7 minute read
Arts & Culture
Mariachi Manchester was founded in 2014 as a tribute to English rock band the Smiths and their now-former lead singer, Morrissey.
Mariachi band puts a new spin on the Smiths, Morrissey
By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski Pasadena Weekly Executive Editor
Growing up in Mexico City, Moises Baqueiro scoured cultural flea markets for music.
Typically, the music was bootlegged concerts or albums. He found a 1989 Cork City, Ireland, U2 concert that was recorded with a Walkman or a “recording device that dates little detour and go into that, without digressing too much. It’s more like a musical parenthetical. We go on a little tangent and go back. I’m dramatic and rude and romantic and kind. “There’s a lot of naiveite in their music when they compose. It doesn’t seem to have coheto the ’80s.”
“I bought a lot of music there,” Baqueiro said. “Among the music I bought was the Smiths. It was really interesting for me. They always had the lyrics, as it was before the internet. Getting music where I knew what they were talking about was really, really important. They didn’t print a lot of those records in Mexico.”
Baqueiro was intrigued, as he was living in 1980s, ultra-right Mexican dictatorship, “if you want to put it that way,” he said. He admired the Smiths’ musically addressing Margaret Thatcher and her conservative government.
When he was older, he founded Mariachi Manchester, a tribute to the Smiths and their now-former lead singer, Morrissey.
Some songs proved to be challenging for Mariachi Manchester, such as the Smiths’ “How Soon is Now?” Baqueiro said, by definition, mariachi is many musical genres put in one.
“Among the things that mariachi music takes on is from the northern part of Mexico, which is highly influenced by Irish music,” he said.
Mariachi Manchester’s set list includes “Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want,” “Bigmouth Strikes Again,” “Suedehead,” “Ask” and “The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get.”
“A lot of these are mixed with songs of the Mexican mariachi catalog,” he said. “We take a sive form. Songs like ‘The Boy with the Thorn in His Side’ and ‘This Charming Man’ are very odd in their form. I don’t know if it’s them being completely knowledgeable of what they were doing.” Baqueiro calls himself a “very premature entrepreneur” who owned his first business, a bar with live music, at age 19. He ran that business until he fell ill and spent six months in bed. Baqueiro’s outlook on life changed. “One day, I bought a plane ticket and ended up in LA,” added Baqueiro, whose brother lived in the United States. “I went to ESL school and there were similarities with the people around me. The urge to communicate with our new environment was important. It was fascinating to be in a room where the world fit in. Everybody was trying to communicate with each other through a common language.” Baqueiro found the United States’ melting pot interesting, something he said Americans do not appreciate. “To me, it was fascinating to drive the 5 freeway and you can go through the world and not talk to a single person,” he added. “You can pull over and you’d end up in any little world — Little Armenia, Little Tokyo — not that Mexico City was not diverse or cosmopolitan. The number of people from different places intrigued me.” He soon considered becoming a musician; however, he wouldn’t call himself a “goth or emo person.” He felt misplaced and detached from the mainstream, though. “Back then, the music was popular, but it transcended and now it’s a thing — part of pop culture,” he said.
Mariachi Manchester WHEN: 8 p.m. Friday, March 18 WHERE: The Mixx, 443 E. Colorado Boulevard, Pasadena COST: Tickets start at $12.50 INFO: themixxclub.com
Pasadena resident promotes Happy Science with ‘Cherry Bushido’
By Jana J. Monji Pasadena Weekly Contributing Writer
Yoichi Utebi moved to Pasadena just a year before COVID-19 closed borders. His mission was to promote the films made by Happy Science, but with films and its festivals closing, those plans were put on hold.
During a Zoom interview, the 52-year-old Utebi seems very happy despite the troubles of the last couple of years. This month, a new film, “The Cherry Bushido,” will screen at the Laemmle Playhouse 7 on Friday, March 25. Moviegoers’ desire to see “The Cherry Bushido” may depend on their curiosity about Happy Science.
Happy Science, formerly known as The Institute for Research in Human Happiness, is a religious and spiritual movement founded by Ryuho Okawa.
Utebi came to Happy Science while he was in Japan after having lived through several culture shocks. Born in Kobe, he remembers climbing on tanks in Lebanon. His father worked for a trading company and had been sent to Lebanon, where Utebi was until second grade.
“The Japanese government told us, ‘All Japanese people, get on a plane tomorrow morning,’” he said.
He witnessed the fighting and said, “That changed something in me. I never like to fight with anyone. I am a peaceful person because as a very young child I experienced war.”
Returning to Japan for a stint, his father then was assigned to work in New York, where Utebi attended high school. Utebi struggled to communicate as he settled in a small town without a Japanese school and other Japanese kids and courses. He joined a hard rock band called Remington and grew his hair to his waist. After a few years, he cut his hair and returned to Japan. He taught English for a while and then moved to Tokyo, eventually getting a job in IT. It was in Tokyo that he discovered Happy Science.
With that, he began working with the organization, even accompanying founder Okawa on an international tour, visiting Africa and Europe. Okawa founded Happy Science, which is headquartered in Tokyo, with branches in Africa, Europe, Asia, Oceania, South America and North America. The Los Angeles Temple is based in Pasadena.
Utebi was in Hawaii and Okinawa before returning to Tokyo and then coming to Pasadena with his second wife, Takako. The move to Los Angeles was to help promote Happy Science films, hoping that proximity to Hollywood would help Utebi make better connections and ease distribution.
A Japanese title that translates to “Patriotic Girl Red Bushido,” “The Cherry Bushido” is presented dubbed into English. “Bushido” is the code of honor for the Japanese samurai. In Japanese literature, the word “patriotism” may spark memories of Yukio Mishima’s short story.
The film follows a female college student, Shizuka (Fumika Shimizu), who becomes involved with the Japan Salvation Conference. The group’s mission is to save Japan from the Great Demon of Hades by fighting with its astral bodies in another dimension.
According to Utebi, when the film was released in Japan, it was No. 2 at the box office. The original story is credited to Okawa and the screenplay to his daughter, Sayaka.
On April 16, 2020, the New York Times published an article, “Inside the Fringe Japanese Religion that Claims It Can Cure COVID-19.” It claimed the disease could be cured not with science but with prayers. Okawa also founded a political party, the Happiness Realization Party, which is characterized as radical conservative. Okawa is the party’s president.
“The Cherry Bushido”s WHEN: Opens Friday, March 25 WHERE: Playhouse 7, 673 E. Colorado Boulevard, Pasadena COST: See website INFO: 310-478-3836, laemmle.com, happy-science.org, cherrybushidomovie.com
