FROM A CHURCH CHOIR IN MEXICO TO THE STAGES IN CALGARY
By Monica Gonzalez Bruch
Gisela Romero’s love for music was fostered by her mother. Her childhood home was always filled with music from the best singers of the 80s. Alone with her sister Zujey, Romero used to sing along to the vinyl albums her mother purchased; recording themselves was their favourite game. Although her mother and father were not musicians, their passion for music was planted so deep in both girls' souls that they grew up to become professional singers.
“We always imagined we were artists; it was our dream since we were little girls,” remembers Zujey, Romero’s older sister.
Romero started singing at nine years of age when she and Zujey joined a church choir that used to practice at a neighbour's garage.
At 16, she became a professional singer, joining a band as a backup vocalist in which her sister was the lead singer. She was soon cast with renowned bands and learned to sing the entire repertoire that was in fashion for social events at the time. Performing with these bands allowed her to travel throughout Mexico, performing at fairs and opening acts for famous artists.
Romero, her first husband and their newborn baby emigrated to Canada looking for a better life in 2008.
During an event in Calgary, Romero meets a mariachi singer from Edmonton. “Listening to the mariachi songs awakened a very deep nostalgia for my culture,” she explains. “I decided that I wanted to sing rancheras too. I asked my mom to get me an original suit and began researching the culture behind the mariachi genre, the songs, and the interpreters. I trained my voice and became a mariachi singer.”
Her first performance as a mariachi was in Casa Mexico in 2009.
“Recording my own albums gave me the opportunity to create. It was the ultimate challenge, it was the moment I had to bring out everything I had and prove who I really was as an artist, to show my essence. It was when I started to be myself as an artist!”
Mexicana, her third album, was released this year during a concert at CSpace in Calgary.
It represents the journey Romero has had as an artist so far, a mix of her Mexican roots, the jazz influence she has discovered in her second husband, Esteban Herrera, and years of experience that have made her a genuine artist.
“For the first time, Gisela took charge of the entire project; she allowed herself to be creative, deciding the tone of each song and hand-picking each musician,” explains Herrera.
