From Coachella to Sunshine: The Red Pears returns to ABQ to promote new album

Sep. 6—Latin-infused garage-rock band, The Red Pears, returns to Albuquerque to promote its fourth and latest album, "Better Late Than Never."

The band's show, at 8 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 14, at the Sunshine Theater, 120 Central Ave. SW, features openers Ultra Q and The High Curbs.

The Red Pears, made up of Henry Vargas on vocals and guitar, Jose Corona on drums and Patrick Juarez on bass, will stop in Albuquerque as part of its largest headline tour following a successful performance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April in California.

The Red Pears gradually have been gaining a growth in popularity as an alt-rock band. From backyard shows to popular music festivals like Tropicalia, Viva! Pomona, SXSW, the band has been focused on developing its style.

Following a change in studio space, The Red Pears decided to cultivate its sound and create something unique on its album, "Better Late Than Never."

"The new space allowed them full freedom to explore all production ideas without the limitations of studio time," according to a statement from the band's publicist.

The Red Pears were able to focus on each individual song and see what each song needed to elevate it to the next level.

The result is an album that band members said is the culmination of who they are and what they love at a deeper level.

"The whole studio is a reformed garage studio from our friend who does a lot of our producing," Corona said. "This album showcases a very hands-on approach with a very personal sound and refined details. It's been nice to refine our sound and show everyone more of who we are. We're improving on what we're doing now."

"This sound is one that we cultivated on our own," he said. "We really focused on using more tools that we have to our advantage, what instruments we were using and how we were recording our music. This was our first experiment trying this and I think it was a very important and thought-provoking experience."

As stated on the band's biography, "Better Late Than Never" is a testament to its members' life experiences and friendship turned brotherhood, as well as the band's subsequent career.

"The title itself sets the tone for the album because it's a collection of our evolution," Vargas shared. "It represents the lifespan of us working together over the last decade, from before we were even formally a band, to the people, musicians and band we are now. Many things are finally falling into place for us and we're able to creatively express ourselves better now than ever before. The title captures all of that pretty perfectly."

The band credits New York music mixed with Latin music in the 2000s as an influence for the album. Since high school, the group has always been interested in the grunge style of music and has developed its sound around it with a personal flair.

"Growing up, my parents played a lot of cumbia and as we started dissecting our sound and got in tune with what we wanted to do and incorporated a lot of that in," Corona said. "Corridos and cumbia have a lot of chords and beats that we like."

The Red Pears aren't new to Albuquerque. The band has performed three times in the Duke City, starting with its first show at Launchpad in 2018.

"We went to Launchpad for the first time and had like 10 people there, but they were there and super supportive and receptive to us and we've seen them at other shows since then," Corona said. "It's a great feeling to come back for a show and recognize fans. New Mexico is like a home away from home and it feels like you're with friends and family there."

Corona added people in New Mexico are what makes the band keep coming back.

"Thank you to everyone in Albuquerque who supports us," he said. "Without your support, we wouldn't be on tour right now and doing what we love as a job. Your support is very acknowledged and important."