Almost a year ago, Mexican American regional group Los de la Homan announced to their Instagram followers that they’d purchased a tour van.
Standing in front of their baby-blue Mercedes Sprinter in an alley on Chicago’s South Side, the three brothers promised their loyal fan base—the Homaniacos—that they would soon be bringing their music to cities across the country.
They followed through on that promise. But like good Chicagoans, they also returned home for their debut performance at Sueños Music Festival over Memorial Day weekend.
“For us, it was a really crazy thing. Nuestro nombre estaba on the flyer, that was one of the biggest things when I seen us under someone like Fuerza or someone like fucking Chino Pacas,” Los de la Homan frontman Marc Cardenas said. “That’s one step closer, one step closer.”
Alongside Marc, 23, are his two younger brothers: Jesus Cardenas, 21, on second vocals, and Chapo Cardenas, 19, on requinto. The Marquette Park trio has amassed more than 80,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, with singles like “Mi Princesa,” released last year, surpassing 1 million streams.
“It’s a crazy experience, because being from the city, I have seen [Sueños] get thrown every year. It’s like, damn, now I’m a part of it,” Jesus said.
With an hour-long set on the La Plaza stage on the final day of the two-day festival, Los de la Homan delivered an evening performance. The band gifted the Sueños crowd with the first performance of new single “Como Le Digo.” This love corrido reminds listeners of their first heartaches, with nostalgic strums and lyrics like “Me quedo confundido, enloquecido” tapping into the anxiety and disappointment from lost romantic connections.
“We got a lot of composers sending us music, so you guys are gonna hear a more original sound than ever,” Marc said. “If you guys ever want to say who’s a Chicago artist going crazy, you guys are going to be able to use us as an example.”
Los de la Homan are investing in themselves not just through their tour van—dubbed the “Battle Bus” by Jesus, a nod to the blue flying school bus that drops Fortnite players into battle—but also through a personal style rooted in the group’s DIY origins. Raised on privadas held in garages and backyards, the band still carries that self-made mentality, customizing their apparel and building a visual identity that reflects where they came from—the South Side.
“Right here, I got some jeans, I added some pearls to them,” Jesus said, pointing to his distressed jeans he hand bleached and cut.
“He be custom-making his shit,” Marc chimed in matter-of-factly.
Los de la Homan’s Sueños set was carefully curated as such, marking the first time the group played a performance featuring 50% of their own, original music.
Credit: Mateo Zapata | @mateoxzapata
“We also got the other 50% that’s for the people that are not our fans, and we’re gonna reel them in with some covers, which is cool, but it’s our first actual step into making a setlist that’s half original music,” Marc said, emphasizing that even still, the set’s DNA was “completely Homan.”
The brothers have hit new markets like New York City and New Castle, Delaware, where they performed at Fiesta Fresh Market’s Mercadito Sessions, a new “Tiny Desk”–style setup that placed Los de la Homan in the produce aisle.
“We’ve never seen nothing like it, and when we pulled up, there were a lot of other musicians there… The biggest takeaway for us was that the people loved it,” Marc said.
The group is not new at taking on unconventional stages; they come from performing at car washes in their neighborhood. And leading up to Sueños, they did not forget to give back to their community. Via the band’s TikTok, Marc invited their followers to local barber shop La Familia for free haircuts, a free performance, and a chance to win tickets to the festival.
The Homan DNA is undeniably Chicago. “The vibe, the swag we got, I feel like it’s a lot of things put into one that really represents the South Side. Even some words that we use, and how we use them. I feel like it’s very unique to Chicago,” Jesus said.
One of the trio’s musical references comes from their older brother, who bumped notable South Side rapper Chief Keef in their home growing up.
“Living in the same crib as them, I would have to hear that shit,” Marc said. “I feel like [Chief Keef’s] ‘I don’t give a fuck’ attitude kind of flowed into us from hearing his shit so much, you know?”
It’s their brotherhood that gives Los de la Homan their cohesion. Marc’s and Jesus’s vocals complement each other, neither trying to outshine the other. Though Chapo is the youngest, any trace of shyness disappears once he picks up his instrument, ripping through melodies behind his two older brothers. Family remains at the center of it all, with their father managing the group and keeping them grounded.
For Los de la Homan, all roads lead to a full-length album coming soon, but in the meantime they want everyone to know: “Anything is possible. Ponganse las pilas, se viene muchas cosas bonitas, muchas cosas peras. Si Dios quiere y con todo su apoyo.”
Jocelyn Martinez-Rosales is a Mexican American independent journalist from Belmont Cragin covering music and culture. She is also a senior editor at the Weekly.