Mariachi El Bronx stopped by Amoeba Hollywood to play their uniquely American take on traditional Mariachi music. Bedecked in black mariachi garb and with horns in tow, the band played a set of tracks from their 2011 album Mariachi El Bronx II.Mariachi El Bronx started as post-hardcore band The Bronx before incorporating mariachi elements for this side project, which began when the band was asked to do an acoustic version of the song “Dirty Leaves” from The Bronx’s self-titled second album for a television show and they turned it into a mariachi dirge.
“We never wanted The Bronx to be a soft, quiet band,” says frontman Matt Caughthran, “but this freed up a whole new realm. Sometimes you don’t realize the barriers around yourself until you step outside them. It was a big moment in our career, breathing new life into the band.”
Band members Caughthran, Joby J. Ford (guitar), Jorma Vik (drums) Brad Magers (trumpet), Ken Horne (jarana/guitar), and Vincent Hidalgo (guitarrón) then studied up on YouTube, no less, while touring with The Bronx to make Mariachi El Bronx happen. Learning all the mariachi styles, such as norteno, jorocho, juasteka, bolero, and corridos was essential.
“Mariachi has rules,” Caughthran says. “We learned everything we could out of respect, especially as we’re a bunch of white guys — well, except for Ken, who’s Japanese.”
The band eventually came to include Ray Suen on violin and satellite members Alfredo Ortiz on percussion styles and guitarrón player Karla Tovar. Caughthran says the merge of styles isn’t so strange to him, having grown up in the gringo minority in East L.A. neighborhood Pico Rivera.
“My two favorite bands were always Black Flag and Los Lobos, so it all makes sense,” he says.
The band launches its summer tour this week. Dates are below:
| 05/18/12 | Kansas City, MO | The Riot Room * |
| 05/19/12 | St. Louis, MO | Firebird * |
| 05/20/12 | Chicago, IL | Sailor Jerry’s Presents * |
| 05/21/12 | Cleveland, OH | The Beachland Ballroom * |
| 05/22/12 | Philadelphia, PA | Sailor Jerry’s Presents * |
| 05/24/12 | New York, NY | Rocks Off Cruise Aboard the Princess * |
| 05/25/12 | Hartford, CT | Comcast Theatre * |
| 05/26/12 | Buffalo, NY | The Mohawk Place * |
| 05/27/12 | Toronto, Canada | Sound Academy # |
| 05/28/12 | Montreal, Canada | Metropolis # |
| 05/31/12 | Portland, ME | State Theatre # |
| 06/01/12 | Boston, MA | Bank of America Pavilion # |
| 06/02/12 | Hunter Mtn, NY | Mountain Jam & |
| 06/03/12 | Washington, DC | 9:30 Club $ |
| 06/05/12 | Charlottesville, VA | Jefferson Theater $ |
| 06/06/12 | Asheville | The Orange Peel $ |
| 06/10/12 | Manchester, TN | Bonnaroo % |
| 07/22/12 | Dover, DE | Firefly Festival ^ |
|
* with Two Gallants # with Gogol Bordello and Two Gallants & with Ben Folds Five, Gov’t Mule and more $ with tUne-yArDs % with Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bad Brains and more ^ with The Killers, The Black Keys, Jack White and more |
||
