“With butterflies in my stomach and great pride”. This is how the members of Mariachi Los Criollos de Guadalajara describe to EFE the experience of being part of the video for ‘Risk It All’, the song that opens and leads ‘The Romantic’, Bruno Mars’ first album in a decade.
“Seeing Bruno Mars embrace his Latin culture, and in this case our Mexican culture, is a musical defense of our blood and our identity,” Joel Jacques, owner of the mariachi, told EFE.
“It’s a very clear message: here I am, I’m Bruno Mars and I’m Latino,” added the director of this 21-piece band that has established itself as one of the most sought-after in the Latino community in Southern California.
Considered by the specialized critics as the most romantic song of the artist’s career, ‘Risk It All’ is presented as a bolero with mariachi that reminds, at times, of Juan Gabriel’s great ranchera ballads.
During the filming there was also room for song improvisation. “After lunch we had a palomazo,” said the musician. The mariachi performed classic boleros such as ‘Sabor a mí’ and ‘Cómo fue’, as well as ‘El Rey’, and Mars himself joined in singing with them.
The video tells a story of love in time and features Mars himself and DJ Rashida, stage name Rashida Gonzalez Robinson, who was the opening act for the ’24K Magic World Tour’ in 2018. Musicians from the artist’s band also appear in several scenes, reinforcing the intimate tone of the celebration.
Mariachi ‘Los Criollos’ de Guadalajara even with Bruno Mars
The recording, which allowed them to take their Guadalajara roots to locations in Los Angeles, was a turning point in the band’s career. “The process was super intense and exhaustive,” said Jacques.
At the beginning of the year they contacted them. “They asked us for photos of the mariachi, our reviews, the projection we have and the opinion we generate in the public,” recalled the Guadalajara-born musician. At that time, the group had around 150 five-star reviews and a solid reputation on social networks.
“When they saw that we were well-liked in the Angeleno community, they chose us,” he said.
One of the aspects that most caught the group’s attention was the strict handling of confidentiality. So far, the musicians are not authorized to publish images of the filming, a condition that is maintained “for now”.
Filming took place at several locations in Los Angeles, including the Guardian Angel Catholic Church in Pacoima, and homes in Thousand Oaks and another in Hollywood.
“It was very exciting to see an artist of that stature recording in our church,” Ella Machowski, parish assistant and wife of the Polish National Catholic Church priest, told EFE.
He explained that the filming process was carried out in a single day in this temple, the scene of other audiovisual productions, including music videos and an episode of the series ‘The Shield’.
And while the video for ‘Risk It All’ already has millions of views, for Mariachi Criollo de Guadalajara life goes on as usual, although they hope to increase their bookings and are already preparing to incorporate the song that has put them in the eyes of the world into their repertoire.
Risk It All’, in mariachi style
The piece also functions as a letter of introduction to an album that sounds closer to Pete Hernandez, the singer-songwriter’s real name, than to the international pop version that made him a superstar, and it is not the only one that speaks to the conversation he has opened with his cultural heritage.
‘Cha Cha Cha’ is clearly inspired by the Cuban rhythm born of danzón and mambo. ‘God Was Showing Off’ opens in Spanish with “uno, dos, tres”, while the lyric video shows a crucifix and a medal with the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe hanging from Mars’ neck.
Meanwhile, according to Agencia EFE, “Something Serious” is based on a fragment of Carlos Santana’s version of Tito Puente’s legendary ‘Oye cómo va’.
Here you can watch the video ‘Risk It All’ by Bruno Mars with Mariachi Los Criollos.
Find out more at ‘QueOnnda.com’.
