Interview with Tijuana Cartel

The secret’s in the collaboration

Tijuana Cartel is a renowned Australian musical collective celebrated for their pioneering fusion of diverse genres. Their latest masterpiece, Alectura is an innovative album that once again showcases the band’s expertise in blending organic house and melodic house with captivating rhythms, beats, and global influences.

The key creative forces behind the band, Paul A George and Carey O’Sullivan, say Alectura serves as a testament to their profound musical connection and shared vision. Their collaboration has flourished over time, and this maturity resonates throughout every note of the album.

Seven spoke to busy Mullum dad, guitarist and lead vocalist Paul A George, on the creative process.

I’m interested to know about the collaboration between yourself and Carey. 

Carey and I have been making music together since high school – that’s about 30 years. We just have a good flow with it, I guess, where we both have separate studios, but we do a lot of emailing parts to each other. We slowly kind of pull stuff together.

It’s sort of weird to write music with anyone else.

Have you tried writing with anyone else?

Yeah. It’s funny. I mean, I still enjoy that, but with Carey it’s kind of easy. With other people, I have to tell them what I want. With Carey it’s just kind of instinctive, we don’t really have to talk much, we just kind of do it.

Do you think he would say the same things about you?

I think so. Yeah. [laughs]

Do you argue?

We don’t anymore. We used to. We had a point where we were kind of bickering a lot. Now we don’t – I think we’re like an old couple now. 

What’s between now and the Blues on Broadbeach gig? 

We’ve still got quite a few shows on the tour, although it’s kind of wrapping up. We’ve done most of the travelling. By the time we do Blues on Broadbeach, we would have really nailed it so it’ll be as tight as we get, I’d say.

Have you done Blues on Broadbeach before?

Yes, but not for many years. It’s a really fun festival. There’s many good bands on and you can just sort of walk around Kurruwa Park. It’s fun.

What inspires you?

Other musicians – I’ve been really into a lot of flamenco guitarists in the last few years.

What is your current earworm?

Currently, a lot of South American producers – in particular, Chance Via Circuito.

I’m often curious to know if musicians feel that they have a responsibility to use the influence of their voice for causes they believe in.

Yeah – less and less as I get older… I guess I’m active on certain things. You know, for instance, like my dad lives in Tasmania around fish farming, and they’re really ruining the waterways and stuff. We do jump on board with that. But then again, I’m a musician. I spend most of my days at home, practising guitar for eight hours, so I don’t really feel like I’m an expert in world events. So I generally shy away from being too political.

Are you having enough fun?

Yeah, we are having fun actually. It’s like hard work, but it’s kind of good.

Are you okay with hard work?

Yeah, I mean, I’m okay with lazy too, but you have to be willing to not sleep very much.

It is definitely like a grind and it’s somewhat a competitive industry. You kind of have to be okay with all that.

Tijuana Cartel will be playing Blues on Broadbeach on Sunday, May 19, at Kurrawa Park, Broadbeach. The Blues on Broadbeach has always been a free event and still is. This special gig on Sunday at  Kurruwa Park is a ticketed event. Tickets available from bluesonbroadbeach.com.