Ask the members of ¿Qiensave? where their music is headed and the band's name gives the answer: "who knows."
Lead singer Carlos Cortez, says the band's name “comes from the uncertainty of life. It's a different journey for everybody."
For the Cortez brothers from the Salinas Valley, Carlos, Ricardo, Mario and William, that journey now leads to San Francisco. On Sunday, Oct. 4, the brothers will open the Banjo Stage at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival.
The band started in 2009 as Carlos' solo singer-songwriter project.
"I started collaborating more, and then eventually I got my brothers in the fold, and then it became what it is today," he says.
As first-generation sons of parents from two regions of Michoacán, Mexico, the band’s music showcases their Latin roots. Carlos says cumbia stuck because "it was a way to share where we come from," including "the songs that my mom used to play when she was cleaning the house on Saturday mornings."
He added that it shows younger listeners that "our parents' music, it's in Spanish, but it's still cool."
The group's sound blends cumbia with rock and reggae elements.
None of the brothers had formal music training. Mario took a guitar class and taught the others. From there, they taught themselves with help from friends. That experience led all four brothers into music education and advocacy.
Carlos is a founding member of Artists Ink., a community-based nonprofit organization founded in 2013 to help build art career and education pathways that empower youth to share the stories, culture, and history of the Salinas community.
“That's also a part of why we're big advocates of the arts, because we didn't have those resources or guidance growing up,” Carlos says. “It’s great to provide that to the newer generation.”
The festival set will mix favorites like "High Class" and "La Fuga," plus songs from an upcoming album, this includes the live debut of "FishSaladCumbiaChronicles," a psychedelic instrumental made with Angelo Moore of the band Fishbone that comes out Friday, Oct. 2.
"Let's just let people go on their own journey with this song," Carlos says.
Carlos adds the show will include the saxophone and accordion instruments and new theatrical touches.
Their most recent single "3 A.M.," produced by El Dusty, is about getting through hard times.
"This is life, and you have to dance through it," Carlos says. “That’s what our music is all about making people want to dance.”
For Carlos, the performance is about representing the Salinas Valley.
"You have kids that are going to school, they're playing music and they're like, 'I'm never gonna make it. I'm from Salinas,' we have to tell these stories and show them it is possible,” Carlos says.
Their full-length album "Asi Las Cosas" is set to release in 2027.