After growing up in a primarily white, English-speaking indie rock scene, one of my favourite genres of music to break into the mainstream over the last few years has been Latinx indie rock. Primarily emerging out of Latinx-American communities, and different Spanish-speaking countries, the genre seamlessly blends Spanish and English, often carried by breezy melodies with a hint of wavy psychedelia.

It speaks to all of the second-generation Latinx immigrants who grew up longing to hear more of their mother tongue in the media surrounding them, while also proudly taking up space in a primarily white creative industry and environment.

George Arthur Calendar is a fixture of this scene, originally from Guadalajara and currently based out of Chicago. His latest album Paradox (released via Stereochip Records) explores the all-too-familiar sadness of regaining independence after a quarantine breakup via some not-so-sad funky grooves. We caught up to chat about Latinx identity, his experience with different music scenes all over the world, and more.

Malaika Astorga for Also Cool: You grew up in Guadalajara and have since lived all over the world. As another Mexican far from the homeland, I'm really interested to know what the art and music scene was like growing up in Mexico. What kind of music were people playing, and how do you think this influenced the work you make now?

George Arthuro Calendar: I grew up mainly listening to classic rock, which my dad loved. My mom, aunts, and sister liked bolero, funk/disco and pop in English and Spanish. We listened to everything from Selena to Luis Miguel, Ricky Martin, etc. 

One day my dad put a VHS video of Queen performing in Rio de Janeiro for my sister and me to watch, and at that moment, I was hooked on music. A few years later, I discovered Nirvana and all that early 90s stuff. One of my neighbours had older siblings, and we would listen to their music all the time, which inspired me to learn guitar. I also listened to rock en Espanol; bands like Mana, Soda Stereo, Caifanes, Fobia, etc.

In the summer before getting into high school, my cousin and I started a band with other classmates. We began playing venues, house parties, and events, and even though we were younger than 18, we played bars. Through those shows, we discovered what was going on in the scene in Guadalajara. 

There weren't a lot of bands, but there were a lot of different styles. Everything from grunge to anarchic punk, lots of ska and reggae, funk, soul, blues, and jazz. I remember bands like Plastiko and Pito Perez changed our musical perspectives. Soon enough, we were the opening band at their shows, which was pretty sick. We discovered el "tianguis cultural, "a music/culture farmers market where you could find lots of art, clothing, food, handicrafts,” and all this underground stuff. Lots of people, lots of culture, live shows, every Saturday in a big boulevard in downtown Guadalajara, from 10am to 6/7pm. It was definitely the place to be at the time.

After high school, we started playing with other bands in the underground scene. We really hit it off with one band, ROX or somosrox. We kind of hit the jackpot when we started playing for Jack Daniels. They had just opened a new bar, and we had a crowd every weekend.

We played the most trendy cover songs between 2009 to 2013, but also they sponsored our original music. That went on for about four years. I was 24-28 years old during that time, and it was the first time I was actually making good money playing music. 

This was at a time where Myspace was really blowing up a lot of music. A lot of bands got super mainstream, and music in Spanish got super popular. Bands like ZOE, PORTER, and CAFE TACUBA were the acts running the whole scene, headlining festivals with MGMT, NIN, Flaming Kips, Mars Volta... There were lots of festivals, and the prices weren't too high, so you could see a bunch of bands in a day. It was a good time to be in Mexico. 

I decided to take a break from that scene because I wasn't happy with the music we were making. It got a little too mainstream. I wasn't feeling it anymore even though my other project, The Red Eyed Tiger, was doing well in the underground scene. It was a mix of folk/norteno/Mexican and American country vibes. I decided to go to Tulum for the summer, but I never came back to my hometown.

I also just want to say that being a part of the rock scene in Guadalajara was when shit started for me. Being a part of it and also leaving made me learn how to be true to myself. That's the real lesson I learned, not let go of your dreams, despite the money your making or could make. My personal taste in music is, well, funky music. It's pretty much always been my bible, and it comes from what I learned from my dad and other bands in Guadalajara.

Also Cool: You've worked and lived in both New Zealand and Chicago for quite a while. How have the different art scenes and cultures influenced your work?

George: When I left Chicago in 2015 to go to NZ, I was just discovering the DIY scene there. I was so amazed by all the art, music and people I met over that year. My music was influenced by it, and I was so inspired that when I got to NZ, I carried that energy with me. I played a lot of parties, just with my acoustic or electric guitar (which ended up being the songs of my first album). 

There are two different scenes in NZ. There's the kiwi scene, which is artsier and more DIY. Then there was this other scene, of the working people like me. People who came with a working holiday visa to work legally for one year and travel the country. There were a lot of people from Argentina, France, Italy, and Chile, to name a few. 

We were working all the time, and in our free moments, there were massive Latin parties. Lots of dancing, beach circles, DJ nights. This crowd always spoke Spanish, and I blended in perfectly even tho my music isn't Latin. They all saw me as a "gringo” more than a Latino because I speak English so well with slang and played music in English. We worked at least 8-10 hours a day in bars, restaurants, and vineyards. It was hard work, but we always found a way to have fun.

Once I got back to America, I understood the direction I wanted to go with my music. It was also cool to see that my music was liked by both English-speaking and Spanish-speaking people. I was in San Fransisco and Northern California for about eight months working on weed farms until I came back to Chicago to try to "make it."

AC: When it comes to your music-making process, you've mentioned how important it is to collaborate with friends and people you meet along the way. Can you tell us a bit more about this process? What's one of your favourite collaborations/memories from your travels?

George: I like to collaborate when the time is right. I feel like sometimes, as creative, there's always a moment when we can add and connect energies with someone else musically. While travelling, you meet all sorts of interesting people with different talents. It would be silly not to try to make something with the people you meet along the way. I'm usually always working on a new song, so when I meet someone I really want to collaborate with, I basically try to write a song for that person. I try to have leave creative space for them to do their thing as well. 

One of my fave collabs is with an amazing Italian girl I used to work with. She spoke Spanish better than English, and soon we were best friends and roommates for a minute. She could sing like any Motown singer, and she was the original voice for my cosmic wall song. 

But basically, I get inspired by the people I meet, the art they make, how everyone has their own way to work. 

AC: Quite a few of your songs are "Spanglish," and overall, your music has a laid-back, wavy psych vibe, in line with the recent rise of indie Latinx musicians who have entered the mainstream over the past few years. Why have you chosen to sing in both languages, and what do you think of this recent rise in Latinx indie musicians? 

George: I love music in both languages. It's hard to only sing in English if you're in Mexico to sing in English, and vice versa in America. I grew up with Spanglish, and I think and dream and speak in both languages. For me, it's just how I express myself. 

That being said, my two first solo albums were in English. After that, I had a project in 2019 with a Puerto Rican dude, and we did both English and Spanish, which I liked a lot. My friends from my other band, Wavy ID, and friends in the music scene were advising me to play more in Spanish. Now all the new music I've been working on has that Spanglish vibe, using both languages in the song.

AC: Who are some of your favourite Latinx and/or Mexican artists right now?

George: Latinx music nowadays is kind of my favourite music. It's so interesting to me, having grown up in Mexico and seeing all this amazing music that Latinx-American people are making. It's 100% creative and is a whole other world of possibilities. I'm so excited, and hopefully, I'll be more and more a part of this scene in the coming years. 

My favourite latinx artist are Devendra Banhart, Helado Negro, Kali Uchis, Savila Music, Cuco, Gabriel Garzon-Montano, Nicolas Jaar, and Divino Nino.

AC: Tell us about your latest album. You've said that it's influenced by personal experiences, almost like a diary. How does it feel to have it finally out in the world?

George: Having the album out feels good. I'm not feeling sad anymore in the way I was just before COVID started. The album was produced in the first months of quarantine, so now it feels like a relief. My plan was to release this album around September 2020. I ended up getting support from a small indie label in Mexico City and decided to push the release a few more months. I dropped singles in the meantime, which wasn't my cup of tea, but it worked okay.

This album, to me, represents understanding what was going on with my life ever since I turned 30. It was a constant meditation, making the music, thinking a lot, and writing lyrics. It helped me cope for at least the first months of quarantine and with my breakup as well. It really put my feet on the ground and made me a stronger person. Now I listen and just say, "Wooooow I was very sad." I'm usually never sad, and it feels so good to have these groovy songs that still convey that sadness. Not everything that shines is gold, and it's good to dance to sad stuff too…

AC: Closing out here, what do you have planned for 2021?

George: Well, hopefully, I'll begin playing lives shows again ASAP. I haven't played properly on a stage since September 2019, so you can imagine the feeling. I started doing live sessions true à la COVID from my Instagram and Facebook, and that's how many of these songs started. 

I'm also about to finish recording another album I started producing during COVID, but this one is weirder psych-pop bossa nova. I want to drop this music by the end of summer, probably around September. I'm still debating how to do it, but that will sort itself out. My friend adam and I are working on new music for Wavy ID, and I have another surprise, a lo-fi- dream-synth pop album. I've been working on it with one of my best buds in Chicago, Will Wood. He who plays in Popwerpup and Vamos, which are both bands of the Chicago DIY scene. We started working on it in late 2019. It sounds like a video-game soap opera.

George Arthur Calendar

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Malaika Astorga is the co-founder of Also Cool. She is a Mexican-Canadian visual artist, writer, and social media strategist currently based in Montreal.

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