Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you probably know that this Saturday is the annual Long Beach Zombie Walk. In addition to screening the original George A. Romero horror classics Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead, there will be hours of great music. Headlining the show, along with The Dickies, is Metalachi. 

Metalachi is one of those things that, once you know about it, seems incredibly obvious and ‘right,’ like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Still, as far as I know, they are the first and only mariachi band dedicated to performing covers of classic metal songs. 

The dynamic lead singer and front man for the band is Vega De La Rockha. I was fortunate to get a few minutes with him last week, just before they launched into an insane touring schedule which included the IndyCar Series World Championship at Auto Club Speedway last Saturday, Rob Zombie’s Great American Nightmare at the “FEARplex” in Pomona last Sunday and, last Monday, they played at the Vinyl Stage in the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, something they do twice a month.

I asked De La Rockha to explain the Metalachi experience.

“You’ve said it mi amigo! A Metalachi show is an experience and, in order to understand it, you would have to see it live and then you’ll go ‘Ah, now I understand what this vatos are all about!’ But I’ll try to explain. It’s more like being on a peyote trip. Have you ever had one of those? Damn They are awesome! [laughs] In other words, Metalachi is a band of five brothers from Juarez, Mexico. We play metal anthems and songs with the pure instrumentation of the mariachi genre. When you see us live it’s more than a show. It’s a party. That’s how we do it.”

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Mariachi music is a beloved and traditional art form, but, so far, people have embraced what they’re doing.

“There will be purists and non purists. We’ve encountered more non-purists, though. From what we hear, they are very proud of what we are doing, and lots of them say they would like to play the music that we do. That’s, of course, here in the U.S. Don’t know about the traditional mariachi peeps in Mexico. Most of them give us their blessing and send us on our way.

“We have always played either mariachi or metal music. In the past, also jazz and other genres. In a way, having that musical experience has made it easier for us to combine this two beautiful genres of music.”

De La Rockha credits band manager Warren Moskow with coming up with the idea for Metalachi. 

“One day Warren approached us with the idea and we were game for it. I think there was an ‘aha’ moment but it was more like a ‘Oralé’ moment! [laughs] I member the first song we ever tried merging was ‘Breaking The Law’ and we looked at each other like, ‘We got something here… simón!'”

According to De La Rockha, the band members were born in Juarez, Mexico, but grew up in East L.A.

“Music was everywhere when we moved to Cali, especially metal and rock. But I think my first connection to music was when I was three years old and heard a song on the radio and started playing with a broom that was beside me! [laughs] Musically speaking, it was the Black Sabbath Paranoid album that we found with my bros when we got here.. That’s when the love for rock and metal was born, and what better to play it with than the instruments that we are used to playing, right? 

“I started writing lyrics for my own pleasure when I was about 11 or 12, without music, but then I wanted to learn how to play guitar, and was able to buy an acoustic one and started incorporating my lyrics to basic chords and stuff, you know, like most of the musicians begin. The funny thing is that I think that my singing abilities started when I would listen to metal and rock music. I would sing along to them and try to imitate the singers’ voices and movements. That is how I think this gig came perfect, personally speaking.

“The first Metalachi show we had was at this hole in the wall place called Skinny’s Lounge in North Hollywood, where our manager, Warren, had some connections with the owner. I think he might have given him something special for him to let us play there. [laughs]

“I was very nervous, not being certain about what people might think or would react towards the concept but, to my and our surprise, we were a hit and it was more white people than latinos or mexcan americans. I never seen that many white peeps singing along with a mariachi! [laughs] From then on, Metalachi has been working really hard to bring this new genre or subgenre to most of the USA.”

Metalachi are very excited to be sharing the stage with The Dickies.

“It means a lot for us to play with bands of that caliber ’cause it also puts us in a certain level, and are grateful for it! I mean this guys have been around for a couple of decades now, and I can’t wait to see them perform. Still, we plan to totally melt some faces out there and give a great performance.”

To learn more about the band, and their touring schedule, visit Metalachi.com. For ticket, entertainment, and performance information about Saturday’s Long Beach Zombie Walk, visit http://zombiewalklb.com/tickets