The story of the Italian musicians who were seduced by mariachi: “The whole heart”

Mariachi is one of the musical genres representative of Mexico, as it was born when the country was still forming during the Spanish colony. Today it has worldwide recognition, in fact, it is considered Cultural Heritage by UNESCO. However, this regional music is not just about being sounds, but it goes beyond it, it crosses countries and makes in places like Italy there are people who feel Mexican because of the passion for mariachi.

Mariachi Tierra de México is a group with a long history. It is made up of musicians from Italy, Mexico and other countries who play mariachi in Italy. Its beginnings date back decades, when the Italian Fiore Angerame stayed in Mexico, in love with the country, to play in Plaza Garibaldi for 15 years. Upon his return to Italy, he formed his own group.

Antonella Serafini is currently the director of the group, who told Infobae Mexico how her passion for mariachi music led her to leave her life as an orchestra musician and why, according to her, this is not just a musical genre, but a lifestyle that conquered her and her Italian colleagues.

What is it like to be a mariachi in Italy?

Although the members of Mariachi Tierra de México feel happy every time they are hired to perform at an event, Antonella confessed that they dedicate themselves to mariachi out of pure passion, because there is not much audience in Italy, the stereotypes that they have on the peninsula sometimes affect and are not used to the existence of type of musician-client relationship that exists in Mexico.

Antonella shared that, at most, they have 4 to 5 plays a week, something that could be the minimum for a mariachi in Mexico. Therefore, all the members of her group have other professions as their main support; in the particular case of Serafini, she is a violin teacher at a school.

“You can't live on mariachi in Italy. I teach music in a school. Everyone has another job and mariachi does it out of passion. They do earn money, but it's not their first job; if they do, they do it because they like it, but they don't live on it,” he said.

He stressed that Mariachi Tierra de México is united by their friendship, which becomes like a family, love for Mexico and its music, but also those Italians or Latin Americans who know them, identify with them and their roots, and become their frequent audience.

However, they face the international stereotype of Mexican and mariachis. “We have to change stereotypes, because in the Italian mentality the hat, the siesta and the drunks follow (...) they're fat, ugly. ”.

In addition, enjoying mariachi live, for Italians means facing a whole new world. In Europe they would not be used to having the approach, the concern or the festival of traditional Mexican music.

Antonella said that she has seen on several occasions how Italian audiences are surprised the first time they hear them play; “they are shocked, surprised,” she shared.

Despite all these obstacles, Italian mariachis are still standing, trying to bring Mexican music into their culture.

From musician in orchestra to mariachi

Antonella played violin in an orchestra when one of her classmates noticed that her energy was not adapted to classical music, so he invited her to join mariachi rehearsals. There, she found her true vocation, so she left the orchestra and joined the mariachi, which, for her, “it's nothing more to make music, it's a way of being, it's an attitude you take out from within”.

Mariachi Tierra de México is made up of musicians who were attracted by the energy that traditional Mexican music spread, something that is completely contrary to what is experienced in orchestras.

“The ugliest part of classical music is the audience. They look at you as if you were the slave, as if they told you that they pay you just to play,” Antonella confessed. He also recalled that “when he played in orchestra, a smile was a fine, almost”.

On the contrary, in mariachi the members of Tierra de México found the human warmth that they like so much. “There is something human; mariachi touches, the customer follows you and you listen to it. You talk, you let off steam. There is a different kind of relationship with the musician.”

What makes a mariachi?

Antonella reiterated that, for her, a person cannot become a mariachi, but that they are born mariachi; what truly defines them is their energy and passion for music and culture, which is why it does not matter if they are born in Mexico or in Italy, as in their case, but how they live music.

He also stressed that being a mariachi means having a love for cultures, and not only for the Mexican one, but having the interest of being able to integrate the characteristics of several, take to another country with love and respect the traditional music of another, try to adapt it so that the whole audience likes it, but never without losing the pouring.

Finally, she shared that she considers herself a mariachi “in life”, because everything she does, she does with the same passion and dedication. In this way, with these characteristics of mariachi, it has become The Queen of Huapango, as they called her companions she had in Guadalajara.

He also said that he believes that he has now reached where he wanted since the beginning of his career as a musician, no matter how many obstacles have arisen in his path or the obstacles that being a mariachi represent.

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