Cover Photo From Boombox Cartel’s Facebook
Americo Garcia was born in Loredo, Texas but moved to Monterrey, Mexico when he was a child. It was while in high school there that he met his writing partner Jorge Medina (born in Monterrey, Mexico). The two went to school in Minnesota together, at McNally Smith College of Music in St. Paul. Their aspirations were not always to form a music group. Americo dreamed of being a drummer and Jorge had the goal of becoming a professional soccer player. However, sometimes life works out in ways one never expects. The two formed Boombox Cartel while in college and then set their sights on Los Angeles to further the project.
The duo started to gain popularity after dropping tracks like “B2U”, “Aftershock”, and “Supernatural”. Their sound has been a mixture of electro, hip-hop, dubstep, and mostly trap. In 2017 they released their first EP, “Cartel”. This year, Americo has been seen on an 11 city tour titled “The Cell”. While it has not been publicly talked about recently, two years ago Jorge indicated on Reddit that he was not allowed to play in the United States due to visa issues. Nonetheless, Boombox Cartel has an insane new stage design and show like never before.
From city to city, they have been setting up a jail cell-like stage at every stop. With choreographed lighting and video reel to match, the whole show is next level. When asked where the inspiration for “The Cell” came from, Garcia had this to say to WNUR:
“Cartels and jail cells go hand in hand, so we’re building a giant jail cell. We rented an abandoned prison and went in there with a whole film crew. They shot every angle of it and have really creepy footage of what it’s like to be in there. We’re telling a story, putting a movie together, and combining it with the sculpture and the music. We have about 160 lights we’re attaching to the cell, and hired a shop in northern Los Angeles that’s been working 24/7 for the past month and a half…And there are some vibes within the stage production that will add new production to the songs. I’m just grabbing elements from them because I don’t want to release them yet, but I do have over a handful of unreleased records I’ll be dropping. It’ll be sick. I’m really excited and nervous.”
To buy tickets to the tour check out their website here.