Chingon (band)

Chingon is a band from Austin, Texas. Their sound is heavily influenced by Mexican rock, mariachi, ranchera, and Texan rock 'n roll music.

Chingon
Origin	Austin, Texas, United States
Genres	Rock, Latin, blues, Latin Rock, mariachi, ranchera, Tex-Mex
Years active	2003–present
Labels	Rocket Racing Rebels
Members	Robert Rodriguez Rick del Castillo Mark del Castillo Danny Ortiz Albert Besteiro Mike Zeoli Jason Murdy
Past members	Carmelo Torres

History

Chingon was formed by film director Robert Rodriguez to record songs for his 2003 film Once Upon a Time in Mexico. They contributed to Mexico and Mariachis, a compilation album from Rodriguez' Mariachi Trilogy, and released their debut album, Mexican Spaghetti Western, in 2007. The band's name comes from a Mexican slang term, chingón, loosely but closely enough meaning "badass" and/or "the shit".

Chingon also contributed the song "Malagueña Salerosa" to Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill: Volume 2 — which Rodriguez scored — and a live performance by the band was included on the film's DVD release. They also contributed to the soundtrack for his next film, a collaboration with Tarantino, Grindhouse, doing a cover of the film's opening theme, re-titling it "Cherry's Dance of Death". Rodríguez plays guitar in the band. The band has also made an appearance on "George Buys a Vow", an episode of the US sitcom George Lopez.

On December 12, 2015, Chingon performed as the house band for Lucha Underground during a Season Two taping. Rodriguez is an Executive Producer for the series and it airs on his network, El Rey Network.^[1]

Band members

• Robert Rodriguez – guitar
• Alex Ruiz – vocals
• Mark del Castillo – guitar, vocals
• Rick del Castillo – guitar, vocals
• Albert Besteiro – bass guitar
• Carmelo Torres – percussion
• Mike Zeoli – drums

When playing without Robert Rodriguez, the band is known as Del Castillo.

Guest artists include:

• Patricia Vonne (Rodriguez's sister co-wrote and performed on "Severina")
• Salma Hayek (performed "Siente Mi Amor")
• Tito Larriva (wrote and performed "Alacran y Pistolero")
• Nataly Pena

Discography

Albums

• Mexican Spaghetti Western (2004)

Soundtrack appearances

• Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003)
• Mexico and Mariachis (2004)
• Kill Bill Vol. 2 (2004)
• Grindhouse: Planet Terror (2007)
• Hell Ride (2008)
• Machete (2010)