Johnette Napolitano has never been one to linger on the past, but the 25th anniversary of Concrete Blonde’s Mexican Moon called for reflection, even if she hasn’t listened to it in years. “I don’t sit around listening to myself,” she laughed. “I’m always working on new stuff.” In fact, on the day of this conversation, she had just released a new single, “Riding the Moon,” complete with an animated video and collaborations with flamenco guitarist Ben Woods and singer Jesús Montoya.
The anniversary lands in the shadow of upheaval. Napolitano recalled how the band’s label, Capitol Records, went through massive layoffs just as the album was ready to go. “One day I was in a meeting with eleven people, and the next day they were all fired. I was literally leaving notes in empty desks.” The turbulence, coupled with tension inside the band, left Mexican Moon overlooked on release, despite fans later calling it one of Concrete Blonde’s best.
What she remembers most, though, are the extremes. Recording sessions would swing from euphoric to tragic in minutes, like the day drummer Paul Thompson got word his mother had been hospitalized back in England. “It went from glasses in the air to devastation in a second,” Napolitano said. Still, she describes the studio as a sacred space: “You leave the world outside. Your job is to channel magic, nothing less.”
That magic found its way into songs that still stand out today. “Rain,” originally from her Dream 6 days, was rerecorded as a nod to the band’s beginnings. Tracks like “Jonestown,” “I Call It Love,” and “Jesus Forgive Me” explored spirituality, cults of personality, and the uneasy line between art and projection. Napolitano even tracked down a chilling vinyl of Jim Jones’ final sermon in a Paris record shop and licensed it from Throbbing Gristle’s Genesis P-Orridge to open the song. “It was so evil I got rid of it after we used it,” she admitted.
The art extended beyond the studio. Around the same time, she opened The Lucky Nun, a gallery dedicated to Mexican and Chicano art. “If you’re from L.A., that’s just part of the fabric,” she explained. But when she worried her own paintings were veering into appropriation, she pointed fans back to the source.
Today, she finds freedom in doing things her way — releasing singles with striking visuals, submitting videos to film festivals, and avoiding the label drama that once derailed her. “You don’t need twelve people in five departments anymore. You can collaborate across continents from your living room.”
For Napolitano, the thread runs from Mexican Moon to Riding the Moon. Different eras, same cosmic pull. “When the vibes get that intense, things crack open and happen. That’s still what I’m chasing.”
Listen to the interview above and then check out the videos below!
