1) Why do you think the music and the legacy of Morrissey has been so popular amongst Mexicans and Mexican Americans? What about Morrissey and his work with The Smiths has made him stand-out in this population?

I think Mexicans love melodrama, we love dark humor and songs of love, loss and heartache. Morrissey’s  songs and The Smiths’ songs have these kinds of lyrics. We connect with them because they are not completely foreign. We had an artist similar in that sense with Morrissey, and his name was Juan Gabriel. His songs are full of emotion, and sometimes a lot of sadness, and he’s arguably the most beloved artist in Mexico.

2) Who decided to begin the band Mexrrissey, and how has it evolved since its inception?

Camilo Lara would be the band leader, I guess. He’s the one that reached out to me about this idea he had. He wanted to put together this band with different artists from Mexico that all have their own careers already, and get together to work on the songs. We started rehearsing and it was pretty magical. Everything flowed in a very organic way, we connected as a band from the very beginning and the more we play it obviously feels better.

3) How have you blended the familiar elements of Morrissey into your cover songs so that they sound fresh, original, and most of all, linked to Mexican culture? What have been some of your favorite songs to perform? What are the crowd pleasers?

The easy answer would be to imagine if Morrissey was born in Mexico and grew up listening to the music that we listened to, that you hear when you’re walking down the streets, music like cumbia, mariachi, all of it. It’s sort of in our DNA, and adding these elements to these songs wasn’t a difficult task. We realized that a guitar line could be substituted by a trumpet line, and it was beautiful. I love performing all of them, especially the ones I sing on. As for crowd pleasers, I think it varies. People respond very positively once they recognize the songs, and I think the entire show has a great energy, people seem to enjoy the whole thing.

4) What are the challenges that arise when doing translation work to make English lyrics not only Spanish, but also “fit" with a set rhythm and chord progression?

It’s been hard at times, but we decided not to do a literal translation, we changed things here and there, and added Mexican slang among other things. We made them [the songs] ours in a way.

5) Do you think that Mexrrissey will always stick to cover songs, or have you thought of writing original lyrics in the style of Morrissey/The Smiths?

We haven’t really thought about doing original songs. We really are taking it day by day, and seeing what happens. We are all very busy with our own projects that if it works out, we will do more, but it has to be a natural process.

6) How do you see music's role (yours or in general) in increasing empathy for diverse experience, awareness of the other, and the spirit of cross-cultural acceptance? Do you think the need for this embrace has increased or decreased since the origin of Mexrrissey? If so, why?

I think music has an incredible power to connect people and help us understand other cultures, ideas, etc., but  I do think we still have a long way to go. There’s a desperate need of compassion and empathy in this world, and we see it every day.  

7) In your opinion, who's the "next" Morrissey? Are there other contemporary “foreign” artists that have been inspirations and beacons of hope for the Mexican people?

I don’t know if there is one in particular. We have access to new music every day, and it’s hard sometimes to connect fully with just one band because you are always trying to catch up! I just like that we have access to so much music from all over the world now, but a “next” Morrissey? Probably not.