A QUICK CHAT WITH TIJUANA CARTEL

Hey guys! Love the new track. Do you think this one differs from your past releases?

We wanted to create something deep that you can really sink into and let the track evolve naturally. We felt the track needed to be longer, so we let it grow instead of pruning it down.

Tell us a bit about the production of the accompanying music video? Did you enjoy planning and creating it?

It was fun taking real world elements from the garden and manipulating them digitally. I’m a bit of a DIY enthusiast and fascinated with what you can create now out of junk with things like Arduinos. For this video I’d hacked a broken Numark turntable into a 3D scanner to capture the organic elements.

How did you come up with the name Tijuana Cartel?

It was really a tongue in cheek pet name that came from our musical influences, a love of tequila, and in the very early days, a reputation for playing everywhere with a rather fluid line up of guests. If we knew then what comes up in web searches now, we may have chosen differently! We only had one death threat so far, but we have had to write a few letters declaring we’re not part of any gangs for banks to release funds.

How did you guys meet? Have you been friends for a while?

Paul and I actually went to high school together. We started out playing punk and grunge but soon discovered we had a mutual love for world music. After school hangouts turned into rudimentary recording sessions with an Amiga 500 and a cassette recorder. If only we’d kept those tapes….

What’s your favourite thing about performing live?

Stepping out onto big festival stages to a few thousand people is that perfect blend of nerves, excitement that will keep us touring well past the point we need walking frames. The dopamine hit from sending out your creations out of a massive festival rig… there’s really nothing like it.

Tijuana Cartel - New Single ‘Minimal Stuffing’ - click to listen