LA ADICTIVA

La Adictiva Banda San Jose De Mesillas on Tour

La Adictiva Banda San Jose de Mesillas is a loud, proud wind band rich with Sinaloan flavor. Since 1990, Adictiva's 15-plus players have been making a mighty noise with clarinets, trumpets, tubas, drums and singers. Members may come and go, but Adictiva has only grown more popular: The video for their 2017 single "Después de ti ¿Quién" ("After You, Who?") has been viewed more than 550 million times.

Formed in the town of Mesillas, within the Sinaloan municipality of Concordia, on May 19 — patron saint San Jose's day — La Banda San Jose de Mesillas was a regional phenomenon for several years. In 2009, they added "adictiva" to their name after a radio programmer used it to describe their lively romantic take on the classic Sinaloan sound, confirmed on their album Corridos Adictivos.

"I can compare banda music with an orchestra without any problem," former Adictiva singer Carlos Sarabia has said. Their sound contrasts clarinets with brass, highlights inventive conversations between the full band and isolated instrument groups, and spices up vocals with clever counter-melodies. In short, Adictiva swings, playing music that's great for drinking and dancing while nurturing a proud Mexican cultural tradition.

Adictiva took a great leap forward when it was signed to Sony in 2009 and released Vida Sinaloense (Sinaloan Life) the following year. Audiences in both northern Mexico and the southwestern United States began dancing to hit singles like "Te amo y te amo" ("I Love You and I Love You"), "Nada iguales" ("Not the Same") and "El pasado es pasado" ("The Past Is Past") that were crooned by Claudio Alcaraz, the band's lead vocalist from 2003 to 2013.

Awards and more hits followed. The release of the singles "Un fin en Culiacán" (An End in Culiacán), "Hombre libre" (Free Man), and "Después de ti ¿Quién," from the album Disfruté Engañarte (I Enjoyed Deceiving You) made 2014 an especially prosperous year for the group.

Guillermo "Memo" Garza took over as lead vocalist after Sarabia departed in 2018. La Adictiva Banda San Jose de Mesillas will continue to tour and thrive, bringing its popular strain of Sinaloan magic to the people.