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    An interview withGuatemalawith free mp3 downloads

    GRASSHOPPER REVS THE MESOAMERICAN MERCURY

  • “CHICKEN BUS ON THE ROAD TO PANAJACHEL. MOST OF THESE BUSES ARE TRICKED OUT OLD SCHOOL BUSES FROM THE USA.THEY ARE A GREAT WAY TO TRAVEL AROUND THE COUNTRY.”
  • “AS I WALKED DOWN THE STREETS OF ANTIGUA . . .”
  • “HERE IS A SHOT OF THE VOLCANOS OF LAKE ATITLAN FROM ‘LA CASA DEL MUNDO’ HOTEL IN JAIBALITO.”
  • “SOME OF THE CACTUS PLANTS AROUND JAIBALITO AT LAKE ATITLAN.”
  • “THIS IS THE ARCO DE SANTA CATALINA IN ANTIGUA. IT IS ALL THAT REMAINS OF A CONVENT THAT DATED BACK TO 1613. IT WAS BUILT TO ALLOW NUNS TO GET TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STREET WITHOUT CONTACT WITH THE GENERAL POPULATION. THE CONVENT WAS DESTROYED IN 1773 BY AN EARTHQUAKE.”
  • “AROUND LAKE ATTILAN THERE ARE MANY STRAY DOGS. HERE WAS A LITTLE PUPPY RUNNING AROUND JAIBALITO.”
  • “THIS IS A STATUE FROM NIM PO'T IN ANTIQUA. THE PLACE IS LIKE A MUSEUM, FILLED WITH MAYAN CLOTHING AND HUNDREDS OF MASKS AND WOOD CARVINGS, AS WELL AS SOME COOL T-SHIRTS OF GUATEMALAN BEER COMPANIES FROM THE 1920s.”
  • “ILLEGAL MEZCAL IS A BRAND OF HIGH QUALITY MEZCAL THAT YOU CAN FIND AT CAFE NO SE IN ANTIQUA, A FANTASTIC BAR WHERE I MET UP WITH AN OLD MAN WEARING A "SUNY FREDONIA" T-SHIRT (THAT'S WHERE I GREW UP). SMALL WORLD.”
  • “HERE IS AN OLD MAHLER SIGN BY THE SIDE OF THE ROAD ON THE WAY TO PANA. MALHER IS A GUATEMALAN FOOD PRODUCTS AND BEVERAGES COMPANY THAT SERVES LATIN AMERICA.”

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Interview With Guatemala

GRASSHOPPER REVS THE MESOAMERICAN MERCURY

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Grasshopper (AKA Sean Mackowiak) is Mercury Rev’s guitarist. He has also played in Harmony Rockets (a sprawling Mercury Rev side-project responsible for Paralyzed Mind Of The Archangel Void, a full-length LP which contrasted ambient drones alongside full-on noise), his own band Grasshopper & The Golden Crickets, and as a guest musician on numerous other recordings.

Guatemala is in Central America and stretches dramatically between the Carribean and the Pacific. It is a land of colours, vistas, volcanoes, sugared-tipped snouts, mysticism and forgotten-but-found-again civilisations.

Grasshopper is currently writing a tome, combining road stories with the mysticism and history of the Mayan people’s ongoing struggles in Guatemala, which he plans to release as an iBook with a limited edition of specially bound hardcover copies. On Grasshopper’s most recent trip to Guatemala he spent time in the highlands around Lake Atitlan and Antigua, and took over 3,000 photos, some of which you can see here.

Follow Grasshopper on Twitter here and check out Mercury Rev’s video for Goddess On A Highway below. Be sure to check out Guatemala if you’re ever in the area too.

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