Mexican band Jerusem have crafted a dynamic and cinematic alternative rock sound that blends atmospheric instrumentals and engaging vocals and they describe as “eclectic, inspirational and deep.”
The band, from Tepic in the state of Nayarit in western México, is formed of José Manuel Espinosa Ledesma (drums, vocals and lyric composer), José Luis Bañuelos Sandoval (guitar, vocals and composer) and Jorge Eugenio Rodríguez Castillón (bass, vocals and composer). José and Jorge have known each other since they were kids, with Jorge giving José Manuel – who previously worked with an English label called Ravenheart Records on a former band’s studio album – his first drum lessons. Jerusem started out going in the direction of being a cover band, but the trio decided to go down a different route from their former band member.
Describing the music they’ve created since, José Manuel told us: “Jerusem’s sound is a mixture of our personal ideas and approaches about music, we like to experiment and mix different styles and genres and to integrate different textures and intensities, from soft to loud, and create deep instrumental atmospheres or catchy vocal passages.”
Our latest taste of this is Luces Lejanas (Distant Lights), which comes from a Mexican movie, Mal de Ojo (The Evil Eye), in which José Manuel and José Luis are among the actors. The track opens up with light dreamy guitars that continue under engaging vocals, which give way to a cool little guitar lick. The engaging high-pitched vocals return and continue to drop into a variety of delicious little guitar licks to bring the track to a mellow conclusion.
On the track, José Manuel told us: “It’s really soon to know the reach of Luces lejanas, but at this point we have received excellent reviews. For people listening to it for the first time, they can expect a powerful and emotive rock ballad.”
And on the movie the track comes from, he added: “The track accompanies one of the saddest scenes in Mal de Ojo, and it was so touching for us to see it and hear it at the cinema premiere. In fact, we are working in the official video with scenes from the movie. It’s a dark fantasy Mexican movie, about witches and sorcerers fighting to regain control of twelve sacred relics. It features big figures of Mexican folklore, like ‘the dead,’ ‘the devil,’ ‘the dark horseman,’ ‘the weeping woman’ among others. In fact, I interpret the character ‘the dead’ and you can see José Luis as the character Metaliker, so it was double work and fun for us, and a really great revelation.” You can watch Mal de Ojo in full on YouTube here:
The track is the latest in a series of singles, following the album Epifanía in 2023. The most recent is the more upbeat and rocky Ciudad (City), which comes to a lively conclusion with a fun guitar solo. But we particularly like the sound of Resplandor, which opens up with a looping guitar note joined by heavier guitar chords that continue under fast-paced vocals. It bursts into a lively chorus led by powerful vocals, which give way to an effects-ridden guitar solo over driving drums. And another piercing guitar solo builds up to a raucous conclusion to the track. Check it out in the video here:
The Jerusem sound has been inspired by a wide range of music, from Jorge Eugenio’s love of The Beatles, Hombres G and Nirvana to José Manuel listening to bands as varied as Tool, Perfect Circle, Rata Blanca, Caifanes, La Barranca, L´arc’en’ciel, Yoko Kanno, King Crimson and José Alfredo Jimenez.
And on what inspires their music, José Manuel told us: “The three of us like to write lyrics, so we talk about so many topics like destiny, revelation, sadness, joy, love, war. We are always open to exploring different topics and themes, such as books that we read, movies or daily affairs.
Jerusem are the first Mexican band we’ve interviewed in over two years, so we asked them for their thoughts on music in their country. “The Mexican rock and metal scene is strong, with lots of bands improving their sound and ideas,” José Manuel told us. “Nowadays, there are plenty of ways to put your music directly into audiences, but there are few real opportunities for new bands and projects. So new bands need to have patience, willpower, determination and creativity to be focused on composing music, no matter if you don’t reach fast success. (You have) to believe in your quality and work over time, releasing albums year by year to improve and gain experience.”
In what sounds like an exciting step, Jerusem are currently working on the musicalisation of a soap opera from their state Nayarit. That will be the band’s fourth studio album and they’re already working on the fifth, along with a recording of their best songs in live concerts.
You can follow Jerusem on Facebook, and check out their music on Spotify and YouTube.
GigRadar 
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