“We’re super excited to get cranking on it – we’re working on it right now,” says vocalist Matt Caughthran of what he is colloquially referring to as Bronx 5. “We’ve only been able to get a couple of demos going because we’ve been so busy touring, but we’re looking to get work done in earnest around November. I know we want to get back to just going all out – it feels, in a lot of ways, like there’s a lot we need to get off our chest. I think it’s going to be a pretty aggressive record.” As for new Mariachi material, Caughthran notes that fans may have to wait a little longer. “We haven’t written anything new for El Bronx,” he confesses. “Both bands have been touring so much this year, we have to make a sacrifice in terms of what material gets written first. It’s not fair on either band to try and write both at the same time. They both deserve equal attention.”
Given that he is spending the majority of his time with The Bronx screaming in people’s faces while mostly crooning as the leader of Mariachi El Bronx, one could safely assume that there’s a certain challenge to having both bands touring simultaneously. Rather than serve as a deterrent, Caughthran embraces the uniqueness of his band’s split personality. “It’s definitely something that I’ve had to get used to,” he says. “It’s definitely strange, but I think it’s strange in a good way. It’s unique, and it’s something that we really love about what we’re doing – no one else is doing it. The difficulty comes with trying to get into a rhythm when you’re going back and forth between the two bands. Outside of touring, we don’t try to force the issue – whatever we’re feeling creatively is what we’re going to pursue.”
Despite losing a founding member of the band – drummer Jorma Vik – this past June, nothing has slowed the momentum of either The Bronx or Mariachi El Bronx this year. Caughthran is particularly excited about both acts on a live front –guaranteeing that if you’re coming to see them now, in either form, you’re in for a hell of a performance from a band with nothing to lose. “On a personal level, I feel that I’ve found a new plateau of not giving a fuck this year,” he says. “I feel like there’s definitely a complete recklessness to our shows. The band is playing really well – focused is the wrong word, because we’re so disoriented, but we’re definitely all in it together. Everyone wants to get crazy, and the energy has been through the roof. It takes over the place from start to finish – there’s no mercy. I want to continue that, it feels empowering.”
Both The Bronx and Mariachi El Bronx are set to return to Australia in late October. The former will be taking up support for Brisbane’s Violent Soho. It’s not lost on Caughthran that when The Bronx toured in 2013, one of their supports was none other than Soho themselves. He has no sour grapes about the tables being turned, however: “It’s so well-deserved for those boys,” he says. “We’ve known them for a really long time. We brought them over to the States and did shows with them while they were over here. The music industry can be really fucked up, but they’re hard. They don’t let bullshit break them down. Success like that couldn’t have happened to a more deserving band. It’s so great they wanted us to come out and be a part of these shows – we’re seriously honoured.”
The latter, meanwhile, are set to play The Lost Lands festival, as well as a key headlining show in Sydney. Though many point to The Bronx’s legendary 2004 Annandale Hotel show, which was filmed for a DVD, as their greatest moment, Caughthran believes that Mariachi achieved similar classic status when they headlined the Forum Theatre. “It was the most fun show,” he says. “At that point, we were really trying to do something diffferent with Marachi shows – we had a whole section where we were playing our most quiet, acoustic numbers. We were so nervous about doing that, because we had never done it before. Thankfully, this crowd was so cool, they went with whatever we wanted to do. Everyone was dressed up, everyone was singing along to all our songs. It was one of those nights I don’t think I’ll ever forget.”
BY DAVID JAMES YOUNG
