Camella Lobo & Juan Mendez Tropic of Cancer

Los Angeles

Juan and I formed Tropic Of Cancer in 2007 while living in LA. We recorded everything in a closet in a living room and played shows for friends here and there. Everything we did happened in a vacuum. For the first year we still weren’t sure if we were a band or if we even wanted to be but we kept playing and recording just because there was really no choice. There is no other way we want to live, band or otherwise.

A couple years later we relocated to Minneapolis. Being locked up together in a basement during the wintertimes helped us accomplish a lot musically. (And music helped us avoid smothering one another.) Shortly after we moved, we released The Dull Age, our first EP on Downwards. It was inspired by long periods of time spent among dead silent blankets of snow and painfully frigid temperatures. We searched for the beauty in it. Or were merely coping with isolation. Probably a little bit of both.

Our second EP on Downwards, Be Brave, was also recorded in the winter, along with The Sorrow Of Two Blooms, our latest release on Blackest Ever Black. Now we’re back in LA catching up on our sunshine. We’re determined not to get soft.

Next up: We’re going to be part of a compilation out this summer and are releasing an EP on the Italian label Mannequin, which will be out in October. There is talk of an LP on Downwards sometime in the spring. Also, more sunscreen.

I fled across the ocean with another face, another name. Nothing but my soul remained the same.

A specific thing you like in girls/ boys: A stiff collar buttoned to the top.

Work:

Our good friend Rachel Evans of Motion Sickness Of Time Travel lent her psychedelic and sensual visions in this video she made for ‘A Color’, a track from The Sorrow Of Two Blooms.

Zeitgeist:

Brenda & The Tabulations- Dry Your Eyes

Philadelphia. 1967

This encapsulates everything we love about growing up in Los Angeles.

MP3: Brenda & The Tabulations – Dry Your Eyes

Current Obsession:

Flaming Tunes- Generous Moon

London. 1985

A friend posted this video for ‘Generous Moon’ by Flaming Tunes a while back and I haven’t been able to shake it. It’s painfully delicate and completely arresting. In fact, this whole album is breathtaking and awesomely weird in many places. It totally haunts me. It was only on cassette until a few years ago when it was unearthed and rereleased on Life And Living Records.

Upcoming Gig:

We play July 23 in Long Beach at Loma Street Market and August 3 at The Copper Door in Santa Ana for FLUX Club. We’ve also just been asked to support HTRK on the West Coast leg of their tour this September (SF and LA – details are still being worked out). We love them and are beyond excited.

The Playlist

Tropic of Cancer

Admittedly one my fav acts for 2010/2011, Tropic of Cancer fulfills my innermost minimal-industrial cravings with its impeccably sleek sound. Camella & Juan strike as intense and charismatic, guess that Goth never sounded/looked this chic. Please Follow them through here.

TOC: “This video for ‘Be Brave’ was created by another friend, Jacob Valento, and art directed by Juan. It’s cut up with footage from one of our live shows in Minneapolis. We played in a basement bar called The Clown Lounge in front of a crushed blue velvet curtain. It was beautifully Lynchian”.