RECORDS LiVE

Tamara: What’s your name?

Brian: I’m Brian. Brian Martinez.

Tamara: Martinez! Shout out Martinez! We got so many Martinez’s here tonight. God bless the Martinez family. What band are you from?

Brian: Rangoo.

Tamara: Rangoo? And you brought me some records to listen to? Thank you. Okay, help me pronounce this band’s name.

Brian: Hombres G (Om Bres Heh).

Song Plays: Hombres G – Visite nuestro bar

Tamara: I thought so. This is a really fun song.

Brian: It’s a fucking amazing song.

Tamara: It’s funny. Yeah. So how did you first discover this band, Hombres G?

Brian: Funny story. My mom would always bump this song. It was like Saturday or Sunday, and like, we would fucking be so tired from school. We would hear this song, and we would be so frustrated because it would be like, “Damn, my mom busted out her music. It’s time to fucking clean. Limpiar.” I used to actually really hate this song. Because I’d be like, “Damn, it’s time to wake up. It’s time to clean. My mom be jamming out.”

Tamara: It’s a fun song. I want to listen to this at a bar now. I’m like, “Yeah, we should go to a bar. We should have…” What is it? Rum?

Brian: Yeah, they gotta bump this. Some tequila. Some palomas. Hell yeah.

Tamara: Are there any musical elements that you like about the song? Or is it more of like the nostalgia factor?

Brian: Honestly, I just really love how bumpy it is. It just makes you want to dance, you know? I think that’s the biggest part of it. I really love this guy’s vocals. They’re very unique to me, honestly. I just really love his lyrics. For me all the songs that he has are very dancy to me. I think that’s the biggest part for me. It’s the danciness of his songs.

Tamara: Do you try to add that to your own music? That bumpiness that music like this has, or no?

Brian: To a certain extent, yes. When I first started making music, it was very… I just thought I was the main character. Making the next hit, you know? Just playing my little acoustic guitar. Recently I’ve been trying to make people dance at shows. It’s my biggest objective, honestly. So, I think, especially with this song… it’s making people at least bump their head, you know?

Because a lot of the time at shows, people are kind of shy to show their moves. But my objective is making people at least do this (nods head), you know? Like, hell yeah. If I see people head-nodding, I’m just like, “Okay.”

Tamara: You’re like, “I made it.” How do you do that? How do you connect with the crowd?

Brian: I don’t know. Just making them feel something, you know? I mean, they already paid the ticket. Might as well just move your head or something.

Tamara: Yeah. I love that. So, does this song have all the members singing in it? Or is it stacked vocals?

Brian: Honestly, I have no idea. I think it’s just stacked vocals. But yeah, this song’s beautiful. You guys should check it out if you guys don’t already know it.

Tamara: Yeah, he’s putting you on right now, guys. Go home and listen to it. If you don’t speak Spanish, look at the lyrics, because that’s what I did. And I was like, “Whoa! These are fun lyrics.” It’s literally about visiting a bar. It’s a great song. It’s our anthem on Tuesday.

Song Plays: Café Tacvba – La ingrata

Brian: Everyone knows this song.

Tamara: I love that. This one I thought was so dancy. I can picture everybody going crazy dancing to this one.

Brian: Oh yeah, I freaking love “Ingrata,” bro. I feel everybody knows this song. Does everybody know this song? Yeah, yeah, everyone’s like, “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” This song really inspired our top song, “Don’t Worry, It’s Just a Song.” It’s very ska. It’s one of the fun ones for sure.

Tamara: It’s also lyrically pretty similar to “Don’t Worry, It’s Just a Song.”

Brian: Correct, yeah. It’s talking about a girl that kind of did him wrong.

Tamara: Elaborate. Well, you don’t have to say the girl who did anybody wrong. It’s a fun song, but it’s got some deep elements to it.

Brian: Yeah, so this song, for me it’s cool because Ingrata, it’s a girl that did him dirty, you know? I’m not sure what his context is from the song, but for me, the way that I took it is like, we’ve all been in a situation where a girl was… you thought that girl was the one, you know? You were so crazy about this person and then, she just turned out not to be the person you thought she was. So, for “Don’t Worry, It’s Just a Song,” I took a lot of inspiration from this song.

Funny story, one of my buddies and I used to always hang out at Cane’s. His name was Carlos. We would just smoke weed and eat a lot of food. He would literally, two seconds into the conversation, I would just turn around and he would be bawling his eyes out and I’d just be like, “Fuck dude, I’m so faded, what are you doing?” And so that song was kind of inspired by my friend Carlos. Dude, this girl broke his heart. But the funny thing is, it was his fault, he just didn’t care about her, you know? “Don’t Worry, It’s Just a Song” got inspiration from that. In my head, every time he’d be talking to me, I’d just be like, “Dude, that’s a great story to write about.” And it’s kind of messed up because I don’t even think he knows that I wrote it about him.

Tamara: You’ve got to dedicate the next album to him.

Brian: Yeah, I know, right? Dedicated to my friend Carlos. When I first heard “Ingrata,” I was like, “Dude, I need to write something like this.” And then when my friend would tell me about this girl that completely destroyed his image of love, I was like, “Dude, I need to write something like this.”

Tamara: You’re like, “This is good, Carlos. How would you say you feel about love right now?”

Brian: Yeah, with a notebook, just writing it down. No, yeah, I don’t know. It’s kind of messed up. I mean…

Tamara: I love this. It’s an exclusive.

Brian: Thank Carlos, bro. He hooked it up with the song.

Tamara: You should have invited him tonight. He could have found out.

Brian: Yeah, but I don’t know. This song is just amazing. I feel like everybody could just vibe to it even if you don’t understand the lyrics. It’s a song where you could just be like, “I don’t know what you’re saying, but let’s dance.”

Tamara: You kind of sing like him. You’ve got a little bit of grit like him.

Brian: Yeah. He does these little ponytails. I want to grow my hair out again and just do funny little hair. I don’t know. He’s just really cool. If you guys see him live… I’ve never seen him live, but in YouTube videos, he’s really cool. I think he’s cool as hell.

Tamara: Is he an older artist? He’s older, 70s era or past 90s?

Brian: I wouldn’t even know.

Tamara: You want to know? Does anybody in the crowd know?

Audience: 80s, 90s.

Brian: Yeah, okay. Hell yeah. I got the Latinos out here.

Tamara: We got the Latinos out here. Holler if you’re Mexican.

Audience Cheering

Brian: They need tequila, bro. Bring out the bottle.

Tamara: We’ve got to serve up tequila at the next RECORDS LiVE.

Song Plays: Ed Maverick – no hay problema

Brian: This song’s beautiful.

Tamara: Tell me why you chose this one.

Brian: Ed Maverick is one of my biggest inspirations. When I first started writing music when I was 16, I heard his song “Fuentes De Ortiz.” I like his voice, the way he wrote just really inspired me. I would sing his covers on TikTok just for fun. But when he released this song and I heard it, I was like, “Dude, he just opened his brain to us.” And it’s like, dude, wow. To me it was crazy. How can somebody just unleash their emotions?

I heard a couple rumors about what he wrote this song about. It was about a girl that was with someone and then she cheated on him or on another guy with Ed. I don’t know. It’s just a crazy story. To me, it was just beautiful, him bringing it out to the public. He’s such a famous dude. It’s so amazing. And he just put his full heart out on a record. And it’s like, “Dude, how could he do that?” And every time I listen to this, I’m just like, “Damn, dude, how could somebody just pour their heart out in front of everyone?”

And just listen to him yell, bro. To me it’s such a beautiful thing. Anybody going through heartbreak or anything in life can relate to his pain. That’s why this song is so beautiful. An artist being able to write your feelings and sing it to the public. Dude, that’s so hard to do.

Tamara: What do you think is your most vulnerable song that you’ve released, not Carlos’s story, from you pouring your heart out? What has been a song you’re proud of that’s also very vulnerable?

Brian: I don’t know. I guess none of the songs that I have out now. I’d say maybe some of the songs that are going to be on our next album. Those songs are a little bit more personal. I’ve never really felt like expressing myself to the public, but now that I have a small platform, I feel like I need to show people a little bit more of what’s inside my head. None of the songs that are out now but some of the songs that I’ve written and I’m gonna be releasing. Those songs are not fully honest but some pieces of them show a part of me that I never thought I could share with people. Ed’s an artist who really taught me to just be myself.

Tamara: Do you think your second album will be a better representation of your sound and where you want to go with your music?

Brian: Most definitely. Diego (guitarist for Rangoo and former RECORDS LiVE guest) and I just started working on some songs. There’s been hardships in my life and I’m just like, “Okay, it’s time to start bringing that side of me out.” I just really love music. I want to write music that people could be like, “Dude, I can relate to that.” You know? That’s my biggest mission with music. I want people to hear my music and connect with it.

Tamara: What made you fall in love with music?

Brian: Honestly, since I was a kid, I really wanted to do music. I really loved Bruno Mars, and I would put Bruno Mars on YouTube, and I would just sing my heart out. I wanted to be Bruno Mars.

Tamara: And you didn’t bring any of his records with you tonight. What Bruno Mars song would you have brought?

Brian: I think it would probably be “Young Girls.”

Tamara: Really? That song is really good.

Brian: Yeah. I bought a CD when he released the album. I asked my mom for it for my birthday and she’s like “No, you’re not getting it.” So, I went to go buy it and then my birthday came around. They’re like, “Dude, I already bought you the CD.” So, I had two copies. I don’t know what happened to them, but I had two copies of that.

Tamara: Brian’s next birthday, everyone get that album for him. That was such a beautiful song. I loved that come down from the Ed Maverick song.

Brian: That song is fucking beautiful.

Brian: What songs next? Oh, Comisario Pantera. Do you guys know this band? This band is so beautiful. I want to play with them one day.

Song Plays: Comisario Pantera – Éramos Adolescentes

Tamara: I think you will. Are they newer?

Brian: I wouldn’t say they’re newer. They’re popular in Mexico, but they’re not very popular in the US. This band really resonates with my youth. There was a certain point in my life where I would hang out a lot with my oldest brother. He’s from Mexico. He showed me this band, and there was a point in my life where it was just me and my older brother Alex. We were hanging out a lot, and we would bump their music 24/7. It was such a beautiful time because their music spoke to me. I wanted to make rock. It was a funny time. I really looked up to my oldest brother. When he showed me this music I was like, “Dude I don’t know what they’re talking about, but I love this.”

There was a time when we lived in Washington state. When we came back from Washington state to California, we burned a CD. It was literally 12 of their songs and that’s the only CD that was working, so for 24 hours we were just driving from Washington to California, and we were just singing their music for 24 hours. We were just listening to this band, but I really love his vocals. A big thing for me was when I grew up singing, my family said, “Dude you suck at singing. Don’t sing. You sound horrible.” And these guys’ vocals are higher pitched. I was like, “Dude, I don’t like my voice. I sound stupid.” So, I just connected with him. His voice is different. I could be different, you know?

Tamara: Yeah, I love that. I like that music takes you to a certain memory and time. Do you think a lot of these records are nostalgic?

Brian: Yeah, they really are.

Song Plays: The Strokes – Someday

Tamara: Okay, last one we’re switching it up a little bit guys. This is our last song for the night. The Strokes, a classic. Why this song?

Brian: The Strokes are another band that that my older brother showed me. Which is funny because growing up I didn’t really listen to this sort of music. But my older brother Alex knew this song and this band. He knew the Arctic Monkeys, Daft Punk, Cage the Elephant… ‘Til this day I still remember when he showed me this song. Like, “Wow this is music.” To me this was a blend of everything that goes on in my head. Julian’s voice, his lyrics, I don’t know, just everything about this song really makes me think like, “Wow, music is beautiful.”

Tamara: Yeah. Does it inspire you a lot with your own music?

Brian: The sort of music that I write? Not necessarily. But the way he sings, I wish I could sing like him, the vocal effects he uses, the guitar, just everything about this. The bass, it just makes me feel some type of way. You know?

Tamara: It’s a great song. Growing up I didn’t listen to them but more recently a lot of people have been putting The Strokes in their RECORDS LiVE picks. So, I’m starting to really appreciate them from an artist’s perspective.

Brian: It’s so good, especially this part. That little breakdown, it’s so beautiful to me. I don’t know why. This is my all-time favorite Strokes song. It’s so raw. I know it’s nothing crazy. It’s just so simple, but it’s beautiful at the same time. I really like the vocal effects he uses. I just feel the way he sings is why I like implementing some screams in my singing. I just want people to feel like, “Damn this foo’s hurting,” or something. You know? Something that they could relate to.

Tamara: What kind of mood do you have to be in to record?

Brian: Recently when we’ve recorded, I kind of try to get into a little character. I put my glasses on, try to hide a little bit. I don’t know. I just gotta get into a certain mood when I perform. I just like to get lost in the music, get some dance moves going.

Tamara: You’re like, “This is not Brian Martinez. This is Brian from Rangoo up here.”

Brian: Yeah, exactly. This is Rangoo right here.

Tamara: Yeah, I love that. Okay, so thank you for joining us, We’re at the end of our journey. Where can we find you and Rangoo next?

Brian: We’ll be playing with The Frick Fracks at Viva! Pomona. So, that’s gonna be fun.

Tamara: Awesome, Thank you again for joining us.