Dizá takes Zapotec rock to the world

The Zapotec rock band Dizá conquered Spain with their performance at the Casa de México Foundation in Spain on July 6th in Madrid. The group's vocalist, Dagoberto Melchor, mentioned, "It's a dream come true to arrive in another country and do it with our music. To be able to bring Zapotec to another continent and have people already know us was magical. We were pleasantly surprised that many Spaniards came to our concerts."

He expressed the importance of bringing Zapotec culture outside of Mexico: "It is a huge responsibility. The sole purpose of our band is to preserve our language and get new generations interested in speaking it because, unfortunately, it has been fading away, and we fear it will be forgotten. Our mission is to make people sing songs in Zapotec. We will not give up until we achieve that dream."

Dizá, the musical project comprising Dagoberto Melchor, Noel Luis, Jonathan Hernández, and Pablo Antonio, seeks to preserve the Zapotec language through rock music. They also aspire to become ambassadors of their culture and bring indigenous pride to different corners of the world, recognizing native cultural diversity and embracing the Zapotec legacy through music.

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Melchor recalled how the idea of creating a Zapotec rock band came about: "We started young, playing in Spanish. We are self-taught musicians, and we began creating songs in our language. Sometimes, we sing in another language without knowing what we say, so we thought of writing songs in our mother tongue. It was magical. We already had original lyrics and decided to translate them from Spanish to Zapotec."

He added, "It was a huge challenge. We couldn't translate the songs literally into Zapotec because they lost their meaning. If you translate them literally, the message you want to convey is not understood. It's like composing all over again but thinking in Zapotec. Since then, we decided to craft the songs in Zapotec and forget about Spanish," the vocalist assured.

Regarding how Zapotec culture has been embodied in their music, he stated, "Legends and myths have inspired us. For example, we have a song about a nahual that comes for people's souls, which still happens where we live. We capture all the traditions and cultures of our town in our songs. There is another song about healing people with a small jar, an original ritual from here in San Pablo Güila."

About Dizá's upcoming projects and material, Dagoberto added, "Three new songs are coming, and they will be released gradually. The first one is a collaboration, which is very magical. A song will be sung in both Zapotec and Spanish so that people who don't speak Zapotec can understand it. We will have performances here in Oaxaca and are trying to organize a tour across Mexico, Latin America, and the United States."

The band will perform on August 4th in San Pablo Güila as part of the Guelaguetza celebration in Oaxaca.

About Dizá:

- San Pablo Güila is part of the central valleys of Oaxaca.

- In August, they will release a new single in collaboration.

- Their song "Bekw yâs" was inspired by the legend of a nahual that visits San Pablo Güila.

- Dizá was invited by the band Saurom to perform the song "3, 2, 1 la Tierra," a fusion of Spanish and Zapotec, at the Arena CDMX on April 22, 2023.

- San Pablo Güila is 63 kilometers from Oaxaca's Historic Center.

- Dizá was founded in 2017.

- They performed in the medieval city of Toledo, Spain, on June 28.

- In 2020, they released their debut album *Orígenes*.

- Their album has ten songs.