2012 is a Spanish Alternative Rock/Pop band from the southeast side of Chicago. The name was taken from a Mayan prophecy which foretells the end of the Mayan calender in December of 2012. The band was searching for a name that would reflect their Mexican roots and found 2012 intriguing for its mysticism and it sounded unique.
2012 was formed in 2000 by active members, Steve Rodriguez- lead vocal and rhythm guitar, Ernesto “El Chaman” Montiel- drums, David Estrada- lead guitar, and Guillermo “Memo” Rodriguez- background vocals and keyboards. The recent addition of Humberto “Tito” Zamarron on bass guitar rounds out the line up for 2012. 2012 has been playing their original brand of Rock/Pop in all the major venues for Spanish Rock in and around the Chicagoland area. The band insists on including covers of classic Spanish Rock bands such as Mana, Caifanes, La Ley, etc. in their shows and find that the crowd enjoys hearing them almost as much as the band enjoys playing them.
2012 has recorded and released two demos. The first demo was a self-titled eight song demo released in 2005, which was well received and gained frequent air play on both 90.5 WRTE Radio Arte and 88.7 WLUW Rock Sin Anestecia. The second demo, 2007's La Profecia is a seven song demo which highlights 2012's eclectic range of music from the rocking “Por Mi Libertad” to the power pop laden “Hey.” 2012's music appeals to a wide demographic. As witnessed at any 2012 show, young and old alike enjoy the music because of the variety of music as well as the message contained in the lyrics.
2012 has accomplished a great deal in the past seven years. 2012 Participated in MOBFEST in 2005 as part of its Spanish Rock segment. 2012 performed at Fiesta Del Sol in Pilsen in the summer of 2004and 2006. In the winter of 2004 a chance encounter with friend of 2012 and native Chicagoan, director Juan Frausto, led to the song “Maldita Soledad being included in the film Murder On The Border which took part in the Chicago Latino Film Festival. The movie was released on video the following year and the release features the video for the song “Maldita Soledad” as part of the “extras” portion of the movie. In 2006, 2012 took part in Emergenza Fest, playing their original material in the Spanish language to mainly an English speaking crowd and made it to the semi finals at Chicago’s famous Double Door Lounge.
In early 2007, 2012 performed at The Portage Theater at the opening of director Juan Frausto’s movie Get Pony Boy. This time around the director gave the band a specific scene to write a song for. The result is the song “Por Mi Libertad” which was featured in the movie and in the 2012's new demo La Profecia. The summer of 2007 saw 2012 branch out into the surrounding states winning over crowds with shows in Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin as well as Southbend, Indiana . Recently, 2012 has had the honor of performing as the opening act for Moderato and has been asked to open for Fobia in early 2008. The bands web pages received
a large number of new visitors with 2012's myspace page recently topping the 10,000 visitor mark.
