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music
Montejo | Rolling Loud Afterparty
On Sunday, December 17, [LA Reserve](https://thelareserve.com/gallery/) welcomed a host of cool kids and party-goers for a celebration of Rolling Loud 2021, with [Montejo](https://www.instagram.com/montejo/) beers a-flowing. Guests saw performances from [Audrey Mika](https://www.instagram.com/audreymikaa/) and her producer [Andrew Luce](https://www.instagram.com/andrewluce/), as well as [Buddy](https://www.instagram.com/buddy/), with sounds by Bryce Sexton, [Daniel D’Artiste](https://www.instagram.com/danieldartiste/), [Danny Singh](https://www.instagram.com/dannysinqh/?hl=en), [Siobhan Bell](https://www.instagram.com/siobhanbell/?hl=en), and [Diablo](https://www.instagram.com/diablo/?hl=en). Co-hosts [The Kollection](https://thekollection.com), a youth-focused lifestyle brand, lent a hand to Montejo in the curation of talent and the experiential design. We caught up with Montejo Brand Manager, Becca Law, about the brand and working at the intersection of the brand and music. ![](https://assets-global.website-files.com/62ee0bbe0c783a903ecc0ddb/6472d95a213d12643e9a06e6_etha363-058%2B%25281%2529.jpeg) **How did Montejo come to life and how did that align with your personal background?** Montejo’s story began on January 19th, 1900 in Mexico’s Merida, Yucatan. It was only in 2014 that Montejo began its first chapter in the U.S., when Anheuser-Busch InBev acquired the liquid and began to distribute in California, Arizona, and Nevada. That acquisition marked AB’s very first Mexican style lager in the U.S. Finally, our team had an authentic Mexican cerveza rooted in heritage and culture to bring to the table. It wasn’t until 2019 when several people in the company got together and saw Montejo as more than just another “import” in the cerveza category – they saw the potential for evolution. And at that moment, Montejo’s next chapter began. The team partnered up with a local agency, The Creative Bar, and began to shift the brand's angle in the marketplace to better meet the needs of our target consumers. This is where our tagline “Born in Mexico, Brewed in California'' began. Ironically enough, on January 19th, 2021 (Montejo’s 121st birthday), I entered the scene as Montejo’s Brand Manager. Candidly speaking, I think we can all agree that you’d call bullshit if I tried to pretend that I even scratch the surface of alignment when it comes to my personal background in relation to Montejo. I’m a 26-year-old white girl from New York who decided to uproot her life to an unfamiliar city, L.A., just two weeks before the country went into a national state of crisis, the Covid-19 pandemic.  Although our individual backgrounds share no obvious similarities, I believe that this contrast acts as a secret superpower. You see, where there are people, there is culture – and where there is culture, there is community. My job isn’t to mirror the brand’s traditions, my job is to respect those set values and then dig deep to repurpose it - revamping the existing brand identity with a fresh, current intentional spin.  Both Montejo and I come from vivacious cities that attract tourism. Music, art, food, fashion… While Mexico and California remain uniquely rooted by their own niche subcultures and traditions, it is our city’s collective spirit to celebrate culture and build community that binds us. **You’re a badass woman in the alcohol industry, one that is often dominated by men. Can you share a bit about that?** Forget the alcohol industry, that’s small potatoes. A woman with a heart of flowers and veins of fire will dominate worlds. If you want to win in any industry, find that woman and be on her team.  **What is it about Montejo that connects the brand so deeply with the culture of music and connection?** Our dinner table mentality with a splash of science.  Our job as the brand team is to get people talking. If people are talking, they’re engaging. My mindset has always been to give people something to talk about -  even if the feedback isn’t constructive, I stand firm in the belief that there is always something to be learned. My design strategy for Montejo’s brand programming is pretty similar to how one would set a dinner table – a methodology inspired by my favorite creative genius, Virgil Abloh and the book The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker. On this table, metaphorically speaking, Montejo acts as a centerpiece while the music and certain subculture elements are integrated to function as the brand’s utensils. Once the table set and atmosphere feels comfortable, we eat. Montejo invites the right talent and people gather and from there cross-pollination begins, genuine conversation flows, and an authentic connection is made. Rinse and repeat.   Now for the science- I only began to understand the power of sound on a visceral level when I studied audiology back in college.  _\* Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or scientist. I sell beer for a living and am basing this general understanding of sound off of my terribly boring anatomy and physiology class circa 2015 so I’m totally dusty… \*_ Sound creates vibrations, which activates a physical sensation that typically inspires some sort of movement (dancing if you’re me), which then activates all those happy chemicals in your body and induces your bad self to an emotional state of bliss.  Good music = Dopamine = Positive Conversation = Deep Connection = Brand Engagement.  Music is a simple yet versatile medium to build brand equity on a local level, and in my personal opinion the most powerful catalyst for connection by far. Where there is music, there are people. If there are people, there is fashion. Fashion is art.  And if you’re really smart there is _always_ food… because duh. Get that sequence on lock and watch all barriers that stand in the way of you and your brand’s success in culture and community disappear.