Pepito is José Márquez and Ana Machado. They met and married in San Francisco, CA in the late 1990's, after arriving from TIjuana, MX by way of San Diego, CA (Ana) and Havana, Cuba by way of New York, NY (José). By 2000, they had formed a band and were ready to record, with Chris Palmatier (Brian and Chris) as engineer and Brian Fraser on hand to supply guest vocals on the track "New Wave". Migrante, as their first album came to be called, was pronounced complete in October of 2001 and was released in the U.S. in May of 2002.

Migrante features an abundance of surprising and elegant juxtapositions: pop hooks over abrasive tumult and rock guitar set against electronic textures; intimate confessions transformed into declamatory political statements, with English and Spanish lyrics in equal share. Equally likely to turn on a dime or keep a good thing going, Migrante's artful blend of punk and electronica earned Pepito the “Best New Band” award at the 2002 Latin Alternative Music Conference in New York—not to mention the admiration of indie music scenes in California, across the Americas, and abroad.

Alternative Content

Salyut
(9.04MB .mp3 file)

Pepito: Migrante
(92MB .zip file)
11 songs, all 320kbps mp3s.