Tomás: A Conversation with Girl Ultra

Interview by Imani Dominique Busby (@imani.dominique)

Photography by Sofia Snook (@sofiasnook)

From the vibrant heart of Mexico City emerges Girl Ultra, the genre-defying artist blending R&B, rock, pop, and electronic influences into a sound that is entirely her own. She has built a musical universe rooted in contrast, gritty yet graceful, nostalgic yet futuristic. In this conversation, Mariana opens up about her creative process, growing up in Mexico City, the inspiration behind her evolving sound, and what fans can expect from her upcoming full-length album.

Please tell us a little bit about yourself and your introduction to making music.

Well, my name is Mariana, and I'm an artist born in Mexico City, where I'm based and raised. Basically, I've been developing this kind of genre-less persona that is Girl Ultra, within rock music and R&B, and a little bit of pop and club, like electronic music. I've been singing in Spanish and growing at the same time as Girl Ultra.

How has growing up in Mexico City influenced your sound and artistic identity?

In so many ways. I come from a city that's the perfect balance between chaos and grittiness, but it's beautiful and it's green. I feel like Mexico City, since you're very young, gives you the opportunity to choose the city that you want to have.

I feel like I find that in my music. I like to have very clear vocals and very bold messages, but at the same time, I like gritty guitars. I like a little bit of shoegaze here and there. So it just gave me that passion for contrast.

You recently released Tomas. Congratulations! It's such a beautiful song, and it brings together distinct voices, yours and then also Chromeo’s. What drew you to this collaboration, and what was the most surprising part of working together?

To me, this song is going to be part of a full-length material, which is an album produced by Chromeo. I grew up within Mexico City's indie scene, saving money to go see Chromeo’s shows. It's like a full-circle vibe. I've been talking to Dave from Chromeo for ages now. We've been having a long-time musical conversation, and we came to terms on making this album and bringing Chromeo’s sound and me fucking it up a little bit and singing in Spanish.

This track is the first exercise of that, just throwing this blockhouse vibe and having all of these Arabic/Turkish music samples. I just wanted to give my take on that.

And also, having Empress Of, another Latina singer from LA, it’s just about making it as diverse as we can, naturally. I'm very excited. And also, Tomas is a very fun track to play live.

It’s really beautiful how you blended all your different sounds and languages and backgrounds to create something cohesive. You've mentioned being inspired by the early 2000s and the sounds from that era. What is it about that time that feels relevant to you now? And how do you make it your own in 2025?

I feel like in the early '90s and early 2000s, the future was still uncertain. So I feel like that era encapsulated a lot of very raw feelings from music and lyricists and videos and everything.

I really reminisce about that era in which I was born, but I wasn't really able to fully live or be a teenager or a youngster out there. I feel like that was the point where the utopia became a dystopia. I like to emulate that.

You also often describe your music as a creative playground, pulling from different genres like R&B, garage, rock, and more. How do you know when you’ve found the perfect blend of those elements for a song to get your point across?

The way I work my music, the way I make it, I feel like I’ve got this archive in my head of how I want things to sound. I just collect songs and CDs and everything that I see or hear. Whenever I make music, I just want to be in service of the music.



Sometimes it’s just, “Okay, I want to grab this little reference from this club track. I like this synthesizer,” so I start building from there. I just like to make music in an interiorist way, being very aware of where things need to be and how they sound good. I’m a little selfish with that. If it sounds good to me, then it’s done.

That's wonderful. That’s the best way to do it, especially as an artist. To know when it’s good, and when it’s good to leave it because you can always tweak endlessly.

And it’s never going to be finished. You also gotta surrender sometimes. But at some point it’s like, “Okay, is this ready? I feel like it’s ready.” Yeah—it’s not about revolving over and over again.

Your work explores various themes in modern femininity. How do you blend or choose these elements in your songwriting? Is it an intentional effort to input these messages, or does it come naturally?

I feel like it’s a natural output of being a creative woman. You live and you collect so many experiences, and sometimes there’s nowhere to put them. Well, I chose music.


So it’s very personal sometimes. And then there’s a little brush of fantasy or something somebody told me, and I just connect the dots. But I find it releasing whenever I do that.

And I’m not the artist who just goes through something and right away makes a song. No, I feel like I need to integrate things, and then they become a song.

That’s really beautiful. So it’s kind of like the tail end of processing an experience.

Yeah. It’s usually never when it’s happening.

You’ve also performed on some incredibly iconic platforms like Tiny Desk, Colors, and now you’re bringing your music to Canada. What has excited you the most about playing and performing in Montreal and Toronto?

I really enjoy coming to Canada because I feel like Mexico and Canada have such a strong connection because we have such a problematic country in between.

I feel like we face some similar struggles in terms of the music business. We need to go through the States for things to happen. It’s good to just jump the States and come here and connect.

It doesn’t matter the language of the music. People are super supportive. There’s a big Spanish-speaking community in Canada, so it’s good to connect whenever we’re here.

And also, music-wise, Toronto and Canada are so, so heavy just rock music and R&B music. So it’s nice to be part of that and play these historical venues and places where things happen.

How was your experience performing in Montreal a couple of days ago?

I loved it. Actually, I love Montreal. To me, it’s such a chill city. I would live there. I really, really enjoyed it. I could see the community that’s forming music locally. They came to the show, and I could just see how supportive that is.

Are there sounds or art forms you’re eager to experiment with that might surprise your listeners?

I’m always down for anything, but I’m really drawn to UK sounds, and I definitely want to dig into that a little more. I enjoy pop music, basically.

If a listener could only hear one song from your catalog, what would you recommend and why?

I think it would be Blue from Lush. To me, it’s just a very honest song about being sad in these modern times.

It’s not just being super blue, it’s like, “I’m sad, but I keep on going. I need to do my shit.”

It’s a fast-paced song, it’s a little dirty, and it’s also fun. I feel like all that in a nutshell makes a message that I want to give people.

Playing off what you just said, what message do you hope to share through your music? Whether it’s cumulative or through this project or a single song, what do you hope people take away?

Nothing’s too serious. I feel like right now, changing the world is such an ambitious thing as an artist. So just be out there and play your shit.

We’re all going to die somehow, so might as well enjoy the ride and go to concerts whenever we can.

Are there any projects or anything coming up that we should be keeping an eye out for?

Yeah! I’m releasing soon. An album produced by me and Chromeo. It’s a full album, all in Spanish. That’s all I can say. But yeah, just keep an eye on it.

Wonderful. Congratulations on the release and best of luck with your show today. Thank you again for making the time.

Toronto, ON

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