The McCharmlys charm local fans — and each other
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The McCharmlys, a local band with a retro sound, is made up of four musicians who are all pretty big fans of each other.
“Every single person in this band has been a part of other bands that I love and admire,” said lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Angie Monroy, who started the band in 2018.
Monroy was a fan of bassist Yari Bolanos, who was playing with a band called the Mellows in Texas. Dummer Cole Maxwell was a fan of the McCharmlys before he joined the band.
“I was a fan of this band for a long time, and then I saw Angie at a show,” said Maxwell. “I was, like, what could the be the harm in introducing myself and saying how much I love the music?”
Guitarist Eddie Gutierrez was last to join the band in 2021.
“Angie says that when I joined the band at that time, it felt like the band really solidified,” Gutierrez said.
The Santa Ana-based group borrows their name from an obscure Beatles interview in which John Lennon introduces the band as “George Parasol, Ringo Stone and Paul McCharmly.”
“I guess technically, John Lennon named us,” said Monroy.
They have been making a name for themselves in the local Orange County and Los Angeles music scene with a sound that blends elements of surf rock, ’60s girl groups and old-fashioned rock ’n’ roll. Their latest record, “You’ll Be Fine,” dropped on Jan. 14, released on Nu-Tone Records, a sister label to Hi-Tide Recordings.
The band celebrated with a listening party at Bar 616 in Santa Ana where their own fans got to hear the song for the first time and watch a screening of the pulp noir-style music video.
“From the beginning there wasn’t an aim to be retro-sounding,” said Monroy. “The sound really developed when everybody came together. We all have our own influences and ones we all have in common.”
Collectively the group references the Ramones, Roy Orbison and the Beach Boys as key influencers of their sound, but members’ Mexican American heritage finds its way into the music as well.
“The stuff that I like, that I grew up with, is really just a lot of music that my folks listened to, like rock ’n’ roll from the past,” said Gutierrez. “Watching ‘La Bamba’ as kid made a huge impact on me.”
Monroy agrees.
“I was raised on banda fresa, banda limon, all these different genres and a lot of really strong women, like Lola Beltran and Ana Gabriel, women with really raspy, rock ’n’ roll voices,” said Monroy. “Mariachi can still be rock ’n’ roll, in a way.”
The McCharmlys single “Tu Seras Mi Baby,” a Spanish-language take on the Ronettes’ 1963 hit “Be My Baby,” currently has 355,810 listens on Spotify.
“We are Latinos, our parents are immigrants and they are the ones who showed us pretty much everything, and doing this song, specifically ‘Tu Seras Mi Baby,’ was inspired by Les Surfs,” said Monroy.
A lesser known group than the Ronettes, Les Surfs was a pop group from Madagascar that recorded from 1964 until 1971.
“They sing in lots of different languages but they do ‘Tu Seras Mi Baby’ in Spanish, and us being nerds about vinyl and enjoying old music on YouTube, when we saw it we were, like, man, that is a cool one. And of course I have huge love and admiration for Ronnie Spector.”
The band has recorded original music in Spanish too, which Monroy calls “challenging and beautiful” work that connects her to her community.
“Especially when you see a lot of la raza coming through in different places around the world,” Monroy said. “It’s special; you are never alone. Sometimes you feel alone and then you look around, and you’re like ‘My people are here.’”
No matter what language you speak, the McCharmlys feel they have something audiences can connect with.
“Rock ’n’ roll is such an inherently American thing, and I think that we all can vibe to that,” said Gutierrez.
The vibes are good and the band is enjoying a bit of buzz around their new single.
Recently the McCharmlys were featured at a 95.5 KLOS “Breakfast with the Beatles” live event at Hollywood’s Hard Rock Cafe. The “Breakfast with the Beatles” segment on the popular classic rock radio station introduced Gutierrez to the band’s music as a teenager.
“I would tune in to that pretty often, and to be able to play for Chris Carter and just the mere fact that we were on the radio was an honor and privilege,” said Gutierrez.
This week band members pack their bags for Spain, where they will play the European music festival “Rockin’ Race Jamboree” ahead of headlining their own tour across the western United States.
The McCharmlys will kick off their tour with a show at the Observatory in Santa Ana on Feb.16 with Ramona and Los Tranquilos before playing dates in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.
They are excited about the upcoming travel plans but even more excited about getting to connect with fans.
“Music brings people together, and we have created a community around that,” said Gutierrez. “It is a wonderful thing.”
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