Coronaviews #3 Interviews In The New Meat Cannery- Bingo Richey of The Mojave Lords

Mojave Lords album Unfuckwithable is a blistering masterpiece of high desert fuckhole rock, an ear peeling, psychic doomsday, burn a double wide in your underpants gem that reminds me of everything good in life. Now more than ever we need music, and I don’t mean fruit fly pop or smell my finger country. We need to be Unfuckwithable. In episode #3 of Covonaviews, Interviews In The New Meat Cannery, we e-chat with front man Bingo Richey.

JJ- Hey man! How are things in Joshua Tree?

BR- The tourism trade has been growing rapidly since the short-term vacation rental business model took hold, so there’s a lot more traffic and people. There are also some new businesses in the area, and a Saturday market in town. The National Parks closure in 2019 hit the local economy pretty hard, and allowed a lot of unsupervised park usage, which led to off-road vehicle damage, as well as massive amounts of garbage. The locals banded together to make dump runs and tried their best to help mitigate the damage being done. We’re still waiting to hear about Covid-19 related closures from National Park Service.

JJ- I’ve heard time and again that Rancho de La Luna is a fantastic place to record. Cancellations? Is this a golden window?

BR- Most typical sessions are fewer than ten people, so we could keep working. However, discretionary travel is discouraged at this time, so David has temporarily shut down operations until further notice. We generally like to keep working on our own projects when there aren’t any clients. David also has a strict maintenance schedule for all the gear, plus the odd malfunction that needs to be addressed, so there’s never any down-time per se.

JJ- Let’s talk apocalypse. You guys have plans? Tell me you’re going to get a giant SUV and weld pig iron on it and install a flame thrower.

BR- I don’t do apocalypse. Religion isn’t my bag. Our plans are to keep moving forward with our spirits company, media company, and other ancillary. Our first project for Rancho de La Luna Records / Media Company is The Sweet Relief Music Hour. In conjunction with some contributing co-sponsors, we are creating a live music performance show. Some of the producers of Chef’s Table are working on it with us. Our goal is to raise awareness and funds for musicians in need. Sweet Relief, and other aid organizations are vital to our communities, and we are happy to be able to assist them. A Mad Max truck sounds pretty fucking cool, though. Thanks for the great idea.

JJ- Joshua Tree. People freaking out?

BR- I don’t know. I keep my head down most of the time. I can tell you though, that relying on tips and steady shifts for survival leaves most hospitality and entertainment workers dangerously close to the edge. Being shut down for even a week can be the difference between making rent, or car payments, or child-support, or not making it. So there seems to be a lot of talk going round on how best to show support for our community. I saw a video of a guy watching his house burn to the ground out in Landers the other day. He was just standing there, cheering it on. “Burn Motherfucker!” Looked like he was freaked way past out.

JJ- Best thing you’ve seen in the last 48 hours, people wise. Go-

BR- People coming together to try and figure out ways that everyone can keep eating and keep roofs over their heads. It’s like Mister Rogers said: 

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”

JJ- Cool. Side projects? Tell us about Bingo’s tomorrow…

BR- Mojave Lords has a new album that is nearly completed. Our six-year hiatus is almost over! I don’t have many side-projects, but I have a shit-ton of projects going on: I’m CEO of a spirits company that’s blowing up; CEO of a new media company / record label that has got some awesome human beings involved; Mojave Lords is getting ready to release the some of the creepiest dad-rock ever made; and more stuff I can’t talk about just yet. All said, even with all the setbacks, disappointments, and challenges that can come along with trying to build new businesses, I feel inspired and ready to work every day. Working with my friends, and with people that I trust has been rewarding in many ways.

JJ- Right! The mezcal!

BR- Rancho de La Luna Mezcal. We’re currently in production with our next batch and preparing to launch in North America and Europe. It’s awesome as hell. 

Check out the link below for more on Rancho de La Luna Mezcal. Thanks Bingo! And we look forward to that new record. What a cool guy.

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https://www.ranchomezcal.com

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Dear friends and fans of Rancho de La Luna Mezcal, We have good news, bad news, and more good news. Let’s start with the good news: In this first year since we began selling our Mezcal in the US, we wildly exceeded all sales volume expectations, gathered retail commitments around the world, laid the framework for our new media company Rancho de La Luna Records, put two television programs into pre-production, and traveled to host awesome events in New York, New Orleans, Chicago, Portland, and Pioneertown. All of this thanks to your continued love and support. We cannot thank you enough! Now for the bad news: You may have noticed that our frequency of posts and usual habit of celebrating new retailers has been diminished somewhat. Several of you have written in to let us know that your usual distribution channels and shops are running low, or out of stock. This is why: Our production partners at Oaxaca hijacked the Rancho de La Luna trademark behind our backs in Mexico, and signed with us a bogus co-responsibility agreement. Jaime Mateo Tirado and family, Sergio Enriquez, and Productores de Maguey y Mescal SPR DE RI aka Los Javis Mezcal are the culprits that are trying their best to derail your friends here at Rancho de La Luna Mezcal, when instead we should have been growing and celebrating together with you. More good news: We are currently in litigat ion to get this mess cleared up, and we will soon be back in full swing. We have found a new palenque that makes even better Mezcal, and are looking forward to blasting off in the new year to serve our already established markets, and to fulfill our very exciting new retail commitments in US and beyond. We also have new partners who contribute a lot more great energy, ideas and awesomeness. Say hello to Butch Vig and his crew! So stay tuned. Stay high and stay hydrated. And have a wonderful, warm and safe holiday season! We love each and every one of you, and thank you for your support and encouragement. If you’re not signed up yet, go sign up at our website if you want to get invitations to our events and parties! Photo by the lovely and talented @willstockwell

A post shared by Rancho De La Luna Mezcal (@ranchomezcal) on Oct 31, 2019 at 12:57pm PDT