MCO Studios is a quiet, woodsy space tucked away in the leafy neighborhood of Anzures inMexicoCity.
It could be because both of them have been finding endless inspiration in Mexico City.
The Fort Worth, Texas, native decided to come to Mexico, where he recorded this yearsLeon.
THE STUDIO: MCO Studios, Mexico CityFounded in 1987, MCO is a full-service studio that’s famed for its collection of analog synthesizers going back to the 1960s. That’s helped attract superstars like Peso Pluma, Shakira, and Natanael Cano; the studio also has a deal with Warner Music.HIT LIST:Yng Lvcas,‘Super Estrellas’; Nicole Zignago, ‘Escrita’
Sitting in the studio, they start off talking about their shared love of mezcal.
By the end, theyve both shared some of their most intimate songs, singing to each other.
When shes finished, Bridges stares in awe.
How do you even do that with your voice?
That is definitely channeling some ancestors.
Bridges:So, mezcal over tequila.
Lafourcade:Mezcal over tequila, yeah.
For me, too.
Watch the video interview below
Bridges:Thats my go-to.
I love mezcal on the rocks, a little Tajin on the rim.
I guess some people dont like the smokiness of it.
We like to drink mezcal out there.
Lafourcade:Thats good.
Well, I am so happy to be here with you.
Lafourcade:How old are you?
Bridges:[Laughs.]Thirty-five.
I thought you were older!
You seem to be an old soul.
How do you feel after these 10 years?
Like, now youre about to release another album.
This is going to be your fourth.
Ultimately, I want to be somewhat of a recluse and chill.
What inspired you to pick up a guitar?
Lafourcade:I was 14 years old.
I was very curious to see what was inside this closet of hers.
I opened it, and there was a nylon guitar with three strings.
And I took it.
I didnt know how to play, of course; I just started trying things.
I still have so much to learn.
Bridges:So, when I was in college, I initially pursued dance.
I wanted to be a choreographer.
I started out doing hip-hop choreography and then learned ballet and jazz and modern dance.
In my downtime, I met these musicians who would get together and do these little jam sessions.
And doing that sparked my love for playing guitar.
That blues sound … Is there a certain era you make a run at implement in your music?
When I listen to your songs, it gives me this 1940s, Fifties kind of vibe.
Lafourcade:For me too.
I think thats something we both could probably have in common: the love for music from the past.
I dont know why, I just feel like I am not from this era.
I like the sound, I like the spirit, I like the classic thing.
Bridges:I love it.
Lafourcade:I always make a run at hit the soul and the spirit of whatever I do.
You know what I mean?
To be more like what everyone else was doing.
And then I learned that I wasnt really happy trying that way.
The last two years for me has been more about No, this is what I like.
And I will keep it like that more loyal to those intuitions.
Bridges:I have a similar kind of experience.
When I first started, I was immediately pigeonholed.
I think that inspired me to redefine and, I guess, reinvent myself.
This is all about getting back to my roots.
Its a reflection of my home.
I think it was inevitable.
My father, he would play Stevie Wonder, and my mother, she was really into Sade.
When I picked up a guitar, I saw there was a missing hole in music.
Lafourcade:Your music feels, from the beginning to now, very coherent.
I can see the influences and the way youre grabbing new things.
But everything seems to be in a line.
How did you do that?
How did you find that sound?
So all my albums kind of have a different outfit.
Lafourcade:How do you feel about the next one coming?
I had to listen to my intuition.
The landscape is oversaturated with music that isnt uplifting, and thats what inspired me to stick with it.
Bridges:Man, Im stoked.
I am a little nervous, but Im pretty confident that this one is going to connect.
We were working out in L.A., in Nashville, and got kind of burnt out on those places.
Thats what inspired us to come to Mexico City to finish it.
And shout-out to the studio El Desierto for housing the music.
I think it was a perfect place to really bring this home.
Lafourcade:I worked there!
That [project] was something that helped me define my own way, my own path in music.
Thats hard to find.
This is what I feel more comfortable with.
And I was doing that album in El Desierto.
Bridges:Im honored to share the same space with you.
I had to listen to my intuition.
Like, This is what the world needs.
Lafourcade:I have gone through similar things.
I was like, No, this is not the mood of this album.
Bridges:Thats the crazy part about the process.
You write so many songs and then having to condense everything down to a 10-song album.
Its kind of tough.
I just saw this common thread of home in a lot of the songs.
Lafourcade:How do you write?
Lafourcade:How do you feel about that relationship with your audience and the way you give them music?
Bridges:I love the whole process, but being on a stage is my sanctuary.
I love seeing this collective effervescence in the crowd.
Everybody singing the songs word for word is such a powerful moment and such a blessing to experience.
You said youve been doing this for 20 years?
Lafourcade:Almost 25 years.
Were very fortunate to be able to have a song that comes from who knows where.
And you have this connection, this complicity with people.
I found it so special.
I cant keep going.
This is just too much.
But then I realize that music is a gift that I have been given.
Is that how you see it?
Lafourcade:And the possibility to make this important connection to people, in peoples lives.
Bridges:In your whole time of doing it, what is the thing youre most proud of?
Its like a service and a passion.
Every album is a different story for me.
I cant treat every project the same way.
And music shows me that.
And they always say things like, Thank you for bringing a part of Mexico.
Bridges:Ive had so many milestones.
Like, where Im from in Fort Worth, hip-hop music is the thing.
Whats your songwriting process?
Lafourcade:Different ways.
Sometimes I feel very inspired.
Then theres moments I feel like I want to write about this specific thing.
But I dont know how to sing about this.
Recently, I love just writing without rhyming.
I wanted to say thanks to death, because I am alive.
You learn so many things when death comes and knocks at your door.
Bridges:I love that.
Sometimes sticking to a formula, trying to rhyme, can be limiting.
Lafourcade:There is this beautiful song you have at the end of your last album, Blue Mesas.
How did that song come to you?
And it was really healing just getting it out to the world.
During that process, we were throwing around this thing, samurai cowboy.
Its kind of hard to explain, but it has that, pulling from that well.
Lafourcade:Thats one of my favorites of yours.
When I listen to it, I feel like it comes from a different place.
Bridges:Yeah, it has that vibe that obviously was just written in the stars.
Its always just been there.
[Sings] I wont ever get used …
Lafourcade:Yeah, sing a little.
Bridges:[Sings Blue Mesas.]
I love that song.
Why did you put that song at the end and not in the middle or the beginning?
Like, my first album, it wasRiver.Gold-Diggers Sound, Blue Mesas.
Ive really been digging your song how do you pronounce it?
So I wanted to say thanks to death, because I am alive.
Instead of saying like, Im so scared of death.
You learn so many things when death comes and knocks at your door.
Do you knowDavid Byrne?
Bridges:FromTalking Heads?
Imagine, I was so nervous because it was the very, very first show, new band.
And David Byrne came onstage.
It was a very, very beautiful moment.
Actually, were releasing this album live from this concert.
Do you imagine yourself doing albums, like, a lot of times after now?
Bridges:Music is the thing for now.
But one of the coolest things is recently starting a foundation in my city.
This is a full-circle moment of giving back to the city that shaped me.
Lafourcade:I think thats beautiful, when you get to that point.
Ah, bring me the guitar, I want to sing you something in Spanish.
Bridges:Are you going to play, too?
Lafourcade:Im going to play for you!
[Plays Cucurrucucu Paloma.]
