Today we’d like to introduce you to Angelica.
Hi Angelica, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My husband Julio and I both grew up outside of Los Angeles. I’m from Albuquerque, NM and he’s from Chiapas, Mexico. We both moved to Los Angeles to play in the best Mariachis in the world. He played with Mariachi Sol de Mexico de Jose Hernandez and with Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano (respectively). I have played in Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles, the first all female Mariachi in the United States for 15 years. Those groups are what you call show groups. They play concerts and tour. We met in 2002 doing what we love, playing Mariachi music. We were able to tour together a few times and had a blast on the road together. In 2020, when everything came to a hault we had to figure out how to continue to work during Covid. We had never worked in the same group before. It was amazing that under the unfortunate circumstances, we were able to discover something so special. After so many years together, we were finally creating music together. It was fun and so natural. There’s a special chemistry that exists between us when we play that we didn’t even realize was there. We decided to start Mariachi Santa Monica so that we could continue to make music together. Now, our 15 year old daughter is starting her musical journey and has been playing the Guitarron (bass) with us for a little under a year.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Obviously Covid complicated everything for everyone but we were just grateful that we were able to continue to work, even when the setting was unusual. I guess you can say it’s been a smooth road because since the beginning we’ve had a clear vision of what our goals are. We have been committed to playing Mariachi music (in smaller settings, like private events) with the same professionalism and musical integrity that we experienced in the show group setting. We perform the same way regardless of how big or small the “stage” is. We give 100% and do our best to provide high quality performances.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I think I’ve already touched on this in the last section. We pride ourselves in our commitment to professional and quality performances. We think of evey performance opportunity as a “big stage” regardless if we are on stage at a famous venue or playing at a small gathering for someone’s birthday in their backyard, we do our best to offer beautiful music that will elevate any event. From our trajes (uniforms) to our musical instruments, we invest in ourselves so that we look and sound of the highest quality. These small details can tend to be overlooked or ignored in the hustle and bustle of the working musician world. We have realized that it’s the small details that can make such a huge difference.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
Julio and I are both proud Mariachi Musicians. We aren’t embarrassed to be working musicians, we don’t call this our hobby. This is our passion and we are so blessed to be able to make a living doing what we love. We have so much respect for Mariachi Music, it is so very special to us both and so important to represent this genre of music with the dignity and respect it deserves.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mariachisantamonica?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mariachisantamonicala?mibextid=wwXIfr
- Yelp: https://yelp.to/0X4SwSIk48
