Jeff Buckley Calls Esquivel

MOJO, June, 1996.

Take a ride on the mood music elevator as MOJO's favourite young lion enjoys a transcontinental chinwag with Mexico's space-age septuagenarian

JB: Senor Esquivel, when was the first time you discovered what you could do in a studio - like the xylophone that you put through an echo chamber and swung from side to side in the mix?

E: Well, you see, all this is the result of many hours of rehearsing with my Mexican band, some 40 or 50 years ago. I was approached by a very successful Mexican comedian who said, "Juan, I want you to write music for my programme." I told him I didn't have time to write the music for his scripts, and so he said, "That's good, because I don't have time to write my scripts!" He said, "We'll go to the sponsor of the show and ask him to give you 12 hours of rehearsal, and you'll be able to write and rehearse the music at the same time."

JB: So as you heard the music in your head you gave it to the band?

E: Yes. I gave each of the musicians a piece of paper and a pencil and an eraser. And I ask the trombonist, "Can you make this shape?" And he says, "No I can't, because I would have to go from the seventh position to the second, which is practically impossible..." And then I went to the trumpets and the saxophones and the guitars. At that time in Mexico I had an orchestra of 40 musicians.

JB: Tell me about the steel guitarist you had.
E: At that time I had just a regular guitar. But I had built a kind of Hawaiian-American guitar that had to be played with a metal bar. The guy who played this guitar was so nervous. He'd sweat a lot. It took him about three months to learn one album.

JB: Who first called you to Hollywood?

E: I got approached by RCA, and they asked me how long it would take to write 12 arrangements. I said 12 months, because in Mexico the musicians didn't have the ability that they have nowadays. Each arrangement I had to rehearse with the voices one by one.

JB: Your attention to detail is considerable, and it keeps the mind guessing.

E: Well, I have to thank the Mexican orchestra for that. Working with them for 12 hours a day, I learned what effects worked and what effects didn't work. I went to make my first recording and I had five hours and a half to rehearse and record 12 arrangements, but I had the thing so well rehearsed that I did the first album in just three and a half hours. They were flabbergasted! This was Other Worlds, Other Sounds. We had some time left over, so I dismissed the whole orchestra and just kept the flute and a guitar and the rhythm section. And in two and a half hours I made the whole arrangement for the album that we called Four Corners Of The World.

JB: It just came out of your head?

E: Yes, I had the music so...so coming off of myself I felt I could do anything. Nevertheless, I regret very much that I did that second album without the full band, because the first album has this wonderful sound, with the brass wailing all over.
Right now, with the revival of my music, I'm writing new arrangements - some wonderful things that I hadn't thought about - and using some of the old effects that I thought were good, but eliminating all the things I didn't like before. Have you heard Whatchamacallit and Mucha Muchacha?

JB: Sure.

E: Well, this new arrangement is going to be called Guacamole. I'm using the full orchestra, but I'm using it my way, so you never can predict what's going to happen next. I'm starting with the tom-toms, and then suddenly in comes the whole orchestra yelling "Guacamole, mole, mole, mole, mole" - and the whole arrangement is going to be based on this effect. I'm having a lot of fun, and I'm using a very unique instrumentation. Just four voices, two girls and two boys, and just two trumpets, doubled with the flugelhorn, and one bass trombone. And then I'm using the boom-bams, the tuned bongos - 24 sets of bongos tuned chromatically -

JB: Oh, wow! So they play melodies?

E: Yes. It's a lot of fun, because I surprise myself laughing. I'm laughing at myself.

JB: I'm wasting time asking you about your musical influences, when really it's laughter and joy I should be asking you about.

E: Yes, it just comes out of myself. People ask where these sounds come from, I like them and they sound good, and they're not used by anyone, so I say, "Why not?" That's another number I'm going to write: Why Not? Another one is called The Bed. All kinds of experiences you can have in bed.

JB: Juan!! I like the sound of that one!

E: I had the doctor come this morning, and he got me out of bed. Because I've been in bed for almost two years and a half.

JB: You've done everything in bed - eaten, watched TV, thought, played chess...

E: You're right. But the doctor came, and then put me in my wheelchair. As soon as I've finished these four new arrangements, I'm going to jump into my pool! I've been watching my pool for two years and a half, and longing to walk among the trees - I have a beautiful garden with trees and flowers. When I end these recordings I'm going to sign with BMG or Capitol. I'm going to use all the young musicians who have been influenced by my music, Stereolab, Combustible Edison and Tindersticks. And I'm going to use MIDI for the first time. It's going to be wonderful. It's a possibility that I'll go to London, it's a matter of budget. Because of the devaluation of the peso, you can get very good prices.

JB: Keep strong, Juan, keep strong!

E: Oh yes. My new doctor is giving me all kinds of exercises. And just this morning he got me taking a couple of steps. He told me that he would get me up and around, and I was so happy. I'm in a very good mood today.

OPERATOR: Barney Hoskyns