Clorofila

Clorofila (Jorge Verdín) is one of the pioneers of the Nortec (norteño-techno) musical style that originated in Tijuana, Mexico. The name Clorofila is now Verdín's stage name but originally it referred to a musical partnership between Verdín and Fritz Torres, with whom he also collaborated as a graphic designer. Clorofila first came to prominence as a member of a collaborative effort called the Nortec Collective, which included a number of acts. Starting in 1999, these artists took previous efforts to mix electronic and other modern sounds with norteño and banda ones, to consolidate and promote a style that spoke to the border experience in Tijuana. The success of this group led to two albums and a multi-national tour, but the collective broke up in 2007.

Since then Clorofila has performed and cut two solo albums, which have had success in alternative venues. Verdín continues to work as a graphic designer in projects related to the music industry as well as a remixer for various artists such as Beck. Mochipet, Tremor, Matias Aguayo.

Life

Jorge Verdín was born in Los Angeles, but grew up in Tijuana in the 1970s and 1980s at a time when the city was cultural not part of either Mexico or the United States, with much cultural interchange, even British influences in music such as punk.^[1][2]

He studied at the design program at San Diego City College and earned a bachelors in graphic design from the Art Center College of Design.^[2]

He currently resides in Pasadena, but still does work in Tijuana.^[3]

Career

Verdín works under the name of Clorofila, a musical partnership he began in the late 1990s with Fritz Torres, with whom he also worked in the graphic design group Cha3.^[2] Clorofila first came to prominence as a founding member of the Nortec Collective in 1999,^[3][4] which included Plankton Man (Ignacio Chavez, Bostich (Ramón Amezcua), Fussible (Pepe Mogt and Melo Ruiz) and Clorofila (Jorge Verdín and Fritz Torres).^[5] The Collective was a collaboration of five musical projects, each working with the blending of electronic dance music with the traditional musical styles of northern Mexico.^[2] The purpose of the collective was not to be a musical group, but rather a way for the individual acts to develop and promote their novel musical style.^[3] Verdín and Nortec were not the first or only musicians to experiment with electronic music in Tijuana. Verdín states it had existed for a long time, but was sporadic.^[5] The Collective has success in the early 2000s, and the release of their first album The Tijuana Sessions Vol. 1. led to tours in the United States, Mexico, South America, Europe and Japan, playing venues from large clubs to cultural festivals (e.g. Coachella (USA), PepsiFest (Argentina), Roskilde (Denmark) and Expo Aichi 2005 (Japan), Festival Internacional Cervantino (Mexico) and the Vive Latino (Mexico)) to art galleries and wrestling arenas and even the prestigious Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City.^[1][2][4][5] In 2005, Tijuana Session Vol 3 was released with four tracks by Clorofila as well as the design of the album cover. It was nominated for a Latin Grammy as Best Alternative Record.^[4] One of Clorofila’s songs on this album, Almada, was chosen for the video game FIFA 2005, and a track made in collaboration with Panoptica Olvidela compa was featured in the movie La Mujer de Mi Hermano.^[4]

As Verdín and partner Torres were graphic designers, they directed the Collective visual identity, allowing them to be distinguished from similar musical projects.^[4] These graphics often appropriated elements of border popular culture, including the drug trafficking culture: imitation Versace shirts, cowboy hats and boots, called “narcochic.” An early example of a graphic design in this vein was in the 1999-2000 issue of El sueño de la gallina, en eclectic fazine, published by Cha3 and local writers and intellectuals. Its ideas and feel were incorporated into the Nortec Collective that emerged at the same time.^[6] The album covers and more that Verdín produced with Torres was published in a book called El Paso del Nortec by Editorial Trilice.^[4]

One problem that Nortec had was that it was seen not as a collection of various acts, but rather as a single group, in part because of the unifying labeling and graphic design. The appearance of Nortec on solo projects became problematic, especially when two members, Bostich and Fussible, unilaterally announced the end of the Collective.^[3][4]

In addition, the name Clorofila, became a pseudonym for Verdín alone.^[7][8] Clorofila released his first solo effort called Corridos Urbanos, still using the "Nortec Collective Presents” tag.^[3][4] However, this album was purely Verdín’s own effort, without moderation from the rest of the group.^[4] When released in 2010, Corridos Urbanos went to number one on the iTunes Electronic Music chart, despite the lack of major promotion. The single Baby Rock Rock was heavily requested at alternative radio stations and made the Top 20 at Reactor FM’s annual 100 Most Popular of 2010 countdown.^[4] With his second solo album, Ahorita Vengo, Verdín took the Nortec label out, deciding it was best to stop relying on the reference and created an entirely independent identity. Verdín now calls Nortec a style or genre of music, despite that it is still heavily identified with the original Collective artists.^[3]

Clorofila has worked with vocalists Fernanda Karolys, Supina Bytol and Robin Abernathy, as well as Banda Agua Caliente, local Tijuana norteño bands and David J of Bauhaus and Love and Rockets.^[4] In 2010, the artist played works from Corridos Urbanos onstage, touring Mexico with Banda Agua Caliente, a show that was nominated for the Lunas del Auditorio Nacional award for Best Electronic Music Performance.^[4]

Clorofila has an ongoing collaboration with the avant-garde theater company Línea de Sombra, for whom he writes songs for their productions.^[4] For the 2014 Festival Internacional Cervantino, Verdín wrote the music for Línea de Sombra’s production of Artículo 13.^[9] He has collaborated and produced remixes for Beck, Mochipet, Tremor, Matias Aguayo, Rigo Tovar and Radiokijada, both with Nortec and solo.^[2][4]

As a designer, he has created album covers for Mil Records, mostly for its Tijuana operations, as well as those for the Nortec Collective and other publicity for the group. Much of his work has been published in various magazines such as Communication Arts, Time and Pulse magazines. He works as an art director at Rubin Postear Associates in Santa Monica and has done freelance work for various other record labels and other artists.^[2]

Artistry

The culture of northern Mexico has heavily influenced both Verdín’s music and design work.^[1] Musically, he is one of the formative forces of Nortec as a musical style, a mix of electronic dance music (sound blocks, samplings, computer manipulation, etc) , with popular northern Mexico sounds, especially norteño (accordion, tarola, bajo sexto) and banda (tuba, trumpet, clarinet, tarola). Clorofila is Verdín’s personal interpretation of that style, which differs significantly from the other members of the Nortec Collective.^[1][6] His music is also influenced by that of New Order, Donna Summer, György Ligeti and Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass.^[1][4]

Nortec arose from Verdín and the other Collective members’ experience of living on the border, at the very margins of Mexican culture and in an area heavily influenced by that of the United States.^[6] He states his music tries to convey the social and political situation of northern Mexico, especially Tijuana, which is a major point for illegal immigration as well as drug trafficking. The city itself still has neighborhoods without running water, despite being only three hours away from Los Angeles and Hollywood, leading to a situation the artist called “schizophrenic.”^[1]

References