As a young girl, I was very disobedient; the rules didn’t apply to me. When I first heard punk, my head spun; the lyrics spoke to me of nonconformity, different from the music I heard daily on the radio in Colombia.
In Bogotá, you hear vallenato, salsa, merengue… Which speak of love and heartbreak. Here I heard lyrics of struggle, rebellion, fighting against the state…
I remember one of my first concerts, on May 1, 2003, after a march commemorating Labor Day.
They talked about the labor movement, unions, and how the working class developed. Then they gave me a pamphlet that explained what would happen if the US and Colombia signed a free trade agreement. I wrote an essay about it in school, and I feel like punk started giving me the tools to think for myself. I was analyzing political issues while my classmates were interested in other things.
I began to question what was happening around me in a society that hides everything.
I’d been involved in punk for a little over 10 years, going to shows and all that. When I discovered screen printing and fell in love with it <3; I met a guy named Carlos Velázquez, the heart of a collective called Rat Trap.
Carlos had an idea to set up a place where we could make music, record bands, screenprint, and have a mini skate ramp (๑‾̀◡‾́)✴. We did it in a big house in Teusaquillo with all our friends; I moved my workshop there, and we started growing hand in hand with people who wanted to do the same thing as us. It was really nice because it motivated me and I started playing instruments. In that house, at 25 years old, I started playing the drums for the first time.
Learning to play an instrument wasn’t easy for me. I was older, and my motor skills and coordination weren’t very fine to begin with <hahaha>. But the drums gave me patience, taught me to love something I wanted to achieve, and showed me how to be persistent.
I had gone through significant losses in my life up to that point; more than anything, my mom died, and I found the drums shortly after. So, how was I supposed to confront that other reality from my heart, my will, about what I want to do and the decision to do it, you know? I didn’t want to work for a company, I didn’t want to follow the herd, or be the same as everyone else; I wanted to do my own thing. And the drums and screen printing helped me forge that path.
So far I have played drums in Isla Tortuga, FINAL, TUMBAS y CAVERNA, bass in Flores del Mal (unreleased project) and vocals in UZI.
Since I started screen printing, I’ve made merch for bands and brands, album covers, flags, and even furniture…
I created DIME PAJARITO, a brand inspired by the richness of Latin American music. The designs are illustrated with song lyrics.
I also taught many courses teaching people how to screen print, and from them came independent projects and artists that are still going strong.
Punk Posters was born from talking with a friend… His name is Said Arias, and he told me he wanted to make some patches with punk-related phrases. We sat down to talk about it, and I said, “Why don’t we invite some friends to illustrate these words?” Up until that point, I didn’t have much experience printing on paper, but I wanted to do it, so it sounded like a good idea to start from there.
From the first edition of Punk Posters came the design: “Punk is support, not competition.” Which went viral, made by Sebas Vinasco, bassist of Lupus… (This design is no longer part of the collection)
From Volume 1 there were 13 designs in total, illustrated by our talented friends… Then a worldwide community emerged.
Then, people would write to us, “I want to collaborate, I want to send designs!” Subsequent releases became bigger and featured more diverse and international artists. Said moved to Berlin during the pandemic. I spoke to him about it, and well, I continued doing it alone. Annually, I invite between 12 and 15 artists, depending. This year will be the eighth edition; I feel that Punk Posters is the voice and heartbeat of many people around the world who are into punk. Each graphic expresses their feelings about their context and their experiences.
Personally, I think the world is f*cked up, damaged, and rotten. That’s why I think expressing things honestly from the heart is important. Even in the punk scene, many things can be distorted, you know? Or at least I say that from my context; in Colombia and Latin America, punks are often violent or sexist. I experienced things as a woman, being in the scene, that I didn’t like.
Since I started playing drums, many doors opened to play in other countries, and I was able to experience scenes from other places and how they worked. Seeing strong women, leaders, filled me with inspiration, how they act, how they operate… It was a source of hope in the midst of what I love, want to be, and do.
I consider punk to be my community. Being from Colombia, as a child I felt limited in my ability to travel, create, and grow because I wasn’t born into a wealthy family. It was only because of punk, music, and playing drums that I started traveling to other places. From those experiences, I realized that punk is a global support network that only we understand. It doesn’t matter who you are, but if someone I know and trust tells me you’re coming and need a place to stay or something, I’m going to help out, you know?
Mala Influencia is an invitation to each person to do whatever they want, whatever they can imagine. In reality, there are no good or bad influences; life lays the cards on the table, and only you decide what you want to do and which path to take.
I believe in building from dreams, from the desire to care for and heal your inner child; from there, I feel that everyone has the power to decide how far they want to go.
-Ximena Ortiz.
