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, 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.”
