As the cornerstone of Australia’s ‘east meets west’ electronic scene, Tijuana Cartel have a knack for blending layers of rich, intricate atmospheric soundscapes with laidback rhythms and luscious vocals.
Their latest effort, 'Lost My Head', is no exception; its Middle Eastern influences backed by a rock bed of psych; the accompanying video clip is no-less trippy.
One half of the duo, singer/ guitarist Paul George shares with us the five times Tijuana Cartel almost missed their stage time.
1. Upfront Club, Maleny, 2010
I'd sold my Datsun Sunny to our keyboard player Carey O'Sullivan for $500. He was driving to our show in Maleny, Queensland. There was around half an hour to go before we kicked off and Carey was already late. It was odd as we'd all just finished another show on the Sunshine Coast.After about 100 phone calls a very tired sounding Carey had answered the phone a little confused and said he'd pulled over for a nap. It turned out the exhaust system had been filling the car and the lack of oxygen had slowly been making Carey tired enough to sleep. If he hadn't answered the phone he would have died of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Anyway, he managed to get to the gig five minutes before our first track and it was a fun show.
2. Mullumbimby Festival, 2011
The night before we'd been at Sunshine Festival in Victoria; I'd partied a little too hard that night and managed to miss the band bus to the airport. I'd also left my wallet and most of my clothes on the bus.Somehow I hitchhiked in the morning covered in mud to the airport and blagged my way on to a Jetstar flight with no money, no shoes and a very vague look on my face. I made it to Mullumbimby about 20 minutes before the set started; it was a great show.
3. Nannup Festival, West Australia, 2011
We had a late show the night before and I decided it was a good idea to take a sleeping pill for the flight to Perth. I didn't realise there was a stopover in Melbourne; when I got off the plane I found a chair and fell asleep for around eight hours and woke up a little confused. After buying a very expensive business seat on the last available seat I could get I flew to Perth, hired a car and made it to Nannup just as we were getting on stage.4. Oxford Arts Factory, Sydney, 2014
Carey's car broke down at the arrival drop-off at Gold Coast Airport. Security weren't keen on us leaving it there until a friend could pick it up. So, basically three of us pushed the car through a couple of roundabout's and dumped it on a patch by the car wash; we returned five days later to find the car still there. We inadvertently found a free parking spot at the Gold Coast Airport.5. Bali, Ku De Ta, 2012
We had a gig in Perth the night before and made it to the airport sleepless and a little worse for wear. Carey's passport had somehow grown mould on it and customs wouldn't let him onto the flight. The rest of us took the flight to Bali and sat at the show stressing a little; Carey waited for the customs official to finish their shift, tried the passport again and made it to our Ku De Ta show with about ten minutes to spare.Tijuana Cartel Tour Dates
Sat 25 Jul - Bond University (Gold Coast)Fri 21 Aug - Solbar (Sunshine Coast)
Sat 22 Aug - The Northern (Byron Bay)
Thu 10 Sep - Bigsound (Brisbane)
