausted of trying to break into the music industry with little success, and were on the verge of quitting.

“As Mexican-Americans you’ll have to work twice as hard to make it in the industry,” she told them.

The Mexican superstar’s advice was the push they needed to keep going, and it became a mantra that sustained them at their lowest moments.

The brothers went on to form Raul y Mexia + SuenaTron with their younger brother Giovanni Hernandez on the drums, and their friends Eduardo Montelongo on the bass, Mateo Gonzales on the guitar and Abraham Alvarado as DJ and percussionist.

In their short stretch together, the San Jose, California group has found success with the style they dubbed “Popteño” (a combination of Pop and Norteño). So far, SuenaTron has released four singles, each with hundreds of thousands of listens on YouTube and Spotify.

The sound of these first singles is romantic, led by the strong pop vocals of Raul and Mexia. But, under the hood one can hear the wide-ranging musical influences that make this group unique. Like the guitar arrangement in the pre-chorus of “Sencillamente” pushing towards rock, and Mexia’s fun accordion riffs that inject the “teño” into their pop.

SuenaTron’s message is not only romantic. The band began as a duo project, when Mexia asked Raul to write the hook for a rap song he had written. The song was “Todos Somos Arizona”, a bilingual hip hop tune that aimed to support the people affected by the SB1070 law in Arizona, which the brothers felt was unfairly profiling Hispanic residents of the state. The socially conscious song was a hit, and propelled the brother’s popular stand in the U.S. Hispanic community that earned them a spot on Jorge Ramos’ TV show, Al Punto. “We feel like our career is based on that, on helping our Latino community,” said Raul.

Although most of them are native born Americans, they too have felt diminished by their Mexican identity. Mexia recalls an instance a few years ago, when he was working with Los Tigres on tour. They were looking for a place to eat late at night, around 3 a.m., and decided to stop at a diner in a town between Bakersfield and Los Angeles, both cities with dense Hispanic communities. Much to their surprise, the workers at the diner refused to serve them, saying they didn’t serve Mexicans.

“I felt humiliated, frustrated, furious” recalled Mexia. His father had to calm him down as they walked back to the tour bus. “You know, it’s alright, these things have happened to us. They just wanted us to react in a violent manner” his father said to Mexia.

“Although they say we live in a country that’s free and there’s no racism, it does exist. We saw it not long ago with the election of Trump,” said Mexia. “But at the same time, we’ve got to keep our heads up and keep moving forward because, at the end of the day, the racist people are the ones that are going to lose. Like they say, ‘karma’s a bitch’.”

Raul y Mexia + SuenaTron is planning to drop their first studio album in February of 2017, where they say audiences will get to hear some pop, cumbia, norteño, “and maybe some surprises.” In the meantime, you can download their first single “Sencillamente” for free from their website, listen to their other songs on YouTube or Spotify, or catch them on tour.