A Mariachi in New Zealand: Aguascalientes from the Heart

Fernando González moved from Aguascalientes to the other side of the world to become a mariachi in New Zealand. He was greeted by a group of musicians trying to promote Mexican culture with popular music in that country. He spent ten years in Aguascalientes studying for a degree in communication and information while trying to feed his taste in music, especially the ranchero genre.

Music was a pastime inherited from his father and accompanied him throughout his life, until one day he decided to go with his beloved to live in an unknown country, but he carried his charro dress.

Within 12 hours of arriving in New Zealand, she used it as a costume to attend a Day of the Dead ceremony hosted by Auckland's Mexican community. There he met Fidel Pimentel, a Mexican who put together a group of musicians who wanted to play popular Mexican music, who encouraged him to make a “palomazo”.

From that moment on, he joined a multicultural group made up of school musicians, while Fernando learned to play the guitar from his father and recited the lyrics to religious songs taught to him at school by a nun.

His role as the voice of mariachi New Zealand has occasionally surfaced a bit at parties and cultural events. His first performance in that country was at the wedding of an Iranian and a New Zealander, whose mother was Mexican. She also had the opportunity to sing at an art exhibit honoring Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera.

Their biggest surprise was that they were invited to play the song from the movie Coco in the original Maori language at the film's premiere and heard them singing the song in Spanish.

For this ethnic group, the film has symbolism and solidarity with Miglan's Mexican culture, as they believe that their ancestors will return one night when they descend like stars from the sky.

For Fernando, seeing the joy of Mexican music in Mexicans and how New Zealanders welcome it, in public squares and even at bicycle races, is a source of pride.

“They invite us to be happy, to connect with the earth. Here at Christmas it's summer, and it's precisely the hot season, where people love the rhythm, the party. I'm very proud to represent Aguascalientes, la Chona. You meet Mexicans, they tell you about the San Marcos Fair, they It is nice to know it internationally.