Band Spotlight: Bajo Estado

By Octavio Benavides 

Local Music Journalist 

I saw Bajo Estado at a Toten house show early in January, right before I was set to transfer to Texas State. It was a weird time in my life, constantly haunted by the looming knowledge my life was on the verge of complete change. I didn’t know how often I was going to be able to attend shows with my friends once I transferred, so the choice to attend this show was one primarily backed by sentimentality. Bajo Estado stood out from the lineup of this show immediately. It was a primarily hardcore show, which was the norm for anything at Toten, so hearing a corridos band would be playing I was curious. When they began to set up a double bass immediately after the S*xpert mosh pit (a band I’m sure I’ll write about soon), it was clear that the rest of the showgoers were just as curious too.  

Bajo Estado performs corridos tumbados, blending the traditional ballad styling of the corrido with a more modern sound. It’s very personal, emotional musical style, and as soon as their performance began, that feeling flooded the crowd. Bajo Estado’s understanding of the genre is masterful, and their music immediately melts away the worries and troubles of the world. I really felt myself in the music that night, their performance helping me to find a sort of comfort, despite my fears of having to leave my friends and family back home. 

Bajo Estado only has a handful of their songs available on streaming services, but these songs are a great display of their work as a band. My personal favorite is “Por Mi Familia”, a deeply grim track. The lyrics and vocals are melancholy, reaching out for the audience to pull them into a sort of doomed dance. The primary instruments used by Bajo Estado is the strings, and mastery over them is really showed in this song. The energy they create is tragic and yet full of power, very in character for the fundamentally tragic genre of corrido.  

“Los Secretos” is another one of their standout pieces. While sounding like the work of other corridos tumbados artists such as Junior H, “Los Secretos” still manages to have its own, original feeling. It’s a much livelier song then pieces like “Por Mi Familia,” with lighter vocals and background instrumentals, but it still manages to pull at your emotions and bring them to the forefront A romantic feeling seeping through every work and pluck of the strings. This feeling is felt strongly, yet twisted around, in another one of their standout songs “Loco Por Ti.” The same light vocals remain, but the spotlight is really placed on the strings. The double bass takes a more prominent role, and the guitars complexly layer over each other. Seeing these songs live really showed off the prowess of every member of the band, and it’s one that sticks with me even now. 

 Bajo Estado is amazing at what they do. All their music can stir emotions, their vocals and lyrics are deep and profound, and their instrumentals beautiful and complex. While they aren’t necessarily part of the hardcore scene, I think their performances highlight the strong Latino presence that exists within the hardcore space, and it was beautiful to see the vibrant passion of the scene really embracing this piece of Latino culture. All in all, Bajo Estado is a wonderful part of the Texas local music scene, and I really hope that we will be treated to new releases from them soon, along with more opportunities to see their music live.