The angelic solo of violins and cheers take over the theater stadium, yet Director Frank Juarez only hears the thumping of his heart in his heavy chest. His palms start to get sweaty as he gets prepared for his solo. The crowd grows loud as Juarez hits the first note on his golden trumpet. 

El Dorado High School Orchestra Director Frank Juarez joined local El Paso mariachi band “Tribes” with his trumpet on Jan. 2022. His journey with his new group has lead to unimaginable experiences and can only hope to continue. The founder, Mike Hernandez started “Tribes” five years ago when the vision of incorporating rock and mariachi rose in the air. Throughout the years, teachers from across town came together to fulfill their goals, to make the public happy through music.  Tribes slowly rose in popularity through social media. They caught the attention of the public right away, and started performing at small events. These events slowly turned into bigger concerts and new opportunities. 

Major gigs with prominent bands opened new opportunities to Tribes. These small privileges, such as being the opening band for “Los Lobos” , soon led to bigger and better things.

“We recently played at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin and we’ve played in various clubs out there,” Juarez said. “We met a bunch of music groups from all over the country and had a blast.”

Little did Juarez know that these connections would be a lead to bigger and better things. The manager of the band had big inspirations for “Tribes”  and Juarez was a part of his big plan. 

“We started recording music and in the process of this we’ve been able to meet such amazing bands such as Cage the Elephant, and Natalia Lafourcade,” Juarez said. “They have inspired us in the music industry and they’ve also provided a lot of tips.”  

The connection of music took over the meeting between the two groups. Rather than feeling as if he were meeting a celebrity, it felt as if they were simply two musicians connecting. 

“Popular musicians sometimes make you feel inferior and as if you are weird, but ever since I joined Tribes they talked to me as a fellow musician, and you feel as one of them,” Frank said. “They treat you like one of their bandmates and it feels exciting.”

With these new bonds,Tribes has experienced arising inspirations and new ideas while working on their major projects. The band has been working on producing their own music, and performing at more festivals such as the El Paso Music Festival and Alfresco Friday.

“There are 25 bands performing and we got selected to be one of them,” Frank said. “Although we are not the headlining group, we are right below them and that is pretty big accomplishment for us.”

Tribes continues publishing music, with their newest release “Mujeres De La Luz”, and has new performances at festivals coming up such as “Sal y Limon” in Downtown El Paso. Their accomplishments do not stop here, as they will only continue to prosper.

“We have many projects coming up and it’s amazing seeing all the progress we have made together as a band,” Juárez said. “The best feeling is seeing the crowd sing along and smile and that is what keeps us motivated to move on forward.”