Tijuana Cartel

Tijuana Cartel were the hit of the festival , nobody knew what to expect and everyone was just blown away.

One of the buzz bands of the recent Byron Blues Fest were Gold Coast band Tijuana Cartel

- Various

Can you imagine a ringing flamenco guitar over top of an electro bassline,forming the musical backdrop for a funky broken beat.If so youv'e got the beginning of what to expect from Gold Coast outfit Tijuana Cartel. - inthemix.com.au

If you dig electronica with an ethnic influence, then Tijuana Cartels latest album could be your soundtrack to summer.
A compilation of fierce Flamenco, exotic beats and profundly poetic social commentary and song. - Inpress Magazine

OUR OLYMPIANS MAY HAVE RECEIVED ALL THE PRAISE, BUT GOLD COAST LIVE ELECTRONIC ENSEMBLE TIJUANA CARTEL WERE QUIETLY MAKING THEIR OWN IMPRESSION ON THE CHINESE CAPITAL LAST MONTH.
There aren’t many local live acts of any genre who are facing the sort of grueling touring schedule that Gold Coast beat-pushers Tijuana Cartel are eyeing off between now and the end of the year. But you get the feeling the band are looking forward to a bit of venue variety following their recent ten week residency at The Loong Bar. Don’t recognise the name? Don’t worry, you’re not completely out of the loop – the venue is actually in Beijing, where the band were stationed while the Olympics took over the city.
“Beijing is quite awesome,” guitarist Paul George reflects. “There are a lot of freedoms shared amongst Beijingers that weren't possible a decade ago - unless you're a member of the full-on gong or a Tibetan separatist! In an art sense it has come alive. The sense of design and mix between traditional Chinese, Communist and modern more western styles has produced some interesting and very original Art. I also saw some great punk bands and spent long nights on club crawls venturing from drum’n’bass to breaks to cheesy disco house.
“Tijuana were playing a residency in a hotel. It was the first time we played in the same place night after night for a while. We're usually darting up and down the coast going from venue to venue - it was a little tedious towards the end and reminded me that we need that constant scenery change. The music seems to go down really well down there.”
The rare down time between gigs (the band played five nights a week during their ten week Beijing stint) could have been spent taking in the sights of China, but George and his bandmates Carey O’Sullivan (keyboards/electronica), Regan Hoskins (MC/vocals) and Daniel Gonzalez (percussion) focused what little energy they had on writing tracks for the follow-up to their 2007 long-player Frequent Flyers – Redeemed.
“We did actually baton down and get some writing done - in between long almost suicidal bouts of drinking,” George says. “By the end of the tour we ended up with around 40 little tracks, we are now trying the cull the crap and end up with a strong 12 track album. Easier said than done though! Some times I listen back to them and think we are the best band in the world, other times I think ‘What have we done? They all sound terrible we need to start again!’ So we'll see when they're finished I guess.”
Though they’re an accomplished live unit, George readily admits the band is still honing their sound. Their music is a heady fusion of house, big beat and breaks with Arabic and Spanish influences (most notably through George’s distinctive flamenco guitar stylings), a combination which the group have been striving to make more seamless ever since they joined forces.
“Carey and I were doing a live chillout session with the guitars and electronics when we met up with Regan, who wanted to try mixing up the guitars with a DJ set,” George says of the band’s origins. “It turned out to be crackin' combination and it didn't take long for us to figure out that if we joined forces we could really do something spectacular. So we had a meeting, decided on a secret handshake, and the Cartel was born.
“There have been times were the music would almost contradict itself in styles, from Spanish guitar to electro pop to breakbeats. We are all into so many styles and love trying all of them out, however with this album the aim is to have a distinct link between every track and get it to flow almost like a movie - not quite as ambitious as Pink Floyd’s The Wall but our own mini version anyway. The main theme for all our tracks is ‘organic meets electronic’, and we are trying to show both of those sides as much as possible.” - Time Off Magazine

It’s not very often that you get to see two of the Gold Coast’s – and QLD’s – finest party bands at Brisbane’s cosiest live music venue. Tonight, however, marks a somewhat momentous occasion as snappy electro-flamenco mafiosi Tijuana Cartel and their hometown compadres a FRENCH BUTLER Called SMITH bring a much-needed dose of musical sunshine to those starved of the warmth. And so, without further ado…
…the clock strikes 9 and FRENCH BUTLER SMITH (thus named after three of the bandmembers – respectively singer/guitarist Scott French, dreadlocked bassist Jake ‘The Butler’ Martin and percussionist Brennan Smith) are on. Scorched by the quintet’s fierce, quasi-Caribbean rhythms, I momentarily get lost among a flurry of punters who go off like firecrackers to the music. It also proves pretty hard to describe the band’s style as they do go through a massive selection of genres – salsa, rhumba, bossa nova, ska, reggae, funk to name but a few – with ease and utter abandon. I manage to recognise The BunnyMan’s infectious acoustic guitar and brass stabs before the band deliver a true piece de resistance of their set by prompting the crowd to gradually duck and then rise up before erupting into a perspiring hive once again. Altogether now: let’s twist again, like we did last summer!
Everyone in the sold out venue is well and truly warmed up for tonight’s hosts Tijuana Cartel, who proceed to inject more fire in the crowd’s collective joints (as in limbs – not a slightest pot whiff is to be heard during the show) with their mix of flamenco guitars, pulverising percussion and groovy dance backing. Porkpie hat-sporting frontman Paul George rips into one rapid-fire lead after another while Daniel Gonzales bashes out Latin polyrhythms on his conga and timbales sets along to Carey O’Sullivan cooked-up beats; joined by stage-roaming MC Regan Hoskins, trumpeter Shannon ‘Van Horn’ Booyens and guest DJ Freddie Flyfingaz, the first part of the set sees the exhilarating crew delve into dense electronic dub and heavily-moustachio’d ‘70s funk before a “beer break” is announced – cue swamped bar and, in this danced-out reviewer’s case, a breather and a stretch.
Ten minutes later, the party re-ignites in an even more grandscale fashion as the Gold Coasters return onstage and crank up some surprisingly polyphonic tribal trance before getting back to their usual business. The Cause, one of the non- They Come tracks, is met with loud cheers, as is the hypnotic Didgeridub and the assorted melodica flavours. Coming out from behind the decks, Casey sits down with Paul and the two treat us to a spicy two-guitar flamenco workout, which segues into a scintillating Zorba – at this point, the place ERUPTS, with the room temperature hitting QLD summer levels. More melodica-sampling grooves follow before the purring, strutting feline tour-de-force that is Persian hits the PA, at which point the incessant rhythm seems to have turned even the most club-footed dancers in the audience into ace movers.
Slippedy Slide signals TC’s second retreat behind The Troub’s famed red velvet curtains; in the meantime, an overzealous female punter gets onstage and bashes everyone’s collective eardrums with a screeching “We want more!” The security guard tries to remove her and gets subjected to an extended hug, at which point his hostility ceases and the collective love vibe is restored. An encore of delicious, percussion-heavy flamenco-hop tops the night off like salsa on a burrito – who needs guns and cocaine when you can get good-time live music like this?

- fasterlouder.com.au

Tijuana Cartel – The Troubadour – Friday July 17th

It’s a rare thing indeed to experience an evening of unadulterated exuberance such as the scene at the Troubadour last Friday night. The atmosphere was one of anticipation, as the quartet hailing from the Gold Coast was preparing to take the stage. The crowd eager for some alternative electronica flamenco beats had their dancing shoes laced accordingly. Finally lead singer and guitarist Paul George took the stage to whoops and cheers from the audience – he was barefoot and casually leaning against a stool, all the better to tap along to the beat with – followed by percussionist Daniel Gonzalez, keyboardist Cary O’Sullivan and special guest DJ Freddie FlyFingaz. Hips began to sway and arms were thrown into the air as the beat began. Deliciously smooth melodies took over and it was nigh impossible to stand still.

As the gig progressed the remaining band member MC Regan Hoskins took the stage to add seductive bass vocals to the tracks. Special guest trumpeter Shannon Van Horn Booyens took it to another level of aural ecstasy from the moment the first note was belted out across the room. All the elements were present and the audience was treated to a performance akin to a slice of chocolate mud cake. Smooth, delicious and goes straight to your hips.

But it wasn’t just the audience who was treated that evening. Indeed it was a special event for the band, having never sold out a Brisbane show before. Throughout the performance Paul made it known that Tijuana Cartel appreciated the crowds’ enthusiasm. The feelings were mutual, as he impressed with flamenco guitar solos, plucked so quickly his fingers were a blur upon the strings. Daniel equally amazed with his perfected technique on a variety of Latin percussions and bongo beats so fast there was an array of ladies shaking what their mama gave them throughout the room. Tijuana Cartel got up close and personal with the audience, and the crowd was equally responsive. At the end of the two set gig, ladies began to line the stage as they clambered up from the audience, to swing and sway to the final melodies.

The band played what they thought to be their last song of the evening, but the crowd had other ideas. Upon disappearing behind the curtain, an audience member who appeared to be known to the band took to the stage and began to chant into the mic, “We want more!” It wasn’t long before the room echoed with the sentiment and they had no choice but to return for an encore performance. - Consolidated Press