The life of mariachis in the pandemic
Two years ago, the world entered a stage from which it has not yet emerged: the COVID-19 pandemic. This new scenario came to completely change the rhythm of life, pushed the population into isolation and took jobs away from thousands of people. For those whose work depends on direct contact with people, the blow was imminent, as is the case with the mariachi.
At the beginning of 2020 the indication was clear: “stay home”. At that moment, the world for mariachis paused. There were no events, no meetings. Cars no longer circulated through Garibaldi. The search to bring income to the home led them to try other alternatives. This is how Daniel Alberto de Anda, musician, composer and mariachi tells it.
“Unfortunately when we were at a red light we had zero commitments. In fact, I was forced to work in public places: small restaurants, markets, inns, any place where there were people; because since it was a red light, there weren’t even people on the street. Yes, we suffered a lot, my fellow musicians and I. The situation was to cry. Some even went into street vending. There were no people or events, everything was dead”, he says.
The apparent solution of looking for other scenarios to share their music was not optimal; In addition to exposing them to contracting the virus, it left them exposed to crime or abuse by other people.
“I decided to work close to home in these inns or places with people, also for security. It happened to some colleagues that they went to distant places and there were bad people who attacked them.”