Maná plans return to studio, 1st London concert in 2024
During a career than spans over four decades, Grammy-winning Mexican rockers Maná have toured the world, yet for some reason never played London. That all changes in July when the foursome plays the OVO Arena Wembley, and drummer Alex González says the band is “freaking out.”
“We grew up influenced by so many English bands that it was always a dream for us to play in London,” González said in a recent interview. He hopes that bringing Mexican rock to England leads to a long relationship with fans.
Started in 1982, the Mexican rock quartet from Sombrero Verde has been compared to the Police, and Gonzalez says they’re big fans of Sting and company. While audiences can expect to hear classic tunes such as “Rayando el Sol” and “Oye Mi Amor,” there won’t be any new music just yet. The band’s last studio album, “Cama Incendiada,” dropped in 2015. But that will change when they get back into the studio late this year.
This interview with González has been edited for clarity and length.
Q: Why did it take so long to play London?
A: It could be that we never got into the right hands of a promoter or a company or somebody that wanted to take us to London. But I think the important thing is that we’re going and what an honor. I hope it’s the beginning of a long relationship with doing many shows and concerts in London and maybe in other parts of England.
Q: We’re seeing great pop and rock artists coming out of Mexico these days. Do you feel like you guys
helped lead the way?
A: No, I don’t think we’ve led the way. Music in Spanish has been around forever. For example, Los Panchos — they were a huge trio. And they even ended up playing in Japan. Then you look at Carlos Santana — I mean, there’s been a lot of important people in Latin music. I think the interesting thing is around the ’70s, in the ’80s, that’s when a whole rock boom started taking off with rock bands coming from Spain … I don’t doubt that maybe influenced a lot of people, too. But the cool thing is that … we’ve continued to do it in Spanish.
Q: You’ve consistently recorded in Spanish. What’s it like to play live in other countries?
A: We think it’s cool that when you go to another country that doesn’t speak Spanish, and there’s people listening to your music, and then they start translating the lyrics, and they start finding out what the songs are about. I think that’s pretty cool. It’s a cool way of sharing your culture.
Q: Who inspired you to be a musician?
A: Everything started with me with the Beatles. I became a drummer thanks to Ringo Starr. He was the first drummer that I saw, and the Beatles were the first band that I saw (on television) in a black-andwhite concert. They were all dressed in their suits. And then Ringo was beating the (expletive) out of the drums. He was like the first punk alternative rock drummer.
Q: Who else was an inspiration?
A: I actually was able to start singing, or try to sing, because of Phil Collins. Phil Collins was one of my earlier influences. He was one of the first drummers that I saw that could play the drums and sing lead vocals.
Q: What can fans expect in terms of new music?
A: It’s taken a long time trying to get everybody’s schedule together to write and record it. This album has taken longer than it should have. But the good news is, around the end of 2024, we’re going to start working on a brand new studio album. The idea is to release this album in 2025. Our last studio album was in 2015, so it’s been a long time, and we’re super-excited about starting to work together again once we get into the studio. I mean, that’s where the magic happens.