Journal
What's up!
New music, double drums, synth modules, bass tones and a couple of cowboy movies from inside the Vertigo workshop.
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El otro lado del cerro
Vertigo’s second album follows a story set in northern Mexico during the Revolution, from spaghetti-western jams to boleros, rancheras, and corridos.
Songs from the record
- Xibalba
- La Bandida
- Sahuaros
- La Emboscada
Emi’s liner notes
This album comes from my experience in a border band. I’ve never felt completely connected to the cultures around me. I lived in Guadalajara for a while and saw how people celebrated Independence Day, Día de Muertos, and the Mexican Revolution. When I came back to Tijuana, I realized we didn’t mark those dates the way people did there. The Fourth of July and Halloween felt distant, too. It made me think about how little I knew about my own country’s history. It took me probably ten years to care about things we’d been taught in fourth grade.
El otro lado del cerro takes the perspective of someone living in northern Mexico during the Revolution, when radio was just reaching the country. It tells the story of cowboys who come to work alongside Pancho Villa for money. In his search for power, Villa sells his soul in the hills and gets an amulet. The second side of the record, after Xibalba, is a collection of boleros, rancheras, and corridos that reflects the variety of sounds our country has to offer.
We had a lot of fun finding the sound of this record. On songs like Sahuaros and La Emboscada, Erick, Josué, and I gave ourselves complete freedom to record spaghetti-western jams with textures from prog and spoken word.
We ended up with a story running through the record without setting out to make one. Coming from Last Day On Earth, it was fun to make a collection of songs without worrying about whether each one connected to the next. I recommend listening with headphones when you have some time to yourself. I hope you enjoy it!
Debut album film
Last Day On Earth
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The band
- Emilio ArriagaGuitar, vocals
- Luis CastellanosGuitar, synths
- Josué VelascoBass
- Erick SoriaDrums
- Yisus HaroPercussion
Band stories
From high school to Vertigo
Erick, Josué, and Luis took classes and played in bands together in high school. They met Yisus at jams and gigs. Emilio and Erick played in different bands in the early 2020s. In 2024, they started Vertigo as a recording project where they could have fun trying different songs and genres.
Thirty hours in the studio
Vertigo recorded their first album in 30 hours in March 2025. They tracked live in a small room with limited channels, with Erick and Yisus both on drums for songs like Satan’s Day Off and Time Is Up. That night Emilio overdubbed vocals, flute, and sitar, and Yisus recorded the percussion back to back in one take. The record kept the raw feel of playing together in the room.
Satan’s Day Off
Emilio wrote the song in his last year of college, when he was reckoning with how fast time passes if you spend it worrying about tomorrow. The song imagines a fictional Satan taking the day off while people bring about the end of their own world through war.
On the road to La Bestia
Last Day On Earth came out on October 31, 2025, followed by a tour through California and several cities in Mexico. In Mexico City that November, the band tracked Xibalba and La Bandida at La Bestia Record. Both songs are on El otro lado del cerro.
Influences and gear
Emilio Arriaga
- Influences
- King Crimson, Yes, The Beach Boys, Thee Oh Sees, The Stone Roses
- Gear
- Hagstrom III · Fender Meteora
Luis Castellanos
- Influences
- The Beatles, Homeshake, Mac DeMarco
- Gear
- Danelectro 67 · Juno Alpha II
Josué Velasco
- Influences
- Dream Theater, Rush, Oasis, Tool
- Gear
- The “Curry” Bass (Fender Jazz Bass)
Erick Soria
- Influences
- Metallica, Slayer, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin
- Gear
- Ludwig Supraphonic (’68) · Istanbul Traditional
Yisus Haro
- Influences
- Mon Laferte, Mildlife, Natalia Lafourcade, Michael Jackson
- Gear
- Ludwig Vistalite (’70s) · Zildjian Dark K
After dark
Game
Cockfight
Yisus vs. Erick
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