Tomás Mier on Pop, Música Mexicana & Sandwiches | Takeout & Talk

Tomás Mier knows the value of a good hook and an even better beat. As a pop and Latin music journalist, he’s built a career writing about artists at the exact moment they’re about to become unavoidable. I’m talking about performers like Swedish singer-songwriter Zara Larsson to el rey regional Peso Pluma.

Still in his 20s, Mier’s work has already appeared in high-profile publications like Rolling Stone, People, Variety and Vogue. He’s killing it for someone who’s still in the early stages of his career. And as a fellow queer Mexican-American navigating the media world, I’m both impressed and proud of his accomplishments. 

For today’s conversation, he’s joining me from his new office space - his living room. His work attire? A Lady Gaga-branded Mexican jersey and pajama pants. I get a quick peek of his PJs when he runs to grab some napkins for lunch. I told him I wouldn’t include video proof of this choice, so I’m technically keeping my promise. 

Mier has gone the sandwich route, ordering the L’Inferno from All’Antico Vinaio in Los Angeles. There’s also peach iced tea involved, which, as a Southerner, I personally consider to be a sign that someone is taking their meal seriously. I, on the other hand, have decided to overcorrect. Having just come back from the border where my body was basically running on the sacred food groups of meat, tortillas, and pan dulce, I ordered the Brussie Salad from Mixt here in San Francisco. Among other things, it has chicken, shaved roasted brussels sprouts, butternut squash, avocado, shaved parmesan, and toasted almonds. You don’t see that in Eagle Pass, Texas. 

It all felt like the right kind of balance for our conversation: his sandwich, my greens, and both of us talking about what it means to build a delicious career around culture. 

Mier grew up in Santa Clara, making trips into San Francisco regularly. That Bay Area upbringing still sits somewhere in him, even now that he’s based in L.A. We talk about how different those two California worlds can feel, especially as a Chicano - the pockets of culture, the way neighborhoods shift, the way identity gets shaped not just by where you live, but by what’s playing in the background while you’re growing up.

For Mier, music was always there. Spanish-language music filled the house first. The pop obsession came later. He still has the Fifth Harmony poster in his childhood bedroom to prove it. And somewhere between those two worlds, he found the thing that would eventually become his beat: understanding not just what people listen to, but why it matters.

That instinct served him well during his four years as a staff writer at Rolling Stone, where he covered pop and Latin music, interviewed major artists like Mother Monster, herself, and helped bring serious attention to música mexicana’s mainstream rise. One of his acclaimed cover stories showcased the band Fuerza Regida.

But this conversation isn’t really about looking backward. It’s about the part that comes after the dream job. Earlier this year, Mier announced that he had stepped down from Rolling Stone to enter what he called a new era focused on social media and creator journalism. In that announcement, he said he believes “the future of journalism is creator journalism,” built around a direct relationship between the journalist and the audience.

That’s a bold thing to say. It’s also not exactly wrong. The media industry has been changing so quickly that, at this point, “pivot” feels less like a strategy and more like a lifestyle. 

But Mier isn’t talking about abandoning journalism. He’s talking about carrying the core of it - reporting, context, curiosity, trust - into the spaces where people are already spending their time. In his case, that includes TikTok, Instagram and any other place that allows him to speak directly to the music fans who already know his voice.

And that unique voice is important, especially at a time when BIPOC individuals are working hard to be heard amid the world’s chaos. Mier is part of a generation of journalists who understand that authority doesn’t have to mean distance. You can know your stuff and still sound like a person. You can interview megawatt celebrities and still get excited about pop gossip. You can take the work seriously without treating yourself like some untouchable institution.

Between bites, Mier talks about mentorship, ambition, music fandom, and the perfect pop songs of the past 15 years (spoiler alert: it absolutely includes Ariana Grande). What comes through most clearly is that he still wants to do the work. He just wants to do it in a way that feels aligned with where the culture and the audience are headed.

That feels fitting for someone who has spent so much of his career writing about artists at the edge of transformation. But now he’s the one stepping into his solo career. 

Yet this new professional independence comes with pressure. There’s freedom in choosing your own stories, your own format, and your own pace. There’s also the reality that you now have to be everything: the editor, the producer, the promoter, the strategist, and the person who remembers to eat lunch.

Luckily, on this day, lunch was handled.

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