Meet mayor metalhead
Channing Concho was in the crowd with hundreds of fellow headbangers for Anthrax’s sold-out concert this year at the El Rey Theater when something unusual unfolded before her eyes: the mayor of New Mexico’s largest city grabbed the mic.
“I was like, whoa, he doesn’t look like your typical politician,” said Concho, 31, the drummer for Suspended, an all-female melodic death thrash band based in Albuquerque. “It felt like one of those history-in-the-making moments. There’s our mayor in a black T-shirt with his fist in the air, and he’s just another Albuquerque metalhead.”
Keller, 40, a Democrat who took office in December, is making his enthusiastic embrace of heavy metal a signature feature of his administration: introducing metal bands onstage at gritty downtown venues; publicly extolling the music of his favourite band, Sepultura of Brazil; even fondly reminiscing about how he once got booted from an Ozzy Osbourne concert after jumping off a wall and into the audience at Tingley Coliseum.
“Albuquerque has always been pretty strong on the heavy metal front,” Keller said in an interview over a hurried lunch of green chili stew at his office. “What can I say, this is something I’ve been into for a long time.”
Few people can speak with Keller’s authority when it comes to explaining what makes Albuquerque a place so welcoming for metalheads that one was elected as mayor. Yes, the city has nurtured bands dabbling in other genres, from indie rock to alternative country and norteño, Keller acknowledged.
“But what about Randy Castillo?” Keller asked, referring to the drummer for Ozzy Osbourne and Mötley Crüe who was born in Albuquerque and attended West Mesa High School. A passion for metal minutiae might not seem like a priority for someone like Keller, who studied art history at Notre Dame and went on to obtain an MBA from Harvard. With progressive political views, he served as a state senator and as New Mexico’s state auditor before running for mayor.
Still, Keller said that he valued heavy metal’s capacity for bringing people together, especially in the Southwest, where Hispanics and Native Americans have long featured prominently in the metal scene.
Keller, for his part, insists that he is focusing on urgent issues in Albuquerque, including a stalled rapid transit system and luring investment to the city. His supporters note that he has begun chalking up victories, such as the April announcement by a Texas health care support company that it will hire hundreds of employees to Albuquerque. Keller also signed into law last month a bill decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana, a move aimed at refocusing police resources.