The Sleepwalkers have a simple strategy for anyone who does not like what they hear when the longtime San Diego band takes the Pacific BeachFest stage Saturday, Oct. 3: Give it three minutes.
“We kind of change it up so much where I think if somebody doesn’t like one thing, wait for three minutes because there’s gonna be something totally different,” frontman and vocalist Johnny Valenzuela said.
The Sleepwalkers will close BeachFest’s Main Stage with a 5:30 p.m. performance Saturday.
The band will headline a day of music ranging from ’90s covers and pop-punk to DJs, school ensembles and local jazz and blues groups across three stages.
The Sleepwalkers have spent more than three decades developing a sound that moves between rockabilly, blues, country and cumbia, a combination Valenzuela calls “cumbiabilly.”
The group started as a rockabilly band in the 1990s before gradually adding cumbia covers to their sets. After seeing how audiences responded, Valenzuela began writing original cumbias for the band.
Today, he said, the group plays more cumbia than rockabilly, but the older sounds have not disappeared. A song leaning toward country or bluesy rockabilly can quickly shift into cumbia.
Percussionist Matias Pizarro, the band’s newest member, first encountered that mix as a fan. He saw The Sleepwalkers perform at the Belly Up in 2022 before eventually joining the group.
At BeachFest, Valenzuela said the band plans to dig deeper into its catalog, bringing back older rockabilly and blues-influenced songs alongside the cumbias they’ve become known for.
He said festivals also allow The Sleepwalkers to reach people who may not have heard them before.
“Unlike a regular show, you get folks maybe that have never seen you, or from different areas,” Valenzuela said. “It’s always good to get new fans and new people.”
Pizarro moved from Santiago, Chile, to San Diego 15 years ago and considers headlining a BeachFest stage a personal milestone.
“I love the border culture,” Pizarro said. “I love everything that Sleepwalkers stands for, the transfronterizo, the Chicano, the kind of a from-here-and-from-there feeling.”
The performance also comes less than two weeks before another milestone for The Sleepwalkers: the Oct. 16 release of Almas Perdidas.
The eight-song album features original material rooted in rockabilly and cumbia. Valenzuela described the record as a culmination of the band’s musical evolution from 30 years of playing.
Some songs move between Spanish and English, reflecting the band’s connection to the border region. “Chicana Mama Boogaloo,” for example, references cruising Highland Avenue and Chicano Park.
“Being as though we’re right here, it’s a nice way to help represent our community,” Valenzuela said. “I’m very proud to be a Chicano and love my roots.”
The album will also mark The Sleepwalkers’ first vinyl release, something Valenzuela said carries particular meaning because he grew up listening to records.
The band will celebrate the release on Oct. 24 with an album release show at Tio Leo’s, 5302 Napa St., alongside East Los Angeles band Los Fabulocos.
DJ Betty Bangs opens the Main Stage at 9:30 a.m., followed by ’90s cover band Paging the 90s at 11 a.m., Rock of Ages at 1:30 p.m. and San Diego pop-punk band Fishing for Chips at 3:30 p.m.
DJs will anchor the Grand Avenue Stage, while the Community Stage will feature local performers ranging from school music programs to The Hazards, Mission Bay High School’s Preservationists and Mambo Orchestra, Thriller San Diego, and Shoreline Blues.
The music is part of the 25th Pacific BeachFest, a free festival running from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday along the Pacific Beach boardwalk.
Pizarro said the band’s energy changes once The Sleepwalkers get in front of an audience.
“We have our dynamic in the practice room, but that multiplies on stage,” Pizarro said. “We feed off what’s going on out there.”
Valenzuela said the crowd’s reactions matter more than applause.
“My favorite thing is people don’t have to clap,” Valenzuela said. “I just love it when they’re smiling and they’re dancing.”
He hopes that feeling lasts after the music stops.
“I want them walking away feeling positive and happy,” Valenzuela said, “and hopefully for them to say, ‘Hey, we need to go back and check them out again. We dig those guys.’
