Meet Grupo Elevado | Grupo Norteño | Music Group

We had the good fortune of connecting with Grupo Elevado and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Grupo Elevado, why did you pursue a creative career?
We pursue music because it is our greatest passion. We believe that with our music we will soon be able to repay everything our parents have sacrificed and gifted us while having our talent and heritage at the forefront. As we continue to grow, we are hoping to become important figures within our local community and all of LA, a success story that can influence children to pick up an instrument and begin a journey of making their dreams reality because we genuinely love the culture of música regional Mexicana that surrounds SoCal. Music is one of the best things for our souls and that’s why we try to work hard to pursue it together.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Grupo Elevado. Today it consists of 5 members, Daniel Urrea (Accordion), Andres Quintero(Bajoquinto), Derek Atilano(Bass), and two alternate drummers. Originally it started out with just Daniel, Derek and Andres. “Derek and Daniel played basketball together throughout middle school, but the three of us met just months before the end of middle school and coincidentally we all played instruments, and we weren’t that bad at them either. Pretty soon we were in our parents backyards trying to learn songs we thought were cool and through music we got closer. It feels nostalgic but it was really only a few months ago, maybe a year now.” – Andres. However, getting to the point of gigging almost every weekend was not easy. With the little money we earned we spent it immediately on new equipment and borrowing lights and cables from friends to try to make our performances better. “We knew individually we had real talent and we wanted to make something out of that. We started off slow playing at family parties and posting songs online. As our sound got better our friends started hiring us and eventually our accounts gained more followers and the gigs started coming up more and more.”
– Derek. “One thing that shocks people every time they hire us is how young we are. Everyone thinks we’re at least 19 or 20 when in reality we’re barely half way through high school. That makes us different from other grupos because at our age some people are barely starting to learn an instrument.” -Daniel.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
“I love dancing so for me I would say Picolandia because everytime I go I have so much fun with the people there and hopefully one day we get the opportunity to play there and experience it from a different point of view.” -Derek

“La Casa del Perro is the best place in LA to go to. For me the perfect day is just walking in and playing around with all the instruments and equipment.” -Andres

“Anywhere with ceviche.” -Daniel

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Of course musically we have multiple influences that shape the way we play, but what’s most important is the influences closest to us. For our bassist Derek Atilano he says, “My dad has shown me what it is to love what you do. He has shown me no matter where you come from or who’s with you, if you’re passionate about what you do you will succeed. He is my biggest inspiration and my biggest supporter and I will always cherish that about him.” Musically, his biggest inspiration is Brian Tovar from Eslabon Armado because “he shows incredible dedication and skill playing the bass and I aspire one day to become as good as him.” For our accordion player Daniel Urrea his biggest inspiration comes from Arturo Villa, singer and accordion player for Edicion Especial. “He and his group started out similar to how we are starting out right now, super young, and that has shown me to not give up and over time you will grow into your own unique sound. The way he plays and writes songs inspires me to keep working on my own playing.” Finally for our singer Andres Quintero, his influences go through many genres. “I can’t put my finger on someone or something specifically because I take something from every bit of music I listen to, whether that’s rock and soul music or corridos and boleros. But one thing that’s for certain is that I wouldn’t be half the musician I am today if it wasn’t for my mom because she’s the one who introduced me to all these different sounds growing up. Not only is she my cause and influence, but she’s my reason to succeed.”

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grupo_.elevado?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

Other: TikTok:

https://www.tiktok.com/@grupo_.elevado?_t=ZT-8uRsbaoINdC&_r=1