Acclaimed filmmaker Robert Rodriguez has tapped Phoenix band Fayuca for his new TV series.
Matador will premiere Wednesday, July 15, at 9 p.m. on the new El Rey Network, which was also started by Rodriguez. The show follows Antonio "Matador" Bravo, who quietly works for a branch of the CIA, while also performing as a famous soccer star.
The band has been around since Gabo Fayuca, the band's singer and guitar player, and drummer Raf started the outfit while in high school. From there, they released a few demos and full-length albums before getting signed.
Fayuca will be featured in the show's opening and ending theme by the second episode with a song inspired by a conversation Fayuca had with the show's music supervisor, John Houlihan.
The band made the connection to the TV show at an L.A. showcase put on by label Fervor Records. Fayuca made an impression on Houlihan, which, Gabo Fayuca says, is how everything began.
"We hit it off pretty well. We were just kind of chatting about stuff he was working on, and he mentioned to us the theme for this show," Fayuca says. "So he was kind of talking about it and we thought it was a pretty cool show, and it inspired us to make new music."
From there, the band took off writing music that they thought could accompany the show's theme. Fayuca looked at past action and spy movies with memorable scores as inspiration, such as James Bond. Looking at how powerful some of those songs are, the band decided to leave vocals out and let the music speak.
"A lot of those movies of that theme, a lot of the instrumentals are, musically, some of the most memorable parts of the show," Fayuca says. "They have those intense instrumentals in the background, so we decided to keep it all instrumental."
The writing process was much different for the band, compared to working on earlier albums, and required an emotional response to be felt through the music itself.
"It challenged us to get out of our comfort zone when writing music. Usually we write lyrics and base the songs around the lyrics, whereas with this, you're projecting emotion with a guitar chord or a little trumpet lick, or something," Fayuca says. "I think we just approached it to where we tried to write a rollercoaster ride that would play into the theme."
The band is excited to see what people think of the song when it airs on the show and will be released digitally from there. As for plans after the song debuts on Matador, Fayuca will be heading out on a national tour August 9, with plans to write a new album upon their return. Editor's note: This story was updated at 9:35 a.m. to include more detail about how the band became involved with the TV show.
Find any show in Metro Phoenix via our extensive online concert calendar.
9 Tips for Using A Fake ID To Get Into A Show Here's How Not to Approach a Journalist on Facebook The 10 Coolest, Scariest, Freakiest Songs About Heroin The 30 Most Disturbing Songs of All Time
Like Up on the Sun on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest local music news and conversation.
