The other night, amid post-wedding blues (like the day after Christmas, but worse), I descended on the streets of Little Tokyo for the 1000th time this summer to check out Gustavo Galindo’s music video premiere at Levi’s Film Workshop. A swarm of LA’s hottest hipsters waited in line to catch MOCA’s neighboring “Art in the Streets” exhibit before it disappeared this week, and for a second I thought they were there to see my latest crush, Gustavo Galindo.
I waltzed inside Levi’s jerry-rigged filmmaking studio to find aspiring filmmakers taking advantage of free equipment rentals and edit suites, and, of course, a table of Mexican food. (Because it isn’t a party unless food is had.)
Then my eyes met his.
But this isn’t a story about the hottest Mexican American singer out there right now (well, kinda), it’s about a super talented musician on the rise who just released a new video and performed tracks from his debut, Entre La Ciudad Y El Mar. The album, produced by Oscar and Grammy Award winning musician and composer, Gustavo Santaolalla (Brokeback Mountain, Babel), is a beautiful collection of melodic rock songs that dabble in love and weave in a perfect balance of blues and pop.
Sporting some of the hottest hair I’ve seen since Chris Isaak and Johnny Cash, Galindo debuted his “Amor de Alta Mar” (“Love on the High Seas”) music video, which was directed by his good friend and filmmaker, Carlos Estrada, with the help of Levi’s. The video, shot on the 6th Street bridge in downtown L.A., used a swarm of black birds to symbolize the changing face of reality and features members Josh Sonntag, Luke Benedum, and Brian Zarlenga. I later found out the song actually came about when Galindo had to sacrifice a relationship to get to where he is now. Awww!
“It’s a song about the loss of love and innocence and moving on in life,” The Mexico City-born, Sacramento-raised artist told the crowd.
It’s that depth and soul that resonate in his music; a romantic sound that has hints of Enrique Iglesias and a male version of Julieta Venegas. Galindo grew up playing guitar with his dad and listened to everything from Juan Gabriel to Tom Petty. “Being bicultural and bilingual, I like to listen to both sides,” he said.
Galindo, who’s performed on the same bill as Zoé, Enrique Iglesias, Ely Guerra, Gloria Trevi, Juanes, Babasónicos, and Ximena Sariñana, ended the night by performing “Amor de Alta Mar,” “La Morena,” “El Rio” (peep the demo here), and a cover of “The Letter.”
Catch the crooner this Friday, August 12 at 9 p.m. at the House of Blues. Email perroazulhollywood@gmail.com for guest list information.