Indie rock mariachi
Calexico on poetry, immigration and the southwest
INTERVIEW. Combining an honest songwriter sentimentality with a south-of-the-border sound, Calexico create a musical mélange built upon an indie rock spirit, the sounds of Mexican mariachi, and an ever-growing cultural influence based on continued continental exploration. From songs both somber and sparse to tracks highlighted with triumphant trumpets, Calexico’s signature southwestern style blends bleak ballads with a warm horn sound. With six LPs and countless collaborations that include an EP with Iron and Wine, six songs as one of the house bands on the soundtrack of the Dylan biopic “I’m Not There,” and their frequent guest appearances backing international acts, Calexico have become the cultural ambassadors of American music. The Metro caught up with founder and lead singer Joey Burns from his home in Tucson on Halloween as he prepared for his upcoming tour.
Your sound is always linked to the Southwest. Where did you grow up?
I was born in Montreal. My parents grew up in upstate New York. They’re from Rochester. My parents moved from New York to Canada and then they moved to California.
What led to your fascination of the Southwestern sound?
I think when I moved from California to Arizona in 1993. I got into Gram Parsons, the Flying Burrito Brothers, the Byrds and Townes Van Zandt. That kind of singer-songwriter thing. Also getting into books by Cormac McCarthy and re-examining the western and and the more Biblical elements of it coming through and spending time in the Sonora desert and seeing just how wicked and oppressive and ominous it really is. And yet there’s fragility there too.
You are not the only singer, are you the only songwriter? Do you write the Spanish parts too?
No, on this record it’s co-written by Jairo Zavala from Madrid. We worked by the e-mail. He was really great and positive in spirit and we had done some work in Tucson for his project called De Pedro. I didn’t realize how close we’d become. Just like Sam Beam and I with the “In the Reins” EP. He came up with such good ideas that I said, “Why don’t you come back to Tucson?” and so he did. He was really positive and overjoyed. Here I was with 30 to 40 tracks, scratching my head and racking my brain wondering what songs to do. And he was always like “don’t worry, it’s gonna be a great record.” And that’s the worst thing you want to hear. But he has always maintained that.
How does the band expand and contract in size due to album and tour?
Jacob Valenzuela co-wrotes his own songs in Spanish. He’s been in the band since 2000. Martin and Volker are from Germany and have been with the band since 1998. Paul Niehaus and he had been in the band since 1998 as well. We have a core band of six people, but we like to swap out guest every now and then. The “In the Reins” project was probably the biggest of the collaborative efforts with 15 people or so. But we’ve also backed up people like Neko Case. The element of guests fits really well with a band of our nature.
You talk about continually exploring new sounds. Did you go into the new record with any preconceived ideas?
Yeah, I basically tried to come up with some more linear versions of songs. In the past, back in 1998, songs were based on more European minor blues traditions, like Portuguese music and Ennio Marricone with I-IV-V chord structures. On this record I wanted to explore some more linear themes not only musically, but lyrically. I wanted to do some storyboard or continual plot throughout the record, but I kind of abandoned it. I just left those songs that were tied together and continued on with those songs being tied together in spirit, but not being interlaced. When I sat down with John we just wanted to try some different ideas. With a band like ours there are so many options, and it can be overwhelming at times. I really wanted to touch on the feelings and energy of traveling down to South America. It’s been an idea and a dream of ours, but I never knew what an impact it would have on us. The club in Santiago, Chile was directly neighboring one of the houses of Pablo Neruda. Going in there and knowing the poetry and about him, we were overwhelmed about him and the depth about the story of his life and his politics. Then there were the personal stories too. It was about the details. He always wanted to drink out of colored glass because he thought it was a waste of an experience not to see light coming out of colored glass. His library had this nautical theme. He was infatuated with the sea and had a house in the coastal town of Valparaiso, which we visited. That house and that town were awe-inspiring. There is an architecture and lay of the land that is very wild and erratic that is similar to San Francisco. It sparked something in me. When we walked away we went back to there and focused on certain songs that were already started and needed finishing to.
Your album art seems ironic when you set it to the music, but it makes sense geographically. How do you feel about it?
That’s about contrast. This record is very much about dislocation and different people and different stories. That theme of escaping seems to make sense for the design of the album. Our band is known for its signature sound, but also for the look of Victor Gastelum. We know him from back in 1989 at SST records and we’ve been friends with ever since. We share his sense of hybrid of punk ethics and cultural mélange and punk ethics with different styles and artistic sensibilities. I know that the 2003 album threw people off, but I don’t mind doing that. Our label in Chicago would say, “you should use these old photographs, it seems to conjure that same nostalgia and melancholy.” And I get that, but it’s important to challenge that. I know that things fit our mood and our music, but I get just as many compliments about the stencil and design of Victor Gastelum. We’ve had a great relationship so why mess with it. That’s why on 2006’s “Garden Ruin,” people thought it was weird when we changed up the production style and the instrumentation and the look of the album. But you have to do that. You have to challenge yourself. By doing that you can get a better perspective of who you are.
Do you find it stranger to be linked to indie rock or south-of-the-border music?
[Laughs] Do you mean “world music”? No, I still feel that we’re an indie band through and through. I think, like a lot indie rock bands like Modest Mouse using a New Orleans horns section or a band like Beirut or Devotchka, there are a lot of groups that have taken a wider perspective of influence and we are one of those.
The horn section of Calexico play a integral part of the Calexico sound, but their prevalence varies on the moods of the songs. Does the horn section get bummed when they play a smaller role on a record, or do they take on other instruments?
They do. Everyone is very instrumental. And it’s very remarkable to see Jacob and Martin because they are in the position to be multi-instrumentalists when we play live. They’ll be playing vibes, trumpet and keyboards all at once and switching several times in between one song.
How did the involvement in the Dylan movie come about? Did you select who you backed up or vice-versa?
It was a bit of everything actually. We were first called into do a song “Going to Acapulco” with Will Oldham and he couldn’t do it, so it came down to Jim James who did a fantastic and exceptional selection to do Dylan. He knew it through and through and he nailed it on the first take, from what I heard. We recorded several versions and sent them to the directors and the supervisors and they chose one and they sent it to Jim James and he knocked it out. From there I read the script, which was a fantastic read, and I suggested us doing another song, “One More Cup of Coffee.” They were eager to hear what we’d come up with and happy to see we were interested in the project and willing to go forward. At that point, they thought they could have a house band for the more western-themed part. We ended up being asked to go to Montreal for the scene in the film shoot, and it was there that the supervisors asked us if we’d be willing to work with Willie Nelson. Are you kidding?! How did that happen?! Thank God for Hollywood and the movie business. And sure enough, we were playing at the same Austin City Limits Festival and little did I know, the harmonica player, Mickey Raphael — who plays on this record — was really open about loving our band, our feel and our production and so since he has become a true friend and wants to record his record with us here in Tucson, and I’m excited about that. It started unfolding from there. We suggested working with Charlotte Gainsbourg. We’re big fans and she does a great job in the movie. And sure enough, our manager spoke with her manager and it came together relatively easily. Then they knew we worked with Iron and Wine, so that one came together really easy.
What are your sentiments on living near the border and what kind of changes have you seen in recent years?
Well, there’s been a militarization of the border, which is depressing. Especially when you’re in a band with Europeans from Germany and they remember the words of Ronald Regan to Gorbachev, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” And here we are 20 years later building up this wall. It’s depressing on a humanistic level because there are humanitarian issues that go above and beyond politics. There are people out there who are in dire need and dying of thirst out there, just trying to provide for their family. This is a global issue. It’s not something that happens just in Arizona. But because we are in Arizona it’s the most diverse. The economy between us and Mexico is severe and very different. There’s also the environmental aspect too. There’s a lot of wildlife that will be diverted and animals that will be forced to find other sources of water, which in the desert is very difficult. So it’s going to disrupt a lot of ecosystems and natural habitats, which for me is even more of a crime. The flow of nature is being f-cked with. And why is this happening? It’s a fear factor. We think terrorists are coming through and that is not the case. But at the same time, there is a lot of shadiness happening on both sides of the border. We need to find a better solution as far as integration and worker programs that will help people in the country find better resolve. We can’t run away from the problem. The U.S. economy and workforce is in a massive way dependant on these workers that will do these jobs that no one else wants to do for wages that pay barely nothing by our standards. But for Mexico standards, it makes all the difference in the world. We need to find a better solution diplomatically and hopefully things will work out better. There are a lot of groups out here and one of the groups’ mottos is “Humanitarian Aid is not a Crime.” Rising above, and very basic principles, you can’t really argue against that. If you mix in this fear factor and these right wing slight racial overtones, it gets really nasty. It’s a whole other issue. Whether or not the militarized border is working… I guess it is to some degree, but to some it’s also a façade and a band-aid over a bigger problem. It’s been intense down here. There’s a lot of drug trade and kidnappings of immigrants who are naïve and caught in the crossfire of this whole thing. There are some terrible atrocities that are occurring on both sides. It’s heavy. At the same time, there are some people that have positive to things to say. There’s a love and appreciation of multiple cultures here. There’s a lot of diversity and appreciation of each other’s cultures here. Artistically, there’s a lot of great music and artwork that highlights the more positive aspects. At some points in our career I saw that I was embracing the parts of the region that we were in some sense saying something on a sociopolitical level. Not overtly, but writing an instrumental song based on some Mariachis we saw in the studio before us. We were blown away by the players and the sounds, and they were just playing traditional mariachi songs. Consequently, we’ve done shows in Tucson and Phoenix and Europe and they get to see a side of each other’s music. It’s an indie rock band or a traditional mariachi band adopting elements of each other where the hybrid becomes something else altogether. It’s not disrespectful of those traditions, It’s following through with that spirit of respect, and admiration. At one point the Arizona Republic wrote a commentary. They came and saw a show jam-packed with maybe 15 people on stage and the writer said, “Wow, this kind of show appreciation and working together is remarkable. If only our local politicians could be as open minded. Who knows what could be accomplished?” I read that and thought, “Wow, I never thought doing this had that kind of effect.” Our goal has never had that intended effect, it just happened as the music following its path and combining elements that felt natural and true.
Calexico
Sunday, 8 p.m.
Somerville Theatre
55 Davis Square, Somerville
MBTA: Red Line to Central
$20, 617-931-2000
wwww.ticketmaster.com