The Good, The Bad and Los Mysteriosos

PHOTO by PAIGE MCCORMACK

Every Cinco de Mayo since their very first show, they ride in from the horizon: Los Mysteriosos, arguably the best-dressed band in Long Beach, though he wouldn’t want to sap the honor from the Bolides, says guitarist/singer El Mysterioso. As the house band at Alex’s Bar—in spirit and often in fact—Mysterioso, bassist Alex (he who owns the house), drummer Reuben and guitarist Danero play the sort of songs Tuco Benedicto Pacifico Juan Maria Ramirez might have enjoyed: electrified waltz-time ballads about lone riders and lonesome women delivered in El Mysterioso’s enthusiastically melodramatic Spanish, only a horn section shy of communicating deeply ageless tragedy. (Or of becoming the Mexican Rocket from the Crypt, as a friend of El Mysterioso once suggested.) They have an EP due this summer but before that—an anniversary to commemorate!

What spaghetti western has the best musical moment?
The Good, The Bad and the Ugly! At the end—the very end! Morricone was amazing—that guy could set a mood with his guitar. Los Mysteriosos are the same way—that’s what we wanna pull off. You know the end—where it’s all focused in on their eyes, and the chants are in the background, and you know something’s gonna happen. The climax is coming and you’re waiting and that sets the mood. If you’re making a comparison, that’s it—we wanna set a mood!
Are all the songs really about love and lost love?
Oh yeah! I’m a hopeless romantic. When it comes to playing music, I like to be somewhat theatrical. That also takes from folklorico and ranchero music guys singing from their personal experience—for me, there’s no better story to tell than one of tragedy and hope and of love! It’s an easy thing for me to write. I think I take a little from some of the greats—I’m not singing about riding horses or bullfighting, but I can use that analogy and put a twist and do it about my everyday life. I really like a good story.
What is your advice for the truly heartbroken?
I say we could probably help them out with it! Our songs encapsulate everything—our bad days, our good days, our experiences with girls, the future, sharing it all over a beer—it’s all there! I notice when we play, more people are paying attention to the music. Alex’s Bar has a mix of everybody, but I see more of the American civilization out there wanting to know what I’m saying. It’s weird to be singing in a language I understand that they don’t—but then I’m seeing that look on their face, like ‘I don’t know what he’s saying, but I believe it!’
Is that part of why you sing in Spanish?
It just goes back to my upbringing. I grew up here but my parents are from Mexico, and we’d go back to where they grew up every summer. We’d sing songs and pass the guitar from uncle to aunt to cousin—I’d see all this history coming together for the next generation! It was always something that made me feel proud. 
What do your parents think of Los Mysteriosos?
It’s a little loud for them. But your heart’s in the right place? Yeah—they embrace it 100%. They say, ‘You’re doing your own thing, but just as long as you know what the stories mean, and what they meant to us—if you get that, you’ll make other people as proud as we are.’

LOS MYSTERIOSOS WITH FAST DRAGON AND LOS CHILAQZ ALEX’S BAR | 2913 E ANAHEIM ST | LONG BEACH 90814 | MON 9PM | FREE | 21+ | ALEXSBAR.COM

Tags: alex's bar, cinco de mayo, Long Beach, los mysteriosos, Music