Two years ago, Grupo Frontera was playing at quinceañeras. Now, they sell out arenas

ON THE CORNER of a bustling Los Angeles street is Guelaguetza, a Mexican restaurant featuring a bright orange mural with a musician and his accordion. It's a fitting location to share a meal with Grupo Frontera, the Texas bordertown band that's currently dominating Latin music.

It's the eve of the release of the group's sophomore album, “Jugando a Que No Pasa Nada,” which translates to, “Pretending Like Everything’s OK When It’s Not.” As Norteñas play softly through the restaurant's speakers, the sixsome enters quietly, wearing jeans, sweatshirts, and tees. A few hours later, I'll get to appreciate just what a rare quiet moment this was. At their album release party at a downtown L.A. brewery, the group will find themselves surrounded by a cacophony of friends, family, industry players, food trucks and photo booths, all as the latest release blasts in the background.

But here, now, it's just a table, a Oaxacan food menu, a reporter and Grupo Frontera — which consists of Alberto “Beto” Acosta (bajo quinto), Juan Javier Cantú (vocals, accordion), Carlos Guerrero (drums), Brian Ortega (bass), Julian Peña Jr. (congas) and Adelaido “Payo” Solís III (vocals).

The creation of Grupo Frontera, whose name is a nod to their McAllen hometown on the border of Texas and Mexico, began only two years ago. In 2022, Acosta was working as a local photographer when he reached out to Cantú and Peña Jr. to create a band that he could offer his clients as a party package with photos at weddings and quinceañeras.

“Everything lined up the way it was supposed to be,” Acosta tells TODAY.com in Spanish. “Juan and I had a band before Frontera, and it didn’t work out. But then things started falling into place and happened naturally.”

Guerrero, Ortega and lead singer Solís joined the band next.

“I’ve never been on the stage before Frontera, never been in front of people,” says Solís, who joined the group after high school, when he could then be found singing at family parties. “And now we’re playing arenas and theaters. I’m used to it (now), but when we started I was just so terrible.”

In 2022, the group put their own spin on the Colombian folk-pop group Morat’s song “No Se Va,” infusing the track with a cumbia Norteña sound. Their cover became a hit after a TikTok of a couple dancing to the song in Mexico went viral, per Billboard. By September of that year, “No Se Va” reached No. 3 on the Hot Latin Track Billboard chart, marking the group's chart debut — and the beginning of their whirlwind success story.

Their debut album, “El Comienzo” (“The Start”) was produced by Grammy-winning and multi Latin Grammy-winning producer Édgar Barrera and released on Aug. 3, 2023. The record included their hit song “Un x100to” with Bad Bunny, and went on to reach No. 2 on the Regional Mexican Albums Billboard chart, as well as No. 4 on the Top Latin Albums chart.

An accompanying tour ensued, with appearances at Coachella (where they made a guest appearance during Bad Bunny's set) as well as performing at the Zócalo, Mexico City's iconic capital square, for its Independence Day. The group has also already racked up several awards. Composer Barrera won a Latin Grammy for best regional Mexican song of the year for “Un x100to.”

“We’re literally a band of brothers because we spend 24/7 with each other,” Solís says. “We’re gone for months at a time, and when we go home, we even hang out together. There’s not a moment when we’re apart for more than a week or less, honestly. But it’s like any other family: like siblings, we’re going to fight. But family is family.”

Peña Jr. quips in Spanish, “If we don’t fight with you, it’s because we don’t love you!” The entire group chuckles in agreement, and Cantú extends his hand to Acosta to “make peace” after an earlier disagreement, he explains with a laugh. Acosta accepts his bandmate's white flag with a kiss on the hand.

The brotherly playfulness between this group is evident; throughout the morning, they show one another what's on their phones and take jabs at each other. Even what to eat becomes a group decision — Solís is a picky eater, while Guerrero and Cantú are more adventurous. And when their favorite songs play over the restaurant's speakers, they don't hesitate to belt out their favorite lyrics.

This could very well be a family gathering. But the realities of their newfound fame take over when the restaurant's owner, Paulina Lopez Velazquez, is shocked to learn they are in the house. “I’m a big fan,” she says, before passionately recommending her favorite dishes, among them tacos de barbacoa, which two of the group's members choose. Soon, a complimentary plate of quesillo fundido and freshly made tortillas also appear on the table, another perk of their celebrity.

The day before this interview, “Ya Pedo Quién Sabe” with Christian Nodal hit No. 1 on the Regional Mexican Airplay chart, marking the group’s eighth chart topper. Now, they say their album, “Jugando a Que No Pasa Nada,” is a labor of love, and it is clearly a thoughtfully curated album, from the cover art, track list and reveal. In the album announcement, a Transformer appeared signifying Grupo Frontera's transition into a new era. The 12-track LP is a genre-blending ode to heartbreak and love, with collaborations with Maluma, Nicki Nicole, Christian Nodal and the group that made them famous: Morat.

Solís’ red truck was featured on their first album. When asked whose black pickup truck is on the new album, he quips with a smirk: “It’s mine. I just bought it.”

If the tradition of his trucks appearing on their album covers will continue, Solís says he “doesn’t know,” but the other guys chime in, “We gotta keep it going, bro.”

The songs on “Jugando a Que No Pasa Nada” take listeners on a journey that begins with a heartbroken, bitter man who is done with love. Solís says the inclusion of the truck and the album title is meant to reflect when someone puts up “a front” to act like everything is OK.

“Then you get in your truck and you’re alone, listening to the songs you want to listen to, and you drop the act,” he says.

"The first song, ‘F----- Amor,' is: 'You don’t want to know anything about love anymore." And then towards the middle is ‘Ya Pedo Quién Sabe,’ like, 'Maybe I miss you.' At the end, it’s ‘Quédate Bebé.’”

As the album continues, the feelings of anger disperse, the perspective changes and the person at the center of this narrative is begging their past love to stay.

“You started off with like, ‘f--- love’ and you work your way down to, ‘No, I miss her. Come back,’” he says.

When asked who relates the most to this album, each of the Grupo Frontera members burst out in laughter, eyes going from one member to the other.

“Ahhh!” they hoot. Ortega says, “We can all relate to it,” before Acosta explains the universality of the album.

“It happens to all of us. You can be here pretending to be happy, but inside you’re heartbroken because your boyfriend broke up with you,” he says, with Peña Jr. adding, “It applies to a lot of stuff.”

IT WAS A circle moment for Grupo Frontera when Morat invited them to perform “No Se Va” at their San Antonio concert in February 2023. From there, they “planted the seed” about collaborating in the future. They kept looking for the right song, but “couldn’t find it.”

“Randomly, they sent us a song,” Peña Jr. says. “They said, ‘This song is for you guys'... and it was ‘Los Dos.’ They were like, ‘Por qué no los dos?’ Why don’t we do it together?” The result was a callback to their cumbia roots, mixed in with the folk-pop Colombian Morat sound. Its lyrics also include the album’s title.

As the interview continues between bites of tacos with consomé, carne asada, entomatadas and chile rellenos, a Grupo Frontera song plays in the background. The members hum and croon along. “Ey, they’re playing (our music) so that we know they play Grupo Frontera here!” one member jokes.

The artists acknowledge that “Jugando a Que No Pasa Nada” might sound different than what they've previously released. It’s an ongoing conversation for them when creating music.

“We changed the style little by little,” Solís says. “With this new album, we don’t want people to think that we’re leaving the cumbias behind. We don’t want people to think that we’re changing our style. We’re not. What it is, is that every member of Grupo Frontera listens to something completely different in their free time.” Solís, for examples, enjoys tumbados and sureños, as does Ortega, but the latter also listens to rap. Cantú is into hip-hop, while Acosta's favorite band is the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Peña Jr.'s favorite songs are pegasseros and rancheras, while Guerrero says his playlists have a variety of wide-ranging genres.

On this album, with each person’s interests came experimentation and a desire to create “from our hearts,” with their brotherhood always present. Even, in the case of this conversation, when the topic turns slightly “controversial” as Solís explains what song was the turning point for them to try new styles.

“I’m gonna say something, — Juan’s gonna say it’s not true, but I’m right and he’s wrong," he jokes. "‘Me Hizo Un Favor’ was the first song,” Solís says, as Cantú's hand slams the table.

Cantú, shaking his heads, says:“Put that in there! ‘Juan slaps the table.’”

Everyone cracks up. “‘Me Hizo Un Favor’ was the song that made us do this album in all these different genres,” Solís continues. The song wasn’t necessarily the first song they recorded, but the one that had a different “vibe” they ended up loving.

“Yeah, that’s true,” Cantú agrees.

Phew. Brotherly fight averted.

The group concurs that they were all pleasantly surprised with the moodier, R&B-tinged song. “We should keep doing that,” Solís recalls. “If we like what we’re doing and what we’re playing, it doesn’t matter if we’re playing a different genre. We’re still Grupo Frontera.”

Bellies full, yawns from a couple of members remind the room that this is just the beginning of a long day for Grupo Frontera, who will head to their release party later — which will quickly spiral into more album promo and a recently-announced tour of the same name. The “Jugando A Que No Pasa Nada” tour will kick off on Aug. 2 in Las Vegas and wrap Oct. 5 in Edinburg, Texas, spanning across 28 cities in the U.S., with tickets going on sale May 17.

As lunch wraps, the owner returns to ask if she and the staff can take photos with the group. By now, tables are filled with hungry people devouring the restaurant's signature mole and dishes. The attention turns to the members, who snap smiling photos next to an aqua-colored mural of a rancher with a straw hat. Realizing they are now pressed for time, suddenly the entire kitchen staff starts rolling out from the back to politely ask for snaps. One woman pulls her apron over her head and squeezes it in her hands as she poses next to Ortega.

The newfound attention doesn’t appear to phase them. Guerrero notes that he can still go out to dinner with his wife and kids and not have too many people come up for photos, while on the flipside, Ortega recalls going to the grocery store and someone coyly asking him if he’s in a band.

“It’s different for each one of us,” Acosta says. “(Getting recognized) isn’t a challenge for us because we’ve maintained our feet on the ground."

Later that night at their release party, the six members are never far from one another. At the stroke of 9 P.M., signaling the official drop of “Jugando a Que No Pasa Nada,” the group is in a tight circle, dancing along to their song “Desquite” ft. Nicki Nicole. Guests record their pure joy as all six friends and bandmates jump up and down, clearly living in the moment. This is Grupo Frontera.

CORRECTION (April 15, 2024, 9:50 p.m.): An earlier version of this article misstated that Grupo Frontera won a Latin Grammy. Composer Barrera won a Latin Grammy for best regional Mexican song of the year for “Un x100to.”

This article was originally published on TODAY.com