Calexico: I ve never really been but
Wednesday 05 March @ 13:09:37 |
 by Anne Neujahr
“You’ve heard the term ‘alt. country,’ maybe our music is ‘all countries.’”
On the Mexican side it’s called Mexicali, on the U.S. side it’s Calexico, but really it’s one town split by an international border. Although a political boundary separates the U.S. and Mexico, Calexico, a band that takes its name from the town, knows no borders. Some have lumped Calexico’s music in with the “alternative country” crowd. Other writers have dubbed it “desert noir” or “desert rock,” but Calexico defies generalizations. With a unique fusion of bluesy country, mariachi and jazz, Calexico makes music that traverses genres.
Based in Tucson, Ariz., 50 or so miles from the Mexican border, Calexico is a collaboration between Joey Burns and John Convertino. The duo, who first worked together in Giant Sand, is joined in concert and on record by a number of local and international musicians. That fluid cast currently includes Martin Wenk, Volker Zander, Jacob Valenzuela and Paul Niehaus. Convertino and Burns also continue to work with Giant Sand and have collaborated with such artists as Neko Case, Lisa Germano, Victoria Williams and Tucson’s Mariachi Luz de Luna.
On their new album, Feast of Wire, Calexico explores the tensions and contradictions inherent in borders. “I’ve been reading up more about issues relating to the border and immigration,” says Joey Burns from his Tucson home. “The fact that we live so close…it’s fascinating. The extremes are unbelievable. I’m not an expert, nor do I go down there a lot, but last year, when we were working on this record, in the newspapers here everyday there would be more and more deaths recorded out there in the Sonoran Desert.”
The desert is at the heart of Calexico’s rich, layered soundscape. While it’s easy to be moved by their gorgeous, sun burnt tragedies, scored in waltz time, Burns is quick to emphasize that the music doesn’t just romanticize the wild west. “It isn’t all about the place,” he says. “It’s vast, and there’s a lot of variety to it. It’s not all about this idea of ‘the west.’ There’s a big influence for sure, but there’s more.” While Calexico’s music might be locally inspired, it is universal in scope. “You’ve heard the term ‘alt. country,’” Burns says. “Maybe our music is ‘all countries.’”
After all, border stories are not unique to Mexico. As Burns points out, “The same thing happens everywhere.” In songs like “Across the Wire,” Calexico chronicles the desperation of border crossers. “People are willing to take huge risks, like risk their lives just to cross this insanely harsh and extreme desert with little or no knowledge about what they’re getting themselves into,” he says.
For Calexico, the music is as much about the journey as it is the destination. While the group calls Arizona home, they are by no means isolationists. “I appreciate being able to feel and hear people’s life stories, and I think that comes out in the music. But I like leaving space for the listener to form their own thoughts and stories, too” says Burns. The space that Calexico leaves allows listeners from Europe, the United States, South America and elsewhere to travel westward and bring the lessons back home. In Norway, for example, Calexico’s music was recently featured in the film Johnny Vang.
The name “Feast of Wire” not only refers to international borders but also to “the idea of the continual advance of technology and the ability to be with whoever, whenever, wherever.” Burns admits that advances in technology can be troubling at times. While the Internet and cellular phones can bring people closer, these forms of communication can also lack “material substance.” Although technology can be frightening, a song like “Attack El Robot! Attack!” shows Calexico’s willingness to explore electronic music. “My ear is bending more that way these days. There’s so much texture,” Burns says. “With a lot of experimental music you can’t tell if it’s electronic or if it’s an instrument that’s sounds electronic. I feel more connected to that style of music than I do to traditional alternative country.”
Calexico has always been adept at creating dramatic soundtracks for vast desert scenes. In making their breakthrough LP, Black Light, the band even created storyboards to tie the album together. Feast of Wire isn’t a concept album, though. “There’s always a concept of course,” says Burns. “But this is really a snapshot, a photo album of what’s going on globally, locally, personally, externally. It’s all there.” Rather than imposing a theme upon the music, Burns and Convertino waited for the theme to develop itself. “We let the music dictate the mood, and the lyrics play off of the mood the music creates,” explains Burns.
Calexico’s musical travels have delivered the band to a place where ideas established in earlier albums are more fully realized. While in the past the band’s bold style might have come across as bombastic and performative, Feast of Wire is characterized by its sincerity. And the journey is not over yet. “We’re looking forward to reworking this whole thing with this album while on the road—getting creative with the process, finding inspiration not in just the songs but in the members coming together—bringing them on the road and taking them elsewhere, somewhere new.”
Note: there’s been a venue change on this show. Calexico will now be performing in the Ascot Room at the Quest on Sat., March 8. With special guests. 7:30 p.m. $10. 18+. 110 N. 5th St., Mpls. 612-338-3383.
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