Praying With Meth Math
This approachability seems to be the exact thing that carries the singer through her work. Lead singer of the swiftly rising band based between Mexico City and Hermosillo, Meth Math, her music and fashion line, Baby Angel, emit this very same confidence. It also seems to be what steers her band amidst the world of contradictions that they live in.
Meth Math’s first LP, Chupetones, is firm and energetic at first, but there’s something calming about its natural undertones: my earbuds being blasted but my feet floating off the ground. My mind conjured up visuals of a frog having a drug-fuelled one night stand with a bunny, or a snake slithering through wet grass. I learn “chupetones” directly translates to “hickeys”, and I think, Ah yes, the perfect touch of horny.
Talking to Angie, I find out that Chupetones essentially is a “manifestation of wanting everyone to go back to nature.” A prayer, if you will, that asks listeners to release themselves from the boxes that restrain them from their natural state of pleasure — in just existing.
“Contradiction” isn’t necessarily a word that exudes comfort and direction, but for Angie, that’s her truth.
“Contradictions are free. You can do and say whatever you want and you aren’t holed in. I can wear this wig today and be one person, but then wear a different wig tomorrow and be someone else.”
This makes me wonder which wig Angie wore on her flight home.
Meth Math was born from Hermosillo's DIY world of music, thriving in venues around Mexico City, surrounded by a supportive scene that allows them to explore and develop their sound.
This time around, Chupetones is more polished than their past EPs. Angie has gone from recording vocals in her closet to having them produced and mixed by Miami-based producer Nick León: a more commercial approach that makes the album shine without losing its DIY nature and quality.
Chupetones was created with the listeners in mind. The lyrics of Cyberia are inspired directly by Meth Math fans, who Angie describes as “angels.” She explains how she asked herself, “What does an angel look like right now?”
The answer? “Probably someone with mental health issues who’s at a party trying to get away from this current dimension. They’re the outcasts of the world, but are also trying to find beauty in the mundane of being a human.”
Outside of music, the mundane is what inspires Angie in her work. She people watches while walking around Mexico City, noting how “weird” everyone can be. When “weird” comes out of Angie’s mouth, it's never an insult, only a curious complement.
She enjoys documentaries like Mother God and listens to artists like Lilen, Natanael Cano, and corridos tumbados, a genre which she aptly describes as "regional music on lean." Angie brings up her parents a couple of times during our chat, who she “couldn’t have pursued all of this without.”
As Chupetones is enjoyed by Meth Math’s angels, Angie will be working on her own long term dream: a communal home in Mexico City for artists. A space for partying, concerts, art shows, and a little store for makers to sell things. A space to save the planet and grow a full garden of fruits and veggies. A space that runs off of bartering, not money, and gets everyone off the grid.
It’ll be the Meth Math universe, where all of Angie’s prayers are answered.
