From Ejea to Mexico singing rancheras and blessed by the country’s great artists: two young people, the Cinco Villas and a dream

Both of their names begin with J, they are so similar that they could easily be brothers, they share a passion for music and could almost have been born together in Ejea de los Caballeros , where they live and from where they sing rancheras and corridos with a Mexican accent mixed with that of the Cinco Villas. For a few months now, Juan Rodrigo and José Antonio Gil, one 24 years old and the other 28, like to be recognized by the name of PurodobleJ, the corridos group they have just formed in the capital of Ejea after the trip to the Mexican city of Culiacán, Sinaloa, which they made a few months ago. They were not alone, quite the opposite. And there one of the legends of regional music in the country was waiting for them, El Komander.

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“It’s like I’m David Bisbal here in Spain ,” say the two young men to clarify any doubts regarding the artist who, by the way, is quite well-known, having almost three million followers on social media and millions of views on some of his songs. It was precisely at the ranch of their “good friend” El Komander where they recorded “El rengo del gallo giro”, their first cover that has already been played thousands of times on YouTube and on different digital platforms.

But to understand the reason why two twenty-somethings from Ejea de los Caballeros decided to form a regional Mexican music group without being from the country and being more than 9,000 kilometres away from there, we must go back to the origins. At 7 and 10 years old, Juan and José Antonio joined the Ejea Music Band where they played the trumpet and trombone respectively. They grew up together, continued training and then, as teenagers, the charanga would arrive.

Together with a group of friends (among them Juan’s brother and one of his cousins) they created La Trasnochada , a youth group with which they toured practically all the village festivals there were and there were, they played with the Gremio Artists or were the band of the Vaquillera group during the Fiestas del Pilar. All this while they were studying at the Professional Music Conservatory of Zaragoza. Later they would travel to the Superior Conservatory of Pamplona. And that’s where it all began.

“Our daily routine in Pamplona was to grab the guitar, have a few beers and go sing and make music . People saw it as a bit strange, as if they didn’t understand it because of the genre of the songs as well, it wasn’t very common. They really thought we were crazy for dedicating ourselves to what we liked. But a few years later here we are, thank God,” say Juan and José Antonio. Their love for regional Mexican songs comes from their earliest childhood, when they listened to Vicente Fernández, Antonio Aguilar or Los Tigres del Norte at popular festivals. “We can say that regional Mexican music caught our attention even then.”

“We have been listening to regional Mexican songs since we were little”

In Ejea, the commotion began when they returned from their trip to Mexico . “People asked us a lot why we had gone there, it was obvious that they were uncertain and that they were interested and since we released the ‘cover’ they have supported us a lot with this project.” The recording of that first song was something that “came about by choice” and that they had not planned. “Now as a group we are focusing more on releasing an album of our own corridos . In September I think we are going to release a new song and our intention is to do it every month,” they say.

As for their relationship with El Komander, it all started like almost everything in this technological world: through social networks. “A while ago it would have seemed unthinkable but we met him a few years ago and to this day we keep in touch. We also made a song for him and he suggested we meet in Madrid. So we also planned the trip to Mexico.” During their stay in the country they also traveled to Cancun where they met LuisRConríquez (with 3.6 million followers). “We are very grateful for everything our friends there gave us and because at the end of the day we fulfilled a dream by being able to travel to Mexico,” they say.

Thus, Juan and José Antonio continue singing their corridos in the capital of the Cinco Villas, trying to make a name for themselves in a genre that is not very explored but in which they have the blessing of the greatest artists in the country. Their only song (for the moment) can be heard on Spotify, YouTube and other digital platforms and their Instagram account is @purodoblej_oficial.