Calexico had its origins in 1990 when Burns, who was studying music at the University of California, Irvine, met up with Convertino, who was playing drums with Howe Gelb in Giant Sand. Burns joined them, after first playing upright bass on a European tour.
Giant Sand moved to Tucson, Arizona in 1994. John and Joey formed the Friends of Dean Martin (later the Friends of Dean Martinez) which scored a record deal with Sub Pop. However, the pair split up with Bill Elm, the co-founder of The Friends of Dean Martinez in 1996. The band subsequently became a kind of indie rhythm section for hire, working with the likes of Victoria Williams, Barbara Manning and Richard Buckner before forming Calexico.
Calexico first recorded Spoke in 1995 for German independent label Hausmusik with a limited edition of 2,000 copies. At that point the band was still called Spoke and the album was technically self-titled. After the band signed with Quarterstick Records (a subsidiary of Touch and Go Records) and changed their name to Calexico, Spoke was reissued by that label in 1997. Burns and Convertino also collaborated with Gelb and Lisa Germano on the album Slush released under the name OP8 that same year.
Their second album The Black Light was released in 1998. This was a concept album about the desert of Arizona and northern Mexico and received excellent reviews, with the critic from the Wall Street Journal rating it as one of the best records of the year.
The band built their profile by touring as support acts for bands such as Pavement, the Dirty Three and Lambchop. Calexico has regularly played festivals such as the Bonnaroo Music Festival, the Hurricane Festival and All Tomorrow's Parties. The Road Map album was a limited recording released in 1999 for sale only at Calexico's live shows.
Calexico released its third album Hot Rail in May 2000 featuring the addition of horns and violin to their sound. The duo was busy in 2000 as they also appeared on a Giant Sand record called Chore of Enchantment as well as a tour only record Travelall.
At the end of 2000, Burns and Convertino joined with two French friends Naïm Amor and Thomas Belhôm to record "Tête A Tête" (Wabana Records, 2001) released under moniker ABBC (Amor/Belhom/Burns/Convertino). Calexico released two collections of rarities during 2001. Even My Sure Things Fall Through collected outtakes from previous albums, B-sides, remixes and material previously unreleased in the US. The album also featured Mariachi Luz de Luna who frequently played live with the duo. The Aerocalexico album was sold exclusively at their gigs in 2001.
The Scraping live album was released in 2002. Their next studio recording Feast of Wire was released in 2003 and made the charts for the first time appearing on Billboard's Heatseekers and Independent album chart. They made their first video for "Quattro (World Drifts In)" which was a single from Feast of Wire. They released a live DVD in 2004 called World Drifts In: Live at the Barbican. The song "Güero Canelo", from Feast of Wire, was featured in Michael Mann's Film, Collateral, starring Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx, in which the band appears.
Calexico contributed the song "Burnin' Down the Spark" to Nancy Sinatra's self-titled album in late 2004. The album featured artists who cited Sinatra as a musical influence. The song was released in the UK as the second single from the album in early 2005.
In 2005, Calexico joined up with Miami-based band Iron & Wine. Howard Greynolds of Overcoat Records was responsible for bringing the two bands together having previously been responsible for Tortoise and Will Oldham recording together. The In the Reins EP was released in September 2005 and received a positive reception with an MSNBC review giving it honorable mention. It also made an appearance in the Billboard 200 album charts, becoming their first recording to make the album charts, and No. 12 on the independent charts. In October 2005, they commenced a US tour with Iron & Wine to promote the record.
Released in 2006, Garden Ruin is Calexico's fifth studio album and was produced by JD Foster. The sound strays slightly from earlier works, focusing less on the horn section, and placing more emphasis on guitar and vocal tracks, giving the whole album a more mainstream sound.
In 2007, Calexico was invited by Arcade Fire to record a cover of their "Ocean of Noise." This recording was used as the B-side for Arcade Fire's "Intervention" single, originally released on vinyl on May 21, 2007. Also in 2007, Calexico recorded a revamped version of the Bob Dylan song "Goin' to Acapulco" for the Dylan biopic "I'm Not There". The song featured Jim James of My Morning Jacket on vocals and was featured on the soundtrack of the film.
Several of Calexico's songs, usually their shorter instrumental pieces, have been used as interstitial and background music on Public Radio International's This American Life. Their songs "Ballad Of Cable Hogue" and "Service And Repair" were featured in the 2001 German comedy movie Lammbock.
Their sixth studio LP is called 'Carried to Dust', featuring Sam Beam of Iron & Wine, Douglas McCombs of Tortoise and Pieta Brown. It was released in the USA via Touch & Go Records on September 9, 2008. The album enjoyed solid reviews, with hometown paper the Arizona Daily Star praising the band's "ability to sweep you into its world, taking listeners to the American Southwest. This is one of the reasons Europeans love Calexico and others in this country are beginning to come around."
On October 16, 2008, a three-song live acoustic video performance premiered on LiveDaily Sessions, featuring Joey Burns performing the songs "Two Silver Trees," "Writer's Minor Holiday" and "Man Made Lake".
In 2009, the song Banderilla was featured in an episode of AMC's Breaking Bad.
In 2010, a new album of Calexico was released: the soundtrack of the documentary "Circo". The band also spent part of 2010 touring with Arcade Fire along the west US coast.
In May 2011, their song "Slowness" was dedicated by Gabrielle Giffords to her husband astronaut Mark Kelly as the wake up song aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour on its final flight.
Algiers was released 11 September 2012 on ANTI Records and CITY SLANG (Europe).
In April 2014, the band began referring to a new album on Twitter in posts from Mexico City, Coyoacan, Mexico, and Athens, Greece. Edge of the Sun was announced on 27 January 2015, and released on April 14, 2015. The album features guest appearances by various artists such as Sam Beam (Iron & Wine), Ben Bridwell (Band of Horses), Gaby Moreno, Carla Morrison and members of the Greek instrumental group Takim.
The current members of Calexico are:
Joey Burns – vocals, guitars, bass, cello, piano, keyboards, accordion, percussion, vibraphone
John Convertino – drums, percussion, piano, keyboards, vibraphone, marimba, accordion
Paul Niehaus – steel guitar, guitars
Jacob Valenzuela – trumpet, keyboards, vibraphone, vocals
Martin Wenk – trumpet, guitar, keyboards, accordion, glockenspiel, vibraphone, theremin (occasionally harmonica & French horn)
Volker Zander – standup bass, electric bass
Live tour 2013:
Joey Burns - vocals, guitars
John Convertino - drums, percussion
Sergio Mendoza - Keyboards
Jairo Zavala - bazouki, baritone guitar, vocals
Jacob Valenzuela – trumpet, keyboards, vibraphone, vocals
Martin Wenk – trumpet, guitar, keyboards, accordion, glockenspiel, vibraphone (occasionally harmonica & French horn)
Ryan Alfred - bass, vocals
Lost in Space
Calexico Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The darkness found another home
You distance your friends
Now you're wandering alone
Sorrow soaks through
Straight through to the bone
Pulse is slowing to a deadly pace
She's cruising not using
A part of her it hears that little voice
Speakers are distorted, goes in for a check
Gets overhauled and souped up
Now she's purring jet-set fuel injection
Automatic linear gauge
Takes a minute before the feel kicks in
And throws her back. retraces all her tracks
Before the flame appears
No one can follow her down here
He's dreaming and scheming
Of ways to keep that rock and roll alive
Powerbook's downloading
Lights another cigarette smile
Saving up for a vacation with his frequent flyer miles
And miles of satellite calls
Hitting up those stars before they fall and fade away
Forever lost in space
Before the fire destroys
The pain that no one knew was there
In Calexico's song Lost in Space, the lyrics depict the sorrowful journey of a person who has withdrawn from their friends and is now wandering alone. The first verse of the song begins with the affirmation: "Your eyes are magnets." This could suggest that the person has lost hope and is now being drawn towards darkness or negative energy. The phrase,"The darkness found another home," suggests a sense of loss or displacement. The chorus, "Sorrow soaks through/Straight through to the bone," highlights the depth of pain and isolation that the person is experiencing.
The second verse describes the character of the person's life who is cruising without direction. The lines describe her as someone who hears the little voice inside her and goes in for a check. She gets "overhauled and souped up" until she's "purring jet-set fuel injection." This section of the song could be interpreted to fit into the larger theme of this person's journey from sadness towards liberation. The line "takes a minute before the feel kicks in" suggests that the catharsis is not immediate or easily achieved. Instead, it takes time to internalize and overcome the emotional obstacles.
The final verse highlights the coping mechanisms of the character while he dreams and schemes of keeping rock and roll alive. He takes comfort in saving up his frequent-flyer miles, hitting up those stars before they fall and fade away. This lyric could represent a metaphor for life, with the character making the most of the time he has before he, too, becomes lost in space.
Line by Line Meaning
Your eyes are magnets
Your gaze has the power to attract attention and draw people towards you
The darkness found another home
The feeling of darkness and despair has taken over you, making it its own dwelling place
You distance your friends
You push away the people who care about you, isolating yourself from the world
Now you're wandering alone
You're aimlessly walking through life without a clear purpose, feeling lost and alone
Sorrow soaks through
Your feelings of sadness permeate through your being, affecting you deeply
Straight through to the bone
The intensity of your sorrow reaches deep into your core, causing you physical and emotional pain
Pulse is slowing to a deadly pace
Your heart rate decreases to an alarming level, putting you in a dangerous state
Sweat keeps pouring off that melting face of fear
You're sweating profusely due to extreme fear and anxiety, causing you to feel like you're melting
She's cruising not using
She's driving effortlessly without fully engaging in the act of driving
A part of her it hears that little voice
Intuitively, she senses a feeling or instinct that speaks to her
Speakers are distorted, goes in for a check
The sound system in the car is malfunctioning, prompting her to take it in for repair
Gets overhauled and souped up
The car is completely renovated and upgraded to be better than before
Now she's purring jet-set fuel injection
The car is running smoothly and efficiently with high-performance fuel injection
Automatic linear gauge
The car has a modern, automatic display that shows its performance details in real-time
Takes a minute before the feel kicks in
It takes some time before she fully experiences and appreciates the newfound power of the car
And throws her back, retraces all her tracks
She's taken back by the strength of the car and decides to retrace her steps to feel its power again
Before the flame appears
Before the true power of the car becomes apparent to her
No one can follow her down here
No one can keep up with her and witness her experience of the car's power and speed
He's dreaming and scheming
He's daydreaming and making plans
Of ways to keep that rock and roll alive
He's thinking of ways to preserve and continue the spirit of rock and roll music
Powerbook's downloading
He's downloading files or information onto his computer
Lights another cigarette smile
He lights up a cigarette and smirks, enjoying the moment
Saving up for a vacation with his frequent flyer miles
He's accumulating airline miles to use for a future vacation
And miles of satellite calls
He's making long-distance phone calls using satellite technology
Hitting up those stars before they fall and fade away
He's pursuing and making connections with popular or successful people before they lose their fame and influence
Forever lost in space
He's been adrift in life, never finding a true sense of purpose or direction
Before the fire destroys
Before the passion and intensity within him is eventually extinguished
The pain that no one knew was there
The emotional suffering that he's been hiding from others and kept buried within himself
Contributed by Elijah S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.