Music > Interviews

Interview with Mariachi El Bronx

01/11/11

Traditional Mariachi bands stand on Mariachi Plaza in downtown Los Angeles, resplendent in Charro suits, waiting to get picked up and hired for an occasion befitting their passion. In the same vein, the genre itself – often made fun of in modern culture – bubbled below the surface waiting to be picked up. A serendipitous request for hardcore punk band The Bronx to play acoustic prompted their adoption of the genre, and two albums in, it’s some of the most exciting role play ever heard…

You’re plenty busy at the moment – you’ve got loads of dates in the US and Canada to get through before you come over to us in the UK… Yeah, but being busy’s good, you know; I’ve got lots of friends who aren’t busy, so I’m very thankful. 

Your touring schedule would be busy enough with one band, but what about two? You know, it’s a strange thing, I mean I think tours are relentless whichever way you cut it, but playing twice cuts down on the downtime. But I’d rather do that than sit on the bus and play video games, or whatever people do – watch a movie or sleep. It’s something we really enjoy doing, and both kinds of music are kinds we really love, so why not play. 

Let’s talk about the very really risk on your liver though – it must take a real battering! Hehe, you know, what would a tour be without that happening?!

Yeah, you’ve got to do it so that you can appreciate the sobriety of your older years, maybe. Yeah, well fortunately or unfortunately, those two things go hand in hand and it’s some pretty interesting mornings when the boys get up.

I can imagine! You play some dates as well where both bands are on the bill – how does that go down with fans and how do you mentally switch? Erm, I don’t really mentally switch but it’s kinda the same thing for all of us, you know, it’s like both bands are – I guess – none of us really like one more than the other one. That’d really be a question for Matt though, I mean he’s really gotta switch from screaming to singing! I switch from guitar to guitar! Y’know, he drinks lots of water, he doesn’t talk too much, he just gets rested and ready to go.

Does he have any of those secret remedies, you know, strange vinegar and honey – those kind of concoctions? You know, not really. It’s different for everybody; I know he drinks that Throat Coat tea once in a while, but I don’t think he has a real religious way about doing it. Drink lots of water, don’t smoke cigarettes – that’s probably the best thing you can do.

Mariachi El Bronx came out of something quite unexpected – you came out of your comfort zone and something great came out, something with legs. Would you encourage other bands to step away from what they do every day? No. I would encourage a band to do what they feel rather than do what they think they should be doing. For a lot of different people that can be a lot of different things; I say this – through the years there’s been a lot of copycat bands that pop up when something happens or when a certain style of music gets popular, suddenly there’s a thousand of them. That’s not good. In life if there’s something that you really feel that you should be doing and that really connects with who you are – and more times than not, that’s not the case and the music industry becomes absolutely drenched in just… things. I think as a fan of music that’s very easy to get disgusted with and to turn it off, just like everyone else complains that it’s trash and there’s nothing else coming out and this and that, this and that  - which there is, there’s good stuff coming out all the time you know, it’s just people are herded into this mentality and way of finding music, what with radio or music television, you know, and they get frustrated with it. Getting back to your point, I think that it’s about playing what you really feel inside, rather than trying to emulate your favourite band. There needs to be more of that happening, so if that means going on outside of your comfort zone, then who knows what will happen.

Something that I’m really interested in Joby are the opportunities and different directions it has given you. You personally had production duties on Armistice’s output – do you think it’s pushed you further? I think yes and no; I’m doing quite a bit of that in my spare time these days, which I really enjoy, but for me and everyone else in the band, music’s the thing we love – every aspect of it – and to be involved in as many different things and other people, recording, artwork, writing, playing, whatever is something we all really love to do. I feel very fortunate that I’m able to do a lot of that.

So what makes an interesting production opportunity for you and what other things are you involved in? I just did a record for a British band called Gallows –

- Oh, we love Gallows. I just did their album and what else… I have a couple of other British bands coming up that I’m doing that are proving to be exciting, time permitting.

It’s quite an interesting chapter for Gallows, isn’t it, with            Frank having left the band. Is it proving an exciting new chapter for them? You know, I can’t really say, you know but from an outsider looking in, I guess there’s a little bit of both sides. They’re a very determined band, but he’s their singer you know, so it’s gotta be like, the whole thing changes. The record came out great though and they’re really happy; that was my main goal, to make bands happy.

Going back to the Mariachi aspect of things, I think sometimes it can be seen as a novelty genre, but it’s far from it – it’s rooted in history and part of many people’s rites of passage. I imagine it’s a genre you deeply respect… Oh absolutely, very much. I mean you’re completely correct, even myself as an Anglo - it’s definitely portrayed that way in white America. It’s so 100% the opposite of what people think it is; it’s very, like you say, very rich in history and there are so many stories and important historical events that have been passed down through songs about them and some of those guys are some of the best musicians I’ve ever seen. I think because of the language barrier, sometimes it gets a little like people say, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about! You’re like a bunch of crazy people!’, you know, which it probably sounds like when we play it!

You’re right about the stories; there are such strong stories coming out of the second album and they’ve got real strong characters. Are these songs written together? It’s kinda myself and Matt, you know, we kind of get something together that we feel has some sort of sustenance, then we bring it to the band and then you know, as bands do, we always… it must be such a nightmare to work with us! I think we’re always tinkering with songs, like probably until we get the master back!  But you know, there are eight guys in our band and that’s a lot of stuff, a lot people and a lot of music, which means a lot of time in the studio.

Now you’ve had some great touring opportunities, and one that I’m really interested in was when you toured with Gogol Bordello, I mean, there’s not many bands who can do fusion better – how was your tour with those guys? It’s really interesting, ‘cause that band is like no other, I mean that many different cultures just compressed into one outlet… it’s just very interesting how everybody comes from such a different place and I think it’s very evident in their music. Like nobody sounds like that band! But they’re a prime example of playing what they feel, rather than copying a trend, you know what I mean, and I really respect that band. I think from touring with them I can say that audiences really respect that, you know, they celebrate their differences rather than complain about them and I think that’s really cool.

You spend so much time on the road with these bands – with all of them, do you get to make strong friendships, or ties with these bands? A little bit of both; I’ll say that throughout the years of touring I’ve remained close with the majority of the people we’ve been on the road with. Tour’s a strange thing; I’ll go home and my wife will go, ‘how was tour?’ and I’m like, ‘well, it was cool.’  There’s these experiences that you’ll share with other people that you just can’t convey; it’s one of those things where you just had to be there, that different bands will share. It’s always great to do a festival and kinda catch up with everybody that you haven’t seen for two years and likewise with them. You’re always trying to keep tabs on what everybody’s doing, which is difficult you know, but I always get excited when good things happen to my friends’ bands. It’s a cool time for them and it’s good stuff!

Thinking of Mariachi El Bronx in relation to The Bronx, it’s always said that a little bit of role play can spice up a relationship… do you think that’s fair to say of The Bronx?! Absolutely, you know and I think as a musician there’s so much that you want to delve in to and so much that you want to do, that somewhere along the line, deviating from your sound has become a bad idea for record labels, like, this record doesn’t sound like the last one, it won’t be as successful… there’s kind of this mindset of sameness which is self-imposed, like ‘oh, we can’t do that because x, y and z won’t like it’, you know, and things like that, so you kinda get to a place where you’re trying to jam all this stuff and change it when you shouldn’t do that. You should just do – like I said earlier – just do what you feel, and you know, that’s what we did. I think it’s been really healthy for us to switch gears and not get bogged down with certain things and I think it makes you be a lot more open and not try to force a square peg into a round hole and things like that. When it comes to creating, for us it’s been so healthy and so fun because you’re not doing the same thing every day.

Has it reinvigorated your creativity with The Bronx, because I’ve read that you’ve got new material in the pipeline? Yeah, we’ve carved out some time and we’re going to cut a new record and hopefully it’ll be out by the summer. Spring is what we’re aiming for and it’s back on the horse.

I really hope you keep producing in both respects in equal measures, because it’s just so much fun to psychotically flit between the two bands! I do too, you know; this band has far exceeded what I ever thought it could and I’m enjoying the longevity we’re having and hopefully that will keep continuing because we’re all enjoying what we’re doing.

Now Joby, I often ask this, but you artists promise to bring us a kick ass show, but what as an audience can we bring to you? Oh… cigarettes. Nah, I’m just kidding. I don’t know, I’ve never thought about that before, but probably the same thing that I get out of going to a concert, being entertained. I hope people walk away with that, but at the very base of it, if people come and have a good time and go home fulfilled, I think that’s a good goal to shoot for. Just show up!

Emma Garwood

Mariachi El Bronx come to the Waterfront on November 28th. For tickets, go to www.ueaticketbookings.co.uk.