El Tri and El Gran Silencio

Originally formed under the moniker “Three Souls in My Mind” due to the appeal of a long band name, the group was initially comprised of Alejandro Lora on bass, Memo Berea on lead guitar and vocals, Ernesto de Leon on lead guitar, and Carlos Hauptvogel on the drums.

The band’s first live performance came in 1969 to a positive response, and the group subsequently made a their mark at Festival de Avándaro, ‘America’s Woodstock' in 1971 with a combination of English- and Spanish-language rock songs. By playing rock songs in Spanish, the band introduced the themes of rock and roll to a huge Spanish speaking audience, providing the groundwork for the influx of rock in to Mexico. The band spent the next 14 years recording and performing under the Three Souls in My Mind name, until in 1985 the name and line-up underwent notable changes.

With a line up consisting Alejandro Lora, Chela Lora and Eduardo Chico, El Tri’s debut album “Simplemente el Tri” (1985), earned the threesome gold certification – the first ever Mexican rock band to do so. The album spawned the singles “Triste Canción de Amor” and “Vicioso del Rocanrol” and led to a tour of considerable size including dates in the the U.S. The band cemented their success in Mexico and in large parts of South America as a whole with their 18 subsequent studio albums, 10 live albums, and four compilation albums.

Due to this international success El Tri have played a host of sold-out arenas shows such as the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, The Olympic Auditorium, and the Hollywood Palladium. Despite this success and influence on Mexican rock, the band has never been certified more than gold record due to labels struggling to be able to compete with counterfeiters.