Photography by Kathy Tran.
The story reads like a comic book.
Two musicians, “El Mero RockStar” and “El Roy” met while they were both paying tickets at the Lew Sterrett Justice Center.
They found a guitar player, a drummer and a vocalist in “el barrio” and became the Mad Mexicans, a rock ‘n’ roll band that’s been a fixture in Deep Ellum for almost 20 years.
The Mad Mexicans have played with many big acts over the years, including Ozomatli, Ice T and Body Count, Vanilla Ice, House of Pain and Molotov.
“El Mero RockStar” is the alter ego of Nello Moa, a librarian who became branch manager of the North Oak Cliff Library in March.
Moa was born and raised in Oak Cliff, around Clarendon and Edgefield, and he still lives here, now in the Bishop Arts area. He started playing bass guitar as a kid and had his first Deep Ellum gigs back in high school
He was playing in bands and attending El Centro College when he landed a job as a page and clerk at the Dallas Public Library in 1995. Eventually, he earned an associate’s degree, then a bachelor’s from the University of Texas at Arlington. All the while, he continued moving up the ranks at the library.
“With the band, my goal was to get signed and go on tour and be the next Nirvana,” Moa says. “But that didn’t happen, so through all those years, I’ve held on to this little library job.”
By the time he turned 30, he realized that the rockstar thing wasn’t going to happen beyond the local scene. So he enrolled in the University of North Texas and received a master’s degree in library science in 2011.
His most recent assignment was manager of the Dallas West Library.
For the North Oak Cliff Library, he has big plans, although the pandemic has put a damper on them.
It’s no surprise that he’d like to incorporate music into the library’s program, along with other performing arts, such as dance and poetry. The library and the Oak Cliff Cultural Center are considering some collaborations, he says.
He also wants to start putting on community fairs in the library’s parking lot.
The City of Dallas has plans to renovate or replace the North Oak Cliff Library, but Moa says he doesn’t know much about that, and he says there haven’t been any meetings about it recently.
The city’s libraries were closed, offering curbside service only, for more than a year before reopening for limited service in May.
Moa says he wants more people to be aware of the full range of services that the library offers online. For example, he often touts Hoopla, the app where you can stream movies with your library card.
The North Oak Cliff Library is open to check out books and materials like DVDs, use the wifi or log on to a computer. The branch will offer in-person GED classes beginning Sept. 15.
The North Oak Cliff Book Club meets online at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 14, and the Friends of the North Oak Cliff Library meet at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 21.
The Mad Mexicans have a gig at the Will Call Bar in Deep Ellum at 8 p.m. Sept. 24.
Besides his library and rock ‘n’ roll careers, Noa is also a runner who likes to compete in Tough Mudder events.
He says the best part of the Dallas Public Library has always been his coworkers.
“They’re very creative. They’re very artistic,” he says. “They love the community, and the community loves them. That’s what makes it rewarding.”
