Toronto-Based Tropical Rock Band Blumarelo’s Decade-Long Musical Journey Culminates in “Maybe You’ll Win This Time”
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Nothing worth having comes easy.
Vincent Teetsov has been steadily writing music and books since 2013. It’s been quite the 10-year ride, and it helped bring him to become the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for Toronto-based “tropical rock” band Blumarelo. It also inspired the band’s latest single, “Maybe You’ll Win This Time.”
The song is a reflection of the decade Teetsov has spent roaming the path that was meant for him: the peaks, the valleys, and every terrain in between.
“At the core of ‘Maybe You’ll Win This Time’ is a story of patience, persistence, and frustration in the pursuit of one’s destiny,” the band said.
Over a groovy instrumental, Teetsov lays down the mindset of a man willing to maintain for as long as it takes. It may seem daunting to conceive facing years and years of baby steps, and incremental progress, with sprinkles of failures big and small, but Blumarelo approaches the storm with a calmness that stares into the future with hope, not fear.
“Another year, maybe you’ll win this time.
Another race, another wait in line.
One more.
This one will change it all.
No regrets.
Better to trip and fall.”
It’s a natural way of life for Blumarelo, which first came together as a band in 2022. The collective’s name is derived from the colour blue, “sea” in Spanish (“mar”), and “yellow” in Portuguese (“amarelo”), and it has crafted a style that has earned the moniker “tropical rock.” Full of sentimental melodies, storytelling, and hip-swaying grooves, Blumarelo packs passion with playfulness into its music.
The Blumarelo name and its sound also represent the infused nature of the group; the band’s four members all came to Canada from different parts of the world and with different backgrounds. Teetsov was born in Alameda, California, and he has lived all over the United States, United Kingdom, and Italy. Bassist Mauricio Gamboa is from Mexico City, and lead guitarist Renan Deodato hails from São Paulo, Brazil. The three’s Latin roots have been the foundation of their “tropical rock” adoption.
The band grew even more international in 2023 with the addition of drummer Julious Nshaba, who came to Canada from Kampala, Uganda. Before joining Blumarelo, Nshaba spent years making live and recorded music and toured with Afrigo Band, Uganda’s oldest and most respected live band.
All four of the musicians had a hand in making “Maybe You’ll Win This Time” an audio version of a coastal California road trip.
“As often happens with Blumarelo’s songs, Vincent first creates the ‘skeleton’ of a song’s lyrics, chords, and melody,” the band explained. “Then ‘muscles,’ ‘organs,’ and ‘a nice outfit’ are added by the rest of the band, so to speak. It’s this process that allows every member of the band to add their signature mark to the song.”
“Maybe You’ll Win This Time” is the third of many singles (and a planned EP) that Blumarelo intends to release over the next several months. If “Maybe You’ll Win This Time” is anything to go by, Blumarelo will be at it for as long as stages exist.
“With every new song, we give listeners something to ponder,” the band said, “but also an upbeat piece of music to lift their spirits.”
Care to introduce yourself?
Hi there / olá / hola! We’re Blumarelo, a four-piece band from Toronto. Or, as we like to see it, four good friends who happen to share a lifelong love of making music.
We’re a band that enjoys fusing the brightness and joy of Latin music together with the passion and oomph of indie rock. We call it “tropical rock”.
Tell us about the process of recording “Maybe You’ll Win This Time.”
We’ve got a pretty DIY approach as a band, with a large proportion of our recording happening in the top floor of lead guitarist Renan Deodato’s apartment. Electric and acoustic guitars, bass guitar, sometimes synthesizers, and percussion. Something about this setup is comfortable because it’s a space where we can perfect each take, taking time to compare and contrast approaches to a song’s performance. It’s in this same kind of environment where singer Vincent Teetsov has written these songs over the years, moving around from country to country.
That being said, recording “Maybe You’ll Win This Time” also brought us to Lynx Music, where we often rehearse as a band. Here, we recorded drummer Julious Nshaba’s parts. His drumming has a lot of power and energy, so recording it required a space that would match that. In this creation of a rhythmic foundation, bassist Mauricio Gamboa is essential, so he was rocking out over the guide track at the same time. That gives it a sound that’s close to the feeling of our interconnected live performances.
From that point forward, we have the benefit of Renan being a professional re-recording mixer who has won awards in the film industry. He takes those raw recordings and makes them sparkle. In the case of “Maybe You’ll Win This Time”, that’s how we got that sound that’s something akin to driving along the coast of California.
What’s it like being musicians in Toronto?
Toronto can be a tough city to get by as an artist, and perhaps that’s true of any major city. However, it’s a city with a strong tradition of playing and recording music. From Joni Mitchell in the 60s to Messenjah in the 80s, to indie rock bands like Broken Social Scene. It’s clear that Toronto has always, and will always, have something to say. We’re proud to be associated with these artists even just by virtue of living in Toronto.
We’re all from somewhere else originally: Vincent was born in the US. Nshaba is from Kampala, Uganda. Mauricio is from Mexico City. Renan is from São Paulo, Brazil. This has shaped our sound as a band, and we’ve noticed that Toronto is receptive to that. We’re excited to see how Blumarelo’s musical community continues to grow in our new hometown.
Who was the first and most recent Canadian artist to blow you away?
Vincent wants to chime in here because Barenaked Ladies was the first band from Canada that he really got into. He was already singing along to Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits at age nine, and then much later, had the opportunity to do that at a concert of theirs in Nathan Phillips Square after moving to Canada. Their blend of heartfelt, humorous, and harmony-rich songs is classic.
More recently, Larnell Lewis is one artist who has made an impression. Seeing the Larnell Lewis Band perform at the Beaches International Jazz Festival was a highlight of the last couple of years. It was almost hard to process everything that he was doing on the drum kit, but sensitivity to the compositions and the full sound of the band was always supported by that agility and chops.
You’ve been making music for a bit of time now, what’s one piece of advice you can offer to those starting out?
If you’re starting out, emulating the musicians you admire is tempting, and it does help you learn. But don’t forget to find what it is that you, and only you, can offer the world as a musician. How do you see the world? What’s your background? How can you communicate that best?
Then, use notes and/or lyrics as best as you can to explore everything out there in the universe that interests you. That’s what the world needs more of—people who dare to observe and reflect the world in their own, authentic way.