Maná’s Long Success is Refreshing for Latin Music

Mexican “Rock en Español” band Maná formed more that 30 years ago as “Sombrero Verde”, although they have been “Maná” for almost 25 years.

It’s refreshing to see a group stick together for so long while being extremely successful. In the process, Maná became one the most successful bands of their genre, and one of the most successful acts in Latin music and music in general.

Maná’s Steady Core of Musicians

The core of Maná has remained unchanged for over 20 years, something not seen very often in Latin music and in music in general. Singer Fher Olvera and bassist Juan Calleros have been together since the first day of “Sombrero Verde”. Alex Gonzalez joined the band in 1984, shortly after the band became “Maná”.

This trio stayed as the core of the band through the 1994 album “Maná en Vivo”. Shortly after that, they recruited Sergio Vallín as the permanent electric guitar player.

“Drama y Luz” seems to have solidified Maná’s glue. During the process of making the album, Fher lost both his mother and sister to cancer. As drummer Alex Gonzalez explains in a recent interview, “we pulled together as a band, and we helped Fher get through that really sad time in his life.

We put that momentum into writing music. And that’s why it’s called Drama y Luz. That’s the way life is. Life is full of drama, but there’s light at the end of the tunnel. Sometimes from tragedy, good things arise”.

What’s Behind Maná’s Success?

Let me start by reminding you that I’m just a music fan, not a record label producer. If I knew the exact answer to why Maná is so successful I would be rich music producer. I’m not.

That said, I think Maná’s success is due firstly to their originality of the music they play. On this point, you have to start with Fher’s unique voice. Secondly, Maná has great creativity in adapting the music to the lyrics. In order to do this, many times they’ve gone beyond the boundaries of Rock.

For example, in the song “Perdido En Un Barco” Maná almost sounds like a Salsa band. In addition, in “Buscandola”,  they sound like a Reggae band.

And thirdly, the song lyrics are very relevant with varied messages of love, social issues, and, as per their last album, the drama of life experiences.

I hope we can have “Rock en Español” band Maná for many more years to come. They really are one of the shining stars of Latin music.