Los Mangos share their ‘hero’s journey’

The great comedian Robin Williams once said, “Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind. Always.”

Local alternative, “dream Punk” band Los Mangos has channeled their private struggles into their new EP, “Cursed,” out on all streaming platforms.

Vocalist/guitarist David Cristerna and bassist Danny Hernandez discussed the personal events since 2020 that fueled the concept behind the songs.

Jesse Davidson: Before I listened to, “Cursed,” I was getting into the artwork. Who created it and what’s

the concept behind it?

David Cristerna: Her name is Goldie Salimkhan on Instagram. We first met her at our last show at Transplants (Brewing Company). We’ve only actually met her in person one time, but she’s been in our vicinity. It was actually kind of a horror story trying to get artwork. We had all of these other people we were talking to. We had this guy in France who was really good; we were going to go with him. He gave me a good price at first. Then, he hit me with the actual price that was three times the original amount (laughs).

Danny Hernandez: Meanwhile, Goldie was really easy to work with. The concept was something we had been cooking up for a long time.

DC: We had this idea of having three characters that represent us. They look like medieval, warrior type of people. We always wanted this ominous figure coming after us because that’s how we’ve always felt. Everyone who is alive goes through the hero’s journey. You’re waking up every day, doing your thing and going through struggles. You do it your entire life until the end. Life and death are so similar. The same way we are born is the same way we die. There’s a lot of pain and emotion involved. It’s going to repeat itself. You will go through the trials again and again.

JD: For both of you, what does your hero’s journey consist of ?

DC: I became a dad. That was a whole new thing. When I found out, COVID hadn’t happened yet. I was struggling to tell my family about it because I wasn’t married and had only been with my girlfriend for six months. It was tough figuring out what we were going to do. Right after, COVID hits and then I lost my job. I was working one-on-one with severely autistic children. Everybody who did my type of work, we all lost our jobs. It was a wild ride. All my work experience was in that. I ended up getting picked up at a dealership and became a car salesman. Although I learned a lot of things over there, it came with a heavy price. Being a salesman, you have to have a certain personality and it can be very predatory. It’s almost lying and very disingenuous. Sometimes, you’re taking advantage of people with low credit. People were proud of me because of the money I was making. At the same time, I had a heavy guilt for how I was creating that revenue. Also, my dad’s passing affected me a lot.

JD: I’m really sorry.

DC: It is what it, you know? It happened about two Christmases ago and it was from COVID. That had a big impact on me. I had a lot of writer’s block. I had lots of the things I should’ve been writing about, I couldn’t. I just didn’t want to go there. I had to take care of my kid, me and the mom had split, so we had to figure that out. That’s mostly what it had to do with.

DH: I joined Los Mangos at the tail end of the most turbulent period of my life. This was in 2017, I just lost my best friend, Ainsley Hubbard, which the whole community out here lost Ainsley and his brother Aiden. I was also transitioning out of a seven-year relationship with my girlfriend. We lived in Seattle for a few years. Those two things happening in a short period of time, I reached my breaking point. The only resolve I could get out of that was moving back here to the AV. Helping Aiden’s family, working with musicians, being here and present. I feel like I’ve been resolving since then. There’s been struggles but my life has been relatively manageable.

JD: What kind of catharsis has this new music provided after finishing it?

DC: I feel like even though we’ve passed one hero’s journey, we’re going to wake up to another one.

DH: The pressure of releasing music isn’t on us right now. That’s a nice feeling because now, the songs can make their way into peoples’ lives. They can relate to it. Maybe even heal just by listening to it.