It had been half an hour since Mateo had finished singing at a Mexican restaurant in East Los Angeles, and customers were still chatting about him. “We were just saying we should hire him for a party,” says Alfonso Garcia, 29, an airport worker having lunch with his girlfriend. “That was the first time I’ve ever seen anything like that.” Garcia was impressed that Mateo sang old bolero songs — a form of slow-tempo, romantic Latin music — in fluent Spanish with a soft, delicate voice. What impressed him even more was that Mateo’s real name is Matthew Stoneman, and he’s a 47-year old New Hampshire native with red-orange hair and pale skin.
The stark physical contrast between Stoneman and the Mexican mariachi bands and trios he competes with for business in Hispanic East L.A. has earned him fame around here. “It’s pretty thrilling to walk in and people think, ‘What’s this guy going to play, John Denver?'” he says. Mateo has gained local media attention; he’s the star of a documentary in progress; and he gets perks like free food and shoe shines from shop owners. But in interviews, Mateo prefers to focus on his music rather than the fact that he’s a white man playing Latino music, which he calls a “gimmick.” And it’s true; there’s much more to Mateo’s story than first meets the eye.
