Joe Mondragon
Joe Mondragon has been playing with bands since the age of 14. Mondragon started his career the fateful summer of 2004 when his father rented the animated movie “Yellow Submarine”. After 16 views of the film, Mondragon decided to take up bass like his hero Paul McCartney. But his mother encouraged him to learn the guitar as well. However, after much protest of this idea by Joe, this crafty Gypsy (Romani) woman tricked him into guitar lessons by taking him he a “doctors appointment”, then leaving him with a guitar and no ride home at the music store. Joe continued lessons for both bass and guitar until freshman year of high school.
Mondragon’s very first musical performance was playing Lennon/McCartney’s “Let It Be” at Columbine High School freshman talent show. After receiving an overwhelmingly and unexpectedly positive response, including a standing ovation and paragraph written about it in the year book, the experience solidified music as the passion of his life. After playing in multiple bands throughout high school, Mondragon traveled to Malibu’s Pepperdine University on a scholarship for acting.
After a year out in Malibu California, Mondragon found the intense nature of the acting world would be too much for him to handle since the burning creative fire he felt for music was not spreading over into his thespian nature. The entertainment industry is ruthless, and if you don’t have the drive, it’s impossible to survive. With a heavy heart and much contemplation, Mondragon set his sights back to his home town of Denver Colorado.
Following in the footsteps of Denver’s hometown heroes The Fray and The Flobots, Mondragon transfered to the University of Colorado in Denver to obtain a degree in music business. Frustrated with the constant stresses of being in bands, Joe Mondragon was formed in 2009 as a solo rock group for 1 Liquid Houses Spare Parts Battle of the bands, judged by none other then Isaac Slade of The Fray.
Playing as “Joe Mondragon and The Masters of the Universe”, Mondragon tried and failed to win this competition. In fact, the unfairly negative and unconstructive feedback by the celebrity panel of judges and a slot at last place was enough for him to throw in the towel for a full year.
With the encouragement of friends and family, he started Joe Mondragon up again in 2010. After cutting his teeth for a year at RNA studios under the mentorship of his old Bass teacher Ryan Nicholl, Mondragon released his first ever LP “20”, named after the 20 years it took for him to finally find his true musical voice. After it’s successful release on his 21st birthday in February of 2011, he has been playing in the Denver circuit ever since. Now headlining shows, getting Radio Play, and receiving much positive feedback for his live act, Mondragon is extremely grateful and humbled by his reception as a musician.
“I knew that Jose Mondragon couldn’t go his entire life without attempting at least one great thing.‘’ – John Nichols’, The Milagro Beanfield War.
