Romance, heartbreak, desert landscapes, hard work, and the sea can easily make their way into lyrics of a country song. Add a cerveza, Corona to be exact, the voice of Las Cruces, NM based band Border Avenue, and you’ve got the makings of a music video shot this past summer in Puerto Peñasco.
Border Avenue, consisting of Frank Gomez (vocals, rhythm guitar, songwriter), Chris Nuñez (bass, management, audio engineer), Sam Campos (drums), and Jonathan Maynes (lead guitar), now has two videos under its belt in just over the year or so they’ve been together as a band and are already in talks to produce their third. The honky-tonk boot stomping “Our Town” video first caught our eye after producer Julian Nuñez contacted us with questions about filming their second video, “Corona,” right on the shores of Rocky Point. After filming on area beaches in late June, Nuñez sent out the final version of the new video – along with a behind the scenes look at the band’s time in Rocky Point. We caught up with Frank, Chris and producer Julian (who are all family by the way) again for a little Q&A online about the experience – and look forward to when Border Avenue will head over the border again for a gig on our playa, gorilla and all (you’ll have to catch the “behind the scenes”).
Rocky Point 360: How long has the band been together and are you all from NM?
Julian: We are all from different parts of southern NM & Texas, but now we all call Las Cruces, NM, home. Chris, Frank, & I are all related so we have been playing music together for years, but as Border Avenue we have only been pushing this project for a year. I became creative director and help build the band’s image and presence on film and online. We added Jonathan (lead guitar) and Sam (Drums) to accent Frank’s & Chris’ writing style.
Chris: The band was originally formed in February of 2013. At the conception, we started with a different lead guitarist. After pursuing his career, he left the band. We then recruited our now lead guitarist Jonathan in October of 2013. So as the band we are now, we’ve been together for about 9 months. I’d like to think we are still in the infancy of our evolution.
RP360: When deciding to film part of Corona in Mexico, how did you select Puerto Peñasco (had anyone been here before)?
Frank: We always knew we were going to film in Mexico because the story wouldn’t have had the authenticity we were looking for without that element of location. Some of the members of our team (Chris and Julian) had visited Puerto Peñasco and had nothing but positive things to say about that particular location. We coordinated with local property rentals to select our beachfront location.
Chris: The reason we chose Puerto Peñasco for our Mexico sequence is because Julian and I had been there before, and knew the potential for great footage. It is also the most accessible beach location to us. We knew that we wanted that beautiful Mexico feel that Rocky Point offers, and we definitely achieved that feel in the video. We’d also like to add that we appreciate the city of Puerto Peñasco for having us, and showing such great hospitality. We encountered no trouble while shooting on the beach or in town. The people are great, and everyone was more than willing to help!
Julian: Me & Chris have been to Puerto a couple different times, our family took a few trips on vacation when we were kids. Once we decided to shoot on a beach, we knew immediately Puerto Peñasco was going to be the nearest & financially possible location. We never forgot it’s stunning beaches and friendly atmosphere. Everyone was so helpful when we visited, and every time we visit the experience just gets better!
RP360: We see this is the second video, for your first album – do you plan to do more videos? Where is the album available?
Frank: We’ve had some pretty good success with both videos so we definitely plan on trying to film one more for this album. We are currently discussing which song we’ll film the next video for.
Julian: We are currently in talks to shoot the 3rd video, right now it looks like we want to shoot a video for the song “A Little Less Hank” off our album but nothing is set in stone.
The album is available online at all major music distribution markets. i.e. iTunes, Amazon, google play and spotify. Links for the online stores: Google Play iTunes
RP360: What future plans are there for the band, as far as albums, videos, concerts?
Frank: The band is continuously writing and composing music, so we’ll soon begin production on a second album. There will more than likely be another video to follow up “Our Town” and “Corona” with hopes that our fans and viewers continue to have something to look forward to. Concerts and shows are constantly being booked. The band is currently coordinating with club owners and promoters in the southwest region and hope to soon continue to branch out across the nation.
Any local band hopes to represent their home town well and each aspiring musician looks to go even further than that. With the continued support of our fans we have faith that we’ll be able to reach that goal. We are humbled and would like to thank everyone who has purchased the album. We encourage people to check out our Facebook page, follow us on Instagram and Twitter, visit our YouTube channel and stay tuned for more great things to come!
Chris: We are really deep in the writing process for our next album as well. We stay constantly busy with shows in our area. We are booked all the way through to October. We hope to keep our stride going and continue to progress toward our ultimate goal.
Julian: Right now the band is focused on cycling the album, getting our music out to the world by touring, playing shows anywhere we can reach an audience that’s willing to listen.
We want to take our music to the next level, we have attainable goals and are working to develop a market bigger then NM. We want to take over the Southwest region, then expand and grow as big as possible. We do everything independently, we don’t have a record deal and we budget all our band income to help spread/build our brand. In today’s music industry, we don’t need a label, we are working independently, which gives us more artistic freedom to produce the music and videos we want!
RP360: So, how did you get a gorilla to the beach?
Frank: The gorilla is Carl, and he’s the band’s official mascot. That just happened on accident when Carl made an appearance at a bonfire we shot for “Our Town.” Everybody fell in love with him so it was a no brainier to bring him along on vacation.
Chris: Our buddy Danny has always enjoyed buying different costumes to wear. We asked him if he’d like to be our official BA mascot. If you see on our previous video “Our Town” he plays a prominent role during the party scene. We kind of want to keep him around, and will continue to try and incorporate him in our stuff. His name is “Carl” by the way!
Julian: The gorilla is named “Carl”, he is our good friend Danny “DJ Nervous” Lucero. He is our official mascot, you can find him at our show handing our stickers and other merchandise. He is usually featured in all our videos, you just got to find him. It’s kind of like Where’s Waldo.
Border Avenue BIO:
Border Avenue, armed with an old honky tonk feel, toes the line between country and rock n’ roll, but ultimately brings music deeply rooted by country music. Singer/songwriter Frank Gomez, who grew up in Texas and New Mexico, fashioned the four-piece band with members bringing a unique sound from their various musical influences. Gomez cites his upbringing in Texas and country music as focal points to creating Border Avenue.
Together, Gomez (vocals, rhythm guitar), Chris Nuñez (bass), Sam Campos (drums), and Jonathan Maynes (lead guitar) compose the music that has been stirring up in Gomez’s mind as a kid growing up around country music. Border Avenue’s music artfully blends country, rock, and pop on a stage where the band sees as the simple campfire they sat around on so many nights crafting the music they bring to the local scene. Though the band hopes to one day become part of mainstream country music, the goal always remains the same: the never-ending ambition to touch people’s lives and hearts through their music.