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Sheffield's Mexican Music Scene

Sheffield and Mexico have more in common than an overly greasy breakfast.

The Payroll Union at Club 60 – a cellar retrofitted into a private venue and recording studio.

"You must really be missing your country right now” laughs Andrew the lab technician as he sips tea from a disposable cup. We’re parked in a rented car in Effingham Road, Sheffield and it smells like a metal tent full of wet anoraks. Which I guess is sort of exactly what it is. I gaze at my English breakfast-to-go and nod. It reminds me of a torta cubana from back home in Mexico – it’s definitely just as greasy. But I’m definitely not in Mexico anymore (Toto) instead I’m about to embark on a water and sediment sampling trip to the River Don. Hey haters, some people really do find this stuff interesting, though on this grey and gloomy morning I can’t help but feel like I’d rather be back home in the sunshine. Still it’s not like there’s only rain, chip fat and river water in Sheffield. Despite my slightly unusual position as sediment tester, it’s completely obvious how much the musical history of this place has made its mark. Even from where we’re standing, it’s literally visible. Andrew explains how the building next to us was bought by the lead singer of Bromheads and turned into a studio called Crystal Ship. Just like Crystal Ship, many studios and rehearsal spaces around here were once part of the steel industry, rooted in the city’s past.

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River Don, Hillsborough

Yep, Sheffield is home to a world-class music scene; Joe Cocker, Def Leppard, The Human League, Pulp, Arctic Monkeys – the list speaks for itself. And there’s a burgeoning underground scene too. Not that I’m homesick or anything, but as a Mexican and music fan, it strikes me that Sheffield and Mexico have more in common than an overly greasy breakfast. While Juan de los Palotes might think that the legends like El Tri or Caifanes are the be-all and end-all of Mexican rock, there’s so much more to discover.

Unfortunately, passion for great music isn’t the only similarity – iconic venues are closing down in both cities. Case in point The Grapes and The Boardwalk in Sheffield, and Rockotitlán, the pinnacle of many an Aztec rocker’s aspiration. Unfortunately Rockotitlán turned into a “pay to play“ venue that quickly disappeared, and the term “Battle of the Bands” brings back bad memories from the ones I witnessed back home, where prizes were seldom delivered. Pay to play gigs really stunted the Mexican scene for a while (it’s still recovering) but hopefully that concept won’t stow away on a transatlantic flight, and screw up Sheffield too.

TyeDie Tapes HQ playing at the top floor of an old Machine Knives factory

Still, these two cities have keenly adapted to the new climate; Sheffield’s Tye Die Tapes and their chaotic but fun venue-cum-recording studio-cum-place to be is a great example of a successful underground start-up. That same decision to adapt what was encouraged G2 Studios to set up shop in an old farm. This defiant independent spirit is true of a whole bunch of Mexican musicians too; just add a computer, a cheap mixing board and instruments in a bedroom soundproofed with Bachoco egg cartons and hey presto, you’re making sweet beats.

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I’m not making sweet beats unfortunately. I’m trying to ensure the rain doesn’t sneak in at the bottom of my waterproof trousers. From my precarious riverside perch I glimpse the cover of a discarded newspaper. Boris Johnson’s mug adorns it, with his recent admission of not knowing how much a pint of milk costs. Weirdly enough, the current president of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto, has been the object of ridicule for not knowing the price of a kilo of tortillas. Hey guys, maybe we’re all soulmates? Our last sediment sample is taken under a bridge near Meadowhall, where shopping trolleys slowly rust away in the depths. As I measure dissolved oxygen in the sample, Andrew mentions a local restaurant that sells burritos. For all their great efforts, they haven’t quite nailed it. I guess we don’t have as much in common as I thought. Great music’s one thing, but a bad burrito? That’s unforgiveable.

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Previously:

Mexican Food Explosion

From the Streets of Mexico City

Mexology Music: Mexico City's Electronic Underground