INTERVIEW: Enjambre - A Band for the Past, Present, and Future

Bassist Rafael Navejas talks tour and drops exclusive details on the group's upcoming album

It’s difficult to say what truly separates the good artists from the great artists, but I think it has something to do with how they handle inspiration. Good artists merely imitate their predecessors. Great artists innovate, building something entirely unique to stand on the shoulders of those who came before them. Without a doubt, Enjambre falls into the latter group.

Founded in Fresnillo, Zacatecas, Mexico, Enjambre exceeds space, time, and labels. Their sound is simultaneously timeless and futuristic, paying tribute to the great artists of yesteryear and introducing new sounds that will knock your socks off. The band has played sold-out shows all around the world, and they received national recognition from the Mexican Senate for their musical contributions.

On Wednesday, I had the honor of interviewing Enjambre’s bassist, Rafael Navejas. Even though I was stuck in Atlanta’s chilly drizzle, Rafael’s musings on family, influences, and an upcoming album/tour sent some sunshine my way. Read (and listen!) to my conversation with Rafael below.

As I began my thorough investigation of Enjambre’s nearly three-decade career, I was particularly impressed by the range of their music. Rafael initially described the group as a rock band, but this categorization barely covers the tip of their sonic iceberg. I kicked off our conversation by diving deeper into his thoughts on the definition of Enjambre:

OMS: So, I never like to ask artists to put themselves in a box or anything, but I love hearing how different bands would define themselves. Obviously, you guys exceed so many genres, but to our viewers who may not be familiar with your work, how would you label your sound?

RN: Oof. Yeah, that's a tough one. If I had to, which I kind of do right now because you're asking [laughs]. A lot of the underlining essence of our sound relies heavily on the 60s and 70s Hispanic singers like, what's the name of that genre? The Crooner. Crooner singers from the 70s. And the reason being is because our parents used to listen to that music as we were growing up. So, without us even knowing about it, by the time we moved to Mexico City, which is kind of like the equivalent to New York for Latin America, where, you know, everything goes on and that's where you need to be and stuff. People there are very knowledgeable of music, and they started hanging those labels on us, like, “oh, these people sound like, you know, those singers from back in the 70s.” They’ve got a lot of that nostalgia like José José and Leo Dan and Sandro de América, those Southern American singers. So, we thought, “okay, yes, yes, we do have that in our musical DNA for sure.” But we would listen to a lot of the 60s rock too, like the classics like most people, you know, The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and all that from that era. So, there's a lot of that in our influence, but I don't think we get tricky. We try to do our own thing, you know, add our own nuance and try to propose new ways of presenting music and that's where it gets shifty, you know, where we don't know really what we sound like. I'm just giving you, like, some hints to what many people have told us and we agree with. But at the end of the day, we don't really know what we sound like. So, we invite you and your audience to be better judges of that.

It's no surprise that Enjambre finds their roots in these classic styles—there’s an ever-present sense of nostalgia in their work. From Back to the Future homage “Delorean” on the Ambrosia EP to new single “Vínculo’s” message of a bond beyond eras, much of the band’s lyrical content comes from a place of reminiscence. Enjambre’s most recent album, Noches de Salón, also embraces this sentiment: the project transforms fifteen of their rock/pop hits into vintage Latin American ballroom ballads. Perhaps I read too deeply into things, but these ideas of longing for home and the people you love make sense when you consider the relationships within the band. Enjambre was founded by the Navejas brothers and has remained a close-knit family affair. Rafael was amused by my observations (“Wow, did you pick that up?” [laughs]), and though he stated there wasn’t any direct thematic correlation between these concepts, he agreed that the bond with his bandmates is truly something special:

OMS: I was going to ask with the band also being such a close, familial and friend affair as well...you guys have family members and cousins and close friends in the band. Do you think nostalgia, your own personal relationships, and kind of growing together as a band have also contributed to those themes?

RN: I'm not sure in the theme perspective (of its influence), but for sure in the way that we get along, like the internal dynamics. For sure, being brothers and cousins, we’re like gypsies traveling around [laughs]. The thing is that when you're brothers, when you’re siblings, a lot of the diplomatic filters that you would put in place, you know, to communicate with other people normally, they're just not there. We're very straightforward. And when we were younger, that would be a problem in the earlier days, but now that we're getting older, you know, I think that if you put things into a balance, the love and respect that we have for each other has overweighted? Is that even a word?

OMS: Yeah, I think so.

RN: Talking about the balance?

OMS: The good outweighs the bad.

RN: Exactly. So, that fraternal love has definitely weighed more. And especially now that we're, older and we've got married and stuff. We appreciate having that familiar bond moreso than ever. And we're enjoying our internal dynamics, you know, the way we get along. It’s been nice going through that roller coaster, but it's been for the good. So, you know, looking back, it's been more of a benefit than has not.

Enjambre’s ninth studio album, Daños Luz, comes out in March, and it can’t get here soon enough. Four singles (“La Differencia,” “Angustias,” “Vínculo,” and “Juguete”) have been released thus far, fueling fans’ excitement for tracks to come. Rafael dropped some exclusive intel on what the new project has in store, and we bonded over our love for movie musicals:

OMS: Your next album, Daños Luz, comes out in March. The singles have been absolutely fabulous and again, show off your range as a band so well. I mean, you have "La Differencia," which is this really sweet, classic song about relationships and everything. And then "Angustias," which is totally different, so spooky. It's got that fantastic opening string section and the guitar solo. I'd love to know what song you're most excited to share with the world from the new album. Maybe it's one of the singles that's already out, or maybe it's something we haven't gotten the chance to hear yet.

RN: So, we're still about to release the other half of the album, the other 60% of the album. Out of what we've already released, I think "Vínculo." "Vínculo" was the second song that we released. "Vínculo." That's my favorite one. Ever since we heard internally that song, I knew that was going to be like a single..and I wasn't wrong. It's been widely liked.

OMS: It's beautiful.

RN: And out of the bunch that have not been released yet, there's a couple ones that I'm very interested on seeing what people think because I really like them. One of them is called "Vivos." I'm giving you an advance here.

OMS: Okay, exciting. Exclusive. Here we go.

RN: [laughs] Yeah, I think that's a lovely song. Just because I think you're cool, I'm going to give you an advance [laughs]. Because I like you.

OMS: Fantastic. I'm honored. I'm honored, truly.

RN: The way we're presenting that song, which, you know, we haven't released yet. But once we do, I hope you remember, if you hear it, remember what I’m saying right now.

OMS: Oh, a thousand percent.

RN: We approached that song more like...you remember that movie, Mary Poppins?

OMS: Yes.

RN: Like a musical? Do you?

OMS: I do, yes.

RN: I was afraid you wouldn’t because that's an old, old movie, but it's a classic.

OMS: Oh, no, I love Mary Poppins, Julie Andrews, all of that.

RN: Yes, yes! So instead of that whole rock/pop song format, we did a whole different approach thinking more like a musical. So, the song starts just with a piano, and then some other instruments start adding, you know, on the way. It's just a whole different approach and I love it. I love the song. That song is going to cause some commotion out there. Yeah, it's going to be good. So "Vínculo" for sure, which is already out there, and there's a few more songs that I hope people will enjoy once they come out.

Like many artists, the folks in Enjambre are always expanding their musical knowledge. ASA’s core mission is to uplift fellow creatives, and we always love to find out who’s inspiring our guests. Rafael and I discussed some of his current favorites, both old and new:

RN: I wish the band was here because I know that we all listen to different music. I listen to a whole wide range of music, and lately, I've been listening to like old, old country—maybe bluegrass—from America, from United States. I love it. I'm just going to recommend a few, just to give you an example. There's this family called The Carter Family.

OMS: Yes! Oh my goodness, Yes.

RN: Oh, good. Okay. Well, I'm just going to recommend one song: “Can't Feel at Home” by The Carter Family. I love that song. Also, this singer named Spade Cooley. C-O-O-L-E-Y. I don't know how you [say] that. Cooley? I don't know if it's Cool-eh or Cool-ee. Spade C-O-O-L-E-Y. Spade Cooley. There's a song that I recommend, it's called “The Trouble with Me.” There's also this kid who’s newish, I guess. I discovered him lately, but I noticed he's been doing great stuff for the last five years. He's this kid from Texas, and his project is called Flatland Cavalry. Flatland Cavalry. And a song that I recommend is “Sleeping Alone.” This is on the country stuff that I've been listening to. And then not so new but that I like listening to...There was this band from California called The Growlers. I really liked them, I don't know what happened, they went their own way, and the lead singer started his solo album/ solo career. His name is Brooks Nielsen. I recommend his stuff, too. From here, there's this band...they’re contemporary like us, we came out around the same time. Their new stuff I'm really enjoying; it’s very experimental. The name of the band is in English, actually—it's Hello Seahorse! That’s the name of the band. So there, I’m giving you something [laughs].

As our conversation came to a close, Rafael and I discussed what’s next for the band. In 2026, Enjambre will be hitting the road for their Daños Luz tour, and we’re lucky enough that their first stop will be right here in Atlanta. ASA is beyond excited to reunite with the group at The Masquerade on January 31^st and witness the band’s brilliance firsthand. Rafael shared that their U.S. tours have become a sacred tradition and an opportunity spread a “joyful spirit,” especially during the bleak winter months:

OMS: So next year, you guys are touring for Daños Luz in the U.S. What are you most looking forward to on tour?

RN: Oof. Well, the thing is, we had scheduled this U.S. tour for this year, winter, February, beginning of March. Because it's become sort of like a tradition for our band to tour in the U.S. for the last part of winter. We always say “Winter is Coming” [laughs]. But, we purposely postponed this tour this year for this coming year because we really wanted to bring new music, fresh new music to the states, to the crowd over there. So, around that time, we were still finishing up our album.So, you know, it was a bummer. It's always sad to postpone. We got some heat for that, but I think it was for a good purpose. And all that to say that we're coming with new music. So, it's a refreshed band, and that's always exciting for us, and we're hoping it's going to be exciting for the people that follow us there.

It's such an adventure to tour in the U.S. It's such a great country. We enjoy, as you can see [motions to outside], beautiful weather most of the year here [in Mexico], But over there, since we tour around there, but we also go northeast and different parts of the country, we get to experience the cold, the snow, and the heavy jackets and the heavy wind. It's a beautiful adventure to go through all the cities. We've been to Atlanta before.

You know, within the United States, there's like subcultures; it's just fascinating getting a taste from each part, you know, of that huge country. It’s beautiful for us, and we enjoy it so much. We believe we bring that joyful spirit, as silly as it may sound. We bring it on stage because we're sort of on an adventurous quest when we’re there, because we normally do it for like a whole month that we’re traveling from coast to coast. So, it's exciting, and I think that gets projected in our music when we play live too, and we just have such a good time. So, we're looking forward to that. 


Thank you so much to Rafael from Enjambre for taking the time to talk with us! Click here to learn more about the band and buy tickets to their upcoming Atlanta show.