Thu 9 Mar 2017

Reinventing Morrissey’s songs south of the border.

After sold-out concerts in New York, London and L.A., Mexrrissey – Mexico goes Morrissey is coming to Melbourne for an exclusive performance at Melbourne Recital Centre. The glorious seven-piece band, representing the best of Mexico’s music scene, reimagines classic songs of The Smiths and Morrissey entirely in Spanish, using vibrant Latin rhythms.

At first glance, the association might seem surprising: songs from a country Morrissey himself bewails as ‘silent and grey’ being sung by musicians from one of the world’s most famously vibrant places. However, Morrissey’s ardent Mexican fan base is a force to be reckoned with, and when you consider the drama, romance and poetry inherent in The Smiths’ outsider anthems, it makes perfect sense. Morrissey himself once said ‘Nothing the world holds could match the love waiting for me in Mexico City’.

Mexrrissey was founded by DJ Camilo Lara, the founder of the pioneering electronic band Mexican Institute of Sound, a project that adapts traditional Mexican music with beats and synthesisers. Led by Lara, the vibrant band rotates three vocalists to perform Morrissey’s oeuvre with Latin rhythms of ranchero, mariachi, danzón, mambo, norteño, and cha cha cha. Lara teamed up with composer Sergio Mendoza of Arizona–based bands Calexico and Orkesta Mendoza. Together they translated the text and composed new arrangements before getting together with influential Mexican musicians from both sides of the border.
‘Girlfriend in a Coma’ gets a cha cha cha makeover with a lively mariachi trumpet and ‘First of the Gang to Die’ has Sergio Mendoza playing the guitaron, a gigantic acoustic bass. Other hit tracks include a mariachi version of ‘The More You Ignore Me the Closer I Get’, whilst ‘Every Day is Like a Sunday’ (Cada Dia Es Domingo) goes ranchero and ‘Panic’ goes all norteño stomp.

The band has had an incredible trajectory from a first try-out show in Mexico City in April 2015 swiftly followed by a sold-out debut at The Barbican, a U.K. tour (including a sold-out Manchester gig) and triumphant shows in New York and Los Angeles. Their debut album, No Manchester released in March 2016 was recorded in Mexico and Tucson Arizona, produced by Camilo Lara with arrangements by Lara and Sergio Mendoza and mixed by Jack Lahana, winner of multiple Grammys for his work with Phoenix and Daft Punk.

Mexrrissey’s tribute is an utterly joyous translation that comes from a genuine love of Morrissey’s music, still maintaining the romanticism and melodrama of the anguished Mancunian.

Mexrrissey (Mexico)
Thursday 9 March, 2017
Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, 7.30pm (Two hours & 30-mins incl. interval)
With Thin White Ukes
Tickets $69 For more information and to book tickets visit here

https://www.pbsfm.org.au/sites/default/files/images/Mexrrissey.jpg