Mexico City’s Mint Field have unlocked an expansiveness to their sound that few could master. Far-reaching and wonderfully ambitious, their second album ‘Sentimiento Mundial’ dips its toes into a myriad of different genres, each exploration as stunning as the last. Ahead of its release, the band chatted all about Sentimiento Mundial’s making, passionate fans on tour and living without expectations.
Hey! How are you doing?
We’re really doing well actually, thank you for asking. Just being at home, excited about the new record and working on new music as well.
Have you been up to anything exciting lately?
We are at the moment working on new songs, which feels really exciting to see how our sound is evolving.
So, your second album Sentimiento Mundial is out on September 25th – how are you feeling about that?
Super excited! The feeling of having music out is always super satisfying, can’t wait for people to hear the whole album! We recorded it almost a year ago, so ever since we recorded the album we have grown anxious about the release.
Sentimiento Mundial branches out more from your debut, nodding to quite a variety of different genres. Was that a result of the music you were listening to, or did you just find what you were making was becoming a bit more expansive?
This record, I think, comes from how we are evolving naturally, with the first LP those songs were written when we were super young and experimenting with sound and textures. I feel that now we have grown up musically and it’s easy to tell. Of course, some of the inspiration comes from some music we were listening to at the moment, I remember being super interested in experimenting with a more dry clean sound which is the complete opposite of the first album. We don’t take it much into account but we all have different phases where we listen to different music. I think each record can be very different from each other but in the end, we’re still us and from my perspective, we’re just going to keep experimenting with sound with no boundaries.
What was the process of making the album like? You recorded it in London – how did it differ from the first?
It was completely different, the first record was our first recording experience and now we had a more clear idea on how to sound. We first did demos of all the songs at home and when we got to the studio we reworked all the songs. This time we worked with a different drummer Callum Brown from Ulrika Spacek, so we kind of jammed all the songs and then we recorded it because Callum lives in London that was actually the first time playing together but it felt so nice and natural, it felt very cohesive. We made an awesome team.
The whole record was co-produced by Syd Kemp who also plays in Ulrika Spacek, I think what made the difference this time is that we have previously toured with them, so they knew how we sounded live. I feel this record reflects that same energy. It was also our first time recording everything on tape. At the end of the recording Callum told us he really liked the experience and how the record had come out, we felt the same way, so we all made the collective decision to bring him on board to the band.
You formed in Tijuana, but you’re now based in Mexico City. Do you feel like the two environments have influenced the music you’re making? How have you found the music scene in Mexico City?
Our surroundings will always inspire us in very different ways, Tijuana and Mexico City are the complete opposite from each other. Mexico City can be very chaotic but at the same time that is very inspiring, it is like trying to survive every single day. The music scene here is amazing, it is so eclectic. We have so many varieties of people making music in different genres. So many places to play and so many people that love music and are always hearing music. Its crazy sometimes going in the subway and seeing everyone using their headphones hearing music. I think Mexico City is one of the cities that people listen to more music. It is very inspiring in so many different ways.
You’ve toured quite extensively across Mexico, North America and Europe. Do you find the reception is the same wherever you go? Are some crowds more responsive?
Every place is different and has a unique thing. I think the place where people go crazier or are more passionate about our music is Mexico, people are very expressive and they are not shy to show love to our music. I have found that, for example, in Europe people can be very quiet at concerts, this shows they are listening to every single thing we are playing and honestly we love that! Sometimes can be challenging but it’s just different.
‘Natural’, the first single you released from the new album, is absolutely gorgeous. As is the video – could you tell me a bit more about how both came about?
Thank you! That song was actually written at home, we wanted to do a song with a time signature of 3/4 which was a bit challenging since it was the first song written that way. We also explored different tunings on the guitar, this is something new to us – the first record is all standard tuning. One is not better than the other, but we do try to give the listeners a different palette of sounds. About the video, we did it before lockdown with very good friends of ours called Daniela Solis and Maria Ramírez, we wanted to capture the movement of light through all day. We recorded the video in an empty house that used to be Daniela’s grandmother.
A lot of your lyrics are grounded in daily life – do you find that inspiration comes naturally, from looking out to the mundanities of that?
I usually write a lot, sometimes without a form of a song but it naturally comes to me. With this record, what I wanted to express is the very simple things in life that sometimes we easily forget. A reminder to myself that sometimes life can be tough but there are ways to move on. That self-love must mean everything because if you are not okay with yourself, you can’t be in peace with the people who we love and surround us.
Which track are you most excited for people to hear?
Honestly the whole album, we are really proud of this LP. We worked on the songs at home, and we had the opportunity to play some of them live, see how people reacted to them, and also see how we felt playing the songs. This gave us chance to improve the songs from our perspective. So we’ve been carrying these songs for almost a year before we recorded it.
Finally, once the album’s out ,what’s next for Mint Field? Are you looking to get on the road as soon as you can?
Yes! To be honest, we’re living without expectations, we’re living in a crazy world and we don’t know what will happen tomorrow. But of course, when this world gets better and safer for everyone we hope to be the first ones to go out and play music live, it is one of our favorite things to do and can’t wait for that day to happen. We are also working on new music, since we can’t play live we would like to keep releasing music throughout the year.
Listen to Mint Field on Spotify and Apple Music. Check out our latest magazine featuring Declan McKenna, Shame, L.A. Witch and more HERE.
