Stuck in Mexico with Tangelo

Tangelo is the music project of Australian musician, Tyler Jones. He released his EP in Mexico during the middle of the pandemic, and I wanted to talk to him about his music and his life in Mexico during such weird times (you can listen to his EP below). It was a good talk despite me being a little drunker than I should have (sorry Tyler), so enjoy this abridged version of our conversation about his life being kind of stuck in Mexico .

How was it doing your tour during the pandemic?

It was weird. There were some weird places like one show in Guadalajara. We were playing in this huge venue, like the kind of venue Last Dinosaurs would play, but significantly less popular bands playing. Everyone was sitting at tables, socially distanced tables 5 or 10 meters away from each other. It was so weird. It was just so hard to get people into it. It’s cool that they were still having shows and they were trying to do what they could with the restrictions, but when you’re a smaller band you want those tight rooms where maybe 30 people fit and it’s full and it’s fun. When it’s a big place and there’s only 30 people there, yeah, it’s kind of awkward.

What was the worse show you had?

(Laughs). The worse one was really bad. It was like a town fair in Leon in Guanajuato state. They put the new band stage where the eating area was, and it was shit for both sides. It wasn’t just us. There were a few other bands that played after us too, and we were playing to a bunch of people that didn’t want to hear us. They were forced to sit in that area to eat. We were playing to potentially 500 people, but no one was listening, like no one was listening. So, we played, and you look out and everyone has their backs to you, and it was like fuck. This is so awkward. It’s better to play to 5 people that actually want to watch you than 500 that don’t.   

Did you get drunk right after that?

Yeah, I did. That was like the only good part about it. At least we had a party after it.

Were there any venues where it was small and intimate?

There was one record store that I played just solo. Probably only 15 people went, but it was like full. It was a small space, smaller than an average bedroom, so that was cool. That was interesting and it had that sort of pop-up kind of feel to it. It was obviously not a real venue, but you’d bring your own mic and set up and people walk past and drop in. It was pretty cool. That was in Mexico City, but yeah, because they were a record store, they can kind of get away with it. They have essential status or whatever and don’t have the same restrictions that a bar does.

How was it getting your band together? Did you know them? Or are they just mutual friends?

I know them now, but yeah, I didn’t know them. It was pretty bizarre. The guy who I was mostly in contact with, Eric, I knew him by face because he is a friend of my friends. We might’ve said hello, but I don’t think we’ve ever spoken at the time. Essentially, I just released the EP and I thought it’d be cool to play some shows just so I could put in my bio that I toured in Mexico even though I only played 3 shows in like cafes. And so, I went about hitting up places, and I sort of found it was difficult due to just being one act and the venues wanting a set with a couple bands. So, I put this thing on Instagram like, “Yo, anyone want to play with me?” And my friend shared that story with Eric, and he hit me up. It turned out that he was a relatively connected guy, so we start talking about the tour. At this point, I still thought I was going to play the songs by myself, but I realized we were going to play much larger venues than I had imagined. From that I kind of realized I needed full instrumentation to carry the music, because you know, it’s rock music. Yeah, then I suggested very late notice that we try to put something together as a band. So, we organized that tour with 3 other bands who are all Mexican bands, and more or less a member from each band played in Tangelo. We met a week before our first show in a rehearsal room and like exchanged names, and considering everything we did okay the first show, but I remember writing the set list and writing the chords down, but we still didn’t have it. But yeah, all the guys are really good musicians and they were quite enthusiastic as well which helped. By the second or third show we were already sounding pretty good. Now we don’t really have to practice that much anymore. We just practice right before the shows. It’s come together.

Did you know you needed a full band from the beginning?

I guess it’s that sort of thing that I realized when I learned I was going to play after other full bands, because I’ve done it before where like a full band has played and I’ve come out with just my guitar with like a singer-songwriter kind of vibe, and it’s hard. It’s really hard, because the crowd has heard this loud noise, the drums, the distorted guitars and stuff, and then you come out and it’s just you and your little guitar. It’s also just way more fun with a band, because you can play really loud and there’s way more energy.

And afterwards you can get drunk and have a good time.

Yeah, it has all those elements. You get in a band together and everyone is joking around, and like shooting the shit. It has that comradery, like a certain brotherhood so to speak, which is a lot more fun than being by yourself.

Did you guys communicate in Spanish? Or did some of your bandmates speak English?

I think some of them do speak a bit of English. I know the bass player speaks English pretty well, but we speak in Spanish. It has actually been an interesting process, because like I’ve launched the whole thing in Mexico. Like I’ve recorded some songs recently, songs that are actually in Spanish, but being in the studio with the guy and trying to explain really abstract feelings in Spanish, I mean, it’s hard even in English if you don’t know the person and that person doesn’t know how you think. It can be difficult even in your native tongue, so it’s been interesting. You have to be patient on both sides I suppose.

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Photo by Luis Roa

Since you’ve been exposed to both the Mexican and Australian indie scene, are they different from each other?

They’re a bit different. The Mexican scene is like more open, but it’s kind of more difficult in a sense. In Mexico it’s easier to get shows and to play for people, but you have to do it all yourself. Like the venues don’t have gear. They don’t have anything for you. Even in well known places you have to provide for everything, and you get nothing. Like good luck getting paid. Good luck even getting a couple of free drinks. Most of the places we played we had to pay for our bottles of water. With Australia it’s like harder to get a break. It’s a lot harder to get those first shows, but the infrastructure is a bit more provided. I remember with another band that I played in, we played in a small venue that’s well known for being everyone’s first gig in Brisbane. And yeah, we didn’t do any promo. My promo was like one post on my personal Facebook and a few people came, and we got a few free drinks and got paid 150 dollars. Compare that to Mexico where we had 3 or 4 bands with recordings, press kits, and paying for promotion, and the venue still doesn’t even give you a bottle of water. So, I think the Australian scene is a bit more developed and catering to bands, but it’s also a bit more closed. 

So how long have you been in Mexico?

It’s been on and off like 2 years, 6 months at a time in the last 3 years, but about 2 years in total. I originally planned like a really short trip. The trip was supposed to be a month in Mexico and then I was supposed to go to Guatemala, and I did that and ended up going back to Mexico for another 8 months. Then I went traveling to other parts of Latin America, and I went back to Mexico because I felt like I hadn’t finished it. I wanted to go back, and then the pandemic hit and that prolonged my stay in Mexico. So, I did 6 months in the pandemic in Mexico, and 6 months in the pandemic in Europe, like in Turkey and Spain. Then I went back to Mexico, because I couldn’t go home since there was no flights and I didn’t really know where else to go. And I love Mexico because it’s a really interesting and dynamic country, but it was also where I could go for a long time and not spend a lot of money. I also have friends there, so it was the logical choice in that sense too. Obviously, life is expensive, and because I have friends and connections there renting a place is not hard. I was actually planning on going back to Australia now, but it’s in the worst state of the pandemic now. I’m probably going to be staying in Mexico until the start of next year.

In Mexico is it difficult to get a vaccine?

Apparently, you can get a vaccine as a foreigner, but I don’t know anyone who’s done it and I’ve heard stories of people getting turned away. It’s definitely not as easy to get as in the US.

I’ve heard that. The vaccine was easy to get here. It took like 5 minutes to set up an appointment.

It’s not like that anywhere else in the world. I think that’s the thing with the US. The pandemic story has been the greatest failure and greatest success. Obviously, the US had the highest number of cases and the most number deaths for a long time. It was fucked for a long time, but then it just had the sheer capacity to vaccinate people like so quickly, so quickly. I hear apparently the vaccination rate has kind of dropped and they need to incentivize people now, especially in the south, southeast of the states. But it’s insane that you guys could go to like Walmart and get a vaccine. In Australia it’s so difficult to get one, basically you have to hustle to get it, you know, wait outside the clinic and hope they have one left for you. And in Mexico, it’s like I think ages 30 and over that are getting it now, which is 20 percent of the population. Which you know, it’s a big country and big population and probably not the best healthcare system, so credit to Mexico for vaccinating that many people so far. Australia is using Pfizer and AstraZeneca now, and if it turns out that they are only going to accept those two to let you go back into the country, I might just go to the US to get the Pfizer, but I might just get vaccinated to not worry and have more freedom of movement, but the main goal is to get a vaccine to be let back into my own country.

When you get back to Australia how long do you plan on staying?

This time it’ll be a while. I want to do my masters. I want to save some money and potentially look at buying a house, you know, that kind of shit, stuff that you eventually plan to do. I mean, out of the last 10 years I’ve been out of Australia for 6 years. 

Do you feel like you could stay in Australia for a long time? Or do you think it’s just a place you touch base like our mutual friend Lachlan who doesn’t like Australia at all? 

Lachlan and I bond over that feeling. Yeah, definitely. I don’t know man. I think it’s likely I’ll go back and start to feel that kind of feeling you get in Australia. At least for me, I start to really feel the isolation and the bubble because it’s really far away from everything. And we’re all mostly rich and like spoiled. We don’t really know what the world is like, but we think we do. We have this false intellectualism to our demeanor, because we watched some fucking Vice documentary or something. This is more of a comment of inner-city Australians. We’re all self-conscious and try to overcompensate by being pseudo-intellectuals. 

Do you have any aspirations with music? Or are you just doing it as a hobby?

I do want to go further than it is. Right now, I don’t really have anything else going on, so music has taken a big priority in my life, because I’m stranded and I’m not working a job that matters to me. I can’t study. I don’t have these other things that are distracting me from music, which is kind of cool because it is something I’ve wanted to do on a more serious level, so it’s nice to have a real crack at it. If I could paint an ideal thing, it’s to be able to play shows where people actually want to see you, where there’s a few 100 people that actually want to see you whether it be in Brisbane or Mexico. I don’t hope for huge stardom. It’d be unrealistic, you know? I know what my songs are. I don’t think my songs are the worse in the world, but they’re not the kind of songs that’ll get a million streams anytime soon, but that’s okay. I’m making what comes to me, so yeah, I would like to see my music develop. 

Any final thoughts man?

I don’t have any to finish off.

I’ve done a few interviews and asked that question and no one ever has anything.

Uh, follow your dreams man! But I think it’s good. I think it’s good just in case someone did want to say something, but I got nothing.

Well, appreciate you doing this. 

It’s a pleasure man.

Check out Tangelo!

SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3mNmWiiS12VqcKwPRl0C0w 

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/_tangelomusic/ 

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/tangelomusic1 

YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCpFKgI83EMj7M6JBY4Fj8w/videos 

EMAIL: tangelomanagement@gmail.com 

And pre-save his new song on Spotify: click here.

Interview by: Erick Carrada