Los Aptos Blend Sierreño Sound in ‘Temporadas’ to Honor Latino Culture and Family

Los Aptos Blend Sierreño Sound in ‘Temporadas’ to Honor Latino Culture and Family
Credit: Instagram/ @_losaptos

BELatina caught up with Mexican-American trio Los Aptos after their electrifying performance at La Onda Fest in Napa Valley, where they joined a lineup that included giants like Marco Antonio Solís and Carin León. What they brought to the stage reflected both their heritage and the experiences that shaped their music — an upbringing steeped in Latino culture while navigating life as first-generation Americans in Indiana.

The band, made up of Juan Ortega, Jony Rivera, and Daniel Vaides, recently released their fifth album Temporadas, a conceptual collection exploring the seasons of love, nostalgia, and identity. Their sound, rooted in classic sierreño, takes on a distinct texture through synths, vocoders, and alternative pop influences. This genre-bending approach speaks to the duality of growing up with regional Mexican music while absorbing U.S.-based styles like indie, country, and rap.

Sierreño Meets Synths

The core of Temporadas is regional and proudly Mexican, shaped by a deep appreciation for the genre’s legacy. Ortega described it clearly: “Temporadas is a new album that we just dropped and it comes with 12 songs. It’s an album that’s super regional, like Mexicano. The people might know us more from you know Indie Regional. But this one, we were going back a little bit to our roots, and it was just like super classic Regional Mexicano. We were inspired by artists like Peso Pluma and Oscar Maydon.”

This musical return to their roots came with experimentation. Ortega added, “We use Adam’s Family as a metaphor, but it’s a sick song.” The single, accompanied by a cinematic video, plays with spooky tones while exploring themes of acceptance and vulnerability in love.

Music for the First-Gen Experience

Los Aptos carries the weight and pride of their family’s journey in everything they do. “We’re some kids from Indiana, our parents, our immigrants, they came over, so we’re first-gen,” Ortega said. “We’re just some kids that grew up with our Latino culture and roots, but also living in the U.S. So, we got a little bit of both sides of La Cultura. We make Mexicana inspired by Regional Mexicano, a little bit of Indy, a little bit of alternative.”

They were especially emotional about performing in Napa, sharing the stage with artists their parents once played on loop at home. “When they told us that we were going to be here, like the news. And then we saw the lineup. We were like, ‘Oh my God, that’s so crazy,’ you know sharing the stage with artists that we grew up hearing, like artists that our parents listened to, like Pepa Aguilar and Marco Antonio Solís, and then artists that we listen to now, like Tito and Oscar Maydon,” Ortega said.

The moment became even more meaningful as they reflected on the sacrifices their families made. “Being on stage and getting off stage, I think about my dad and my mom and how they fought to be here. It makes me prouder to get off stage and to think about them. And I’m glad that Juanito’s parents can be here [with us] because I feel my parents through his parents,” Vaides said. “I think I can speak for Jony, too, that it’s the same feeling that we all get.”

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Shout out to @LosAptos for honor their roots through sierreño music 💜 #fyp #parati #losaptos #regionalmexicano #laondafest

♬ Enamorado – Los Aptos

Los Aptos Are All About Regional Roots and Evolving Sounds

The music Los Aptos makes continues to shift as their experiences grow, but their foundation remains clear. “I would say that it’s very classic regional Mexican music and [honoring] people who paved the way for that were artists like Ariel Camacho. [Our music] is composed of a guitar, a bajo, sometimes a tuba, and it’s more like instruments that you hear in a corrido,” Ortega explained.

What makes their version unique is the blend. “Since we’re first gen kids and we grew up in the US, we add stuff from artists that we like, you know U.S.-based artists, indie artists, pop artists, and rap artists. So, it’s become this very dope melting pot. It’s a dope genre that has evolved and it’s super sick.”

That blend is on full display in tracks like “La Top Uno,” “Dices Me Extrañas,” and “Wow,” their collaboration with country singer Jordyn Shellhart. Ortega summed it up with a smile: “We’re out here cooking it up.”

And even as their audience grows, the gratitude remains close. “I’m super happy when I get off the stage. When I was little, I didn’t even want to play music. My mom forced me to get into band class. I thought it was lame, you know?” Rivera said as he reflected. “But I’m over here playing stuff like this now and I’m super happy she made me do that.”

Los Aptos’ Temporadas is now available across all platforms. As they continue riding this wave of creativity, their music speaks to an audience that understands bicultural identity from both the past and the present, without forgetting where it started.

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