Highlights of the Week: Big Sir, JotDog, Gustavo Galindo

Three of my stories went up this week:

Big Sir Had Serious Health Scares. So They Made an Album About Life and Death.

Right around the time they were finishing their last album Und Die Scheiße Ändert Sich Immer, they both fell ill and were diagnosed with serious diseases. Alderete discovered he had polycythemia vera, a rare bone marrow disease where the body produces too many blood cells, while Papineau was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. “The bottom fell out,” says Papineau. “In the midst of this juncture, Juan dreamed a song, woke up, recorded it and emailed it to me in Paris. He said, ‘I know it may be corny to say this, but from now on everything we do really has to make a difference … even if only to us … there’s no point any more to do less.'”

Q&A: Jotdog, From Rock en Español to Sci Fi Über Pop

With Jotdog, we’re doing this for the right reasons. The right reasons to be in a group, for us, aren’t money or fame. The right reasons to be in a group, mainly, are to have a good time. Every time you write a song, you need to enjoy yourself. Every time you go on tour, you need to enjoy yourself. When you write a song with the mentality of writing a hit to make millions, you’ve lost the purpose of songwriting.

Gustavo Galindo Says Fuck You to the Latin Grammys

“Once the Latin Grammys happened,” he continues, “I thought ‘well, that’s it for this record cycle. Let’s go focus on Mexico and launch the album down there.'” He cut those plans short in December when, while sitting in traffic, he received a ton of tweets congratulating him. He had no idea what for; when he found out he was nominated alongside huge acts like Mana and Calle 13, he thought there must have been a mistake.

Mexican Dubwiser at Subsuelo

DJ/producer Mexican Dubwiser poked his head out of the production studio last week long enough to spin some latin, cumbiatronica jams. He was special guest at Subsuelo, a monthly party at L.A.’s Eastside Luv, “the Mecca of beautiful Hispanic women” as one of my friends described it.

Mexican Dubwiser – “Revolution Radio”

Mexican Dubwiser – “Cumbia Of The Great” (2008 version)

Dubwiser hails from Monterrey, Mexico, an area where lots of great music has been and continues to be created. He currently lives in LA so, hopefully, there’ll be more Dubwiser DJ sets in town (residency, anyone?).

Check out the full set of photos on my Flickr account.

Two Bands = Two Interviews: Enjambre and Rodrigo y Gabriela

It’s only the second week of the new year and already there have been a number of huge announcements/developments in the music world. Goldenvoice announced the Coachella 2012 lineup, a little-known rock group reunited, and Remezcla published two of my interviews:

Q&A: Enjambre, One more Album before the End of the World

Was the music scene going off there during that time?

Luis: Oh yeah, it still is. There’s a scene for anything. It’s the biggest city in the world and there’s all kinds of people so…we got there and people, when we got on stage, we were opening for this well-known band called San Pascualito Rey and everyone was yelling “Pascual! Pascual!” They wanted us to get off the stage and at the end of our set, they were yelling “Otra! Otra!” Going from “get off the stage” to asking for an encore was really interesting and everywhere we would play, it would be like that. People didn’t really know who we were but they started liking it. We’re like “well, if we keep doing this for a longer period of time then we can build it up and probably do this for a little longer.”

Julian: Also, we’re a band that sings in Spanish.

Rafa: The main music industry is still in Mexico City. Even Spanish or Argentine artists always want to go to Mexico and work their way out of there. It makes total sense for us to be there right now. It’s like for movies, it’d be Hollywood or for theater, it’s New York.

enjambre @ sala de espera, indie 103 — Enjambre at Indie 103.1's Sala De Espera program

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Q&A: Rodrigo Y Gabriela Reinvent Old Favorites With Area 52

It’s refreshing to hear these songs we already know, and suddenly there‘s a sitar solo in the middle. It’s like, “Whoa, what is this?!”

Exactly, I had to! I wasn’t going to play them the same. No way. It was a very different process for both of us to play the solos. I come from the rock side so I normally make the solos and then, once I nail them, I record them. For this album, it was very much on the spot. I was with my engineer and we had already gone to Cuba and had all the background music so it was literally playing around and saying, “Ok, I like this take here.” It was pretty much like that. That’s why I don’t even remember what I did but I listened to it and I really liked it.

Yeah, the introduction to “Anuman” is totally different.

I hope people understand that this is not our new direction but, I think it’s an interesting enough project to support, play a few shows with and we hope people enjoy it as much as we did. When I listen to the album now, for me, it’s like a different band. It’s not like listening to my own albums because I don’t even do that. I don’t go back and listen to the new albums because I’m very judgmental with what we did and I want to change things here and there. For this album, I can just go back, relax and listen to it. There are so many things going on and so many musicians on there that I’m not focused on what I’m doing so I really enjoy listening to it, which is a good thing.

Coachella 2012 Lineup Released

The Coachella Valley Music Festival lineup was just released minutes ago via the site’s official Twitter account:

Five Favorite Things From 2011

5) Remezcla

I began freelancing for Remezcla on a regular basis in May. Since then, I:

covered the Latin Grammy Nominations Press Conference where I met members of Zoe, Calle 13, Pepe Aguilar, and others.
traveled to Las Vegas to shoot the magazine’s Latin Grammy Pre Party.
interviewed talented, new artists such as La Vida Bohema and Zombie Kids.
shot a number of great concerts and festivals such as Make Music Pasadena and the Caifanes reunion tour.

My work there continues to expose me to many artists I would never hear of otherwise, such as Quiero Club whose song, “Dias Perfectos,” is my favorite of 2011:

My last interview of 2011 (with Rodrigo of Rodrigo y Gabriela) will be my first published interview in 2012. It can only get better from here!

4) Sargent House

Sargent House is an artist management company (don’t call it a record label!) in L.A. that is home to the types of bands larger labels are too timid to promote.

I met SH founder Cathy Pellow and her staff of dedicated musicphiles in October 2010 when I covered the Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Group/Le Butcherettes concert for LA Weekly. It was immediately obvious that they were the real deal and not some stereotypical Hollywood character archetype.

2011 was a busy year for everyone involved with SH. Every band on the roster toured at some point. Le Butcherettes, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Group, And So I Watch You From Afar, Zechs Marquise, Hella, Gypsyblood and others released an album (two in the case of Boris). Big Sir, Fang Island, This Town Needs Guns and others spent the year working on new material.

One of the highlights of the year was the company’s SXSW showcase, which featured the U.S. debut of Adebisi Shank. This leads to point three…

3) SXSW

You always remember your first! I traveled to Austin, TX for my first SXSW experience. My trip there was brief (two days/two nights) but memorable and fun thanks to the new friends and contacts I met and all the great music that surrounded me.

SXSW_2011_039 — Just one of many "entrances" to SXSW.

I was really struck by the diversity of genres and styles represented by the performers at the festival. I remember turning a corner and hearing a country band perform in the patio. Two doors down, an indie-rock band had people dancing while, next door, an independent hip-hop artist made some new fans. By the time I hit the other end of the street, I’d heard punk, metal and latin music as well.

2) Spain

pamplona053 — Festival de San Fermin (Running of the Bulls)

This was another “first” for me: my first time in Europe and Spain. I lived/studied in Valladolid for the month of July and visited Pamplona, Salamanca, Segovia, Santander and San Sebastian (mostly north/central Spain). I hope to return and visit the coastal areas.

1) My niece

I returned home from Spain to be greeted by my newborn baby niece:

Mink Performs “Dejame Salir” on Acústica Sesión

I’ve recently fallen in love with Mexico City-based Rock/Pop/Jazz trio MINK thanks to a friend of mine who gave me a copy of their full-length album Camino.

mink_grupo2 — MINK - Carla Villagran & Alex Sanchez

The trio, consisting of vocalist Carol Villagrán, guitarist Alex Sanchez and ~~drummer~~ bassist Adrian Paz, released an acoustic version of one of their hits, “Dejame Salir,” yesterday for Acústica Sesión, a production of Art En Stock and Tricyclo Music:

MINK formed in Mexico City in early 2007 months after Villagrán and Sanchez won a contest which led to a performance in Tokyo’s Asia Club. They released their debut, self-titled ep in 2009 recorded with the help of producer Tweety González.

MINK released Camino, also produced by González, the following year to positive reviews. It’s a great Pop record with touches of Rock, Jazz and a few dashes of Electronic music. And for those who noticed, yes, Villagrán does have a timbre similar to Ximena Sariñana.

No word yet on MINK’s plans for 2012 but I hope it includes a tour of the U.S.

Hugo Chavez Can’t Stop La Vida Boheme’s Dance Party!

I’ve been obsessed with La Vida Boheme’s debut album Nuestra for the past few weeks. I’m definitely not the only one enthralled by it as the lp was nominated for Best Latin Pop, Rock, Or Urban Album Grammy last night alongside the works of Calle 13, Gustavo Galindo, labelmates Los Amigos Invisibles, and Mana.

I learned about the Venezuelan dance-rock/post-punk quartet two months ago while listening to the FIFA 12 soundtrack, which includes LVB’s song “El Buen Salvaje.” I liked the song but wasn’t able to get my hands on the full album until a month later in early November when Remezcla put me in contact with Nacional Records. La Vida Boheme was in town and would I like to interview them? Heck yes!

La Vida Boheme by Afroxander! — In the Nacional Records office. Not pictured: the Flinstones rug on the floor.

From the interview:

D’Arthenay: The record [Nuestra], we made it while I was still in college. It was very troublesome because in 2008, we had some of the songs. We started recording it but we didn’t like the record, then went off to record it with another guy, but we still didn’t like it. In 2009, most of the songs had changed. When we recorded the master, it was in 2009. For some of the songs that we initially started recording in 2008, we didn’t feel that they were representative of the things we wanted to say so we made new songs on the spot. So 2009 was a reflection of what happened between 2006 to 2009.

With this new record we just recorded, there’s two songs in it that we were playing for a long time and the second half we made them in one month. We’re very unorthodox in that sense. We’re not willing to release something that we’re not proud of. A work of art speaks for itself. When it’s complete, you know it’s complete. Most of the times, songs are very difficult to get to that point where they’re finished and others, they just flow naturally. We struggled a lot with our second record because of that, and because we don’t want it to be sloppy — we want it to be better. It took us time but we’re very happy with what we have done.

Two days later, I made a trip to Las Vegas to watch LVB perform at Remezcla’s Latin Grammy pre-party:

The set was short but intense and the songs sounded even better live than their studio-recorded counterparts.

Keep your eyes and ears on La Vida Boheme in 2012.

Meet Ruido Rosa, Mexico’s Ladies of Rock

To continue where I left off a few months ago, I present another talented artist/group from Mexico: Ruido Rosa.

Ruido Rosa. Photo courtesy of Revista Plastica

Ruido Rosa is a rock n’ roll quartet from Mexico City featuring Alejandra Moreno (vocals), Daniela Sanchez (guitar), Carla Sarinana (bass) and Pablo Cantu (drums). Drummer Maryluz Alatriste left the band earlier this month for personal reasons and Cantu is serving as a temporary replacement.

The original members started the band in 2005 and had their first huge break in the U.S.A. in 2009 when they performed at SXSW. They recorded their self-titled debut album the following year with the help of Diego Solorzano, a.k.a. Rey Pila but not before opening for KISS during their three-city tour of Mexico. RR returned to SXSW in 2011 where they performed at La Banda Elastica’s showcase.

RR has a rock/classic rock sound which shouldn’t be a surprise as they claim Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, The Kinks and The Raconteurs as their primary influences. The two singles off their debut, “Dentro” and “Miedo A Caer,” have a bit of an early BRMC vibe. Listen below.

No word yet on a proper tour of the U.S.A. but hopefully there’ll be one next year.

Los Abandoned: A Chronicle of a Reunion/Resurrection

Los Abandoned was a latin alternative rock group from L.A. that quit before it had a real chance to thrive. Their debut album Mixtape showed lots of promise from the talented quartet but, unfortunately, a number of issues led to their abrupt and sudden dissolution in October 2007.

Thankfully, Ricky Garay and Mucho Music convinced Los Abandoned to reunite for a special, one-time-only Day Of The Dead resurrection concert. I spent a good portion of the past two weeks covering the band for LA Weekly and Remezcla. Stories and photos are linked below:

Los Abandoned To Perform For The Last Time, Again:

The group had ruminated on a reunion since last year, when conflicting schedules forced them to turn down a benefit performance in Chile. They kept the dialogue open until earlier this year when Mucho Events promoter Ricky Garay brought everyone around to his idea for a Day of the Dead reunion.

Garay’d had the idea since promoting a few shows for Diaz’ solo project. “I would always casually mention it,” said Garay, “but I would never bug them about it because I knew it was a personal thing. It was something that I was trying to wrap up before we left La Cita.”

Q&A: Los Abandoned, One Night Resurrection Only:

We were very honored by [Gustavo Arellano] putting us such on a high pedestal. We worked for so many years and we went through so much just to get the little that we had in the economic sense, but it all paid off when we’d get great write-ups and people telling us that they were influenced by us, or that we helped them get through a breakup, or helped them feel better about themselves. We had a big queer following and there were a lot of kids that came out of the closet and thanked us because our music helped them do that. It was those things that made it all worthwhile when we were all living on sleeping bags on the floor.

Los Abandoned – The Echoplex – 10-28-11:

Los Abandoned took a 20 minute intermission after the second encore, and returned to the stage covered in zombie make-up and fake blood. Verde kicked off their final set — a bunch of covers — with the opening lick to Oingo Boingo’s “Dead Man’s Party.”

They finished with Simple Minds’ “Don’t You Forget About Me.” All of it had me secretly hoping that more bands would break up, so that they could later reunite for a proper send-off.

Photos// Los Abandoned @ The Echoplex, LA: One Night Only Resurrection:

Music, Protests, and Video Games: Photos from BMI’s Otoño Alternativo, Caifanes, Occupy LA and the Tetris Championship

The past week was an exciting and busy one as I covered a handful of interesting events for Remezcla and LA Weekly (all links in the photos).

First up, I made my way to the King King in Hollywood for BMI‘s Otoño Alternativo Latino Showcase featuring a number of up-and-coming Latin artists:

I made my way out to the Nokia Theatre on Friday night to catch legendary Mexican Rock group Caifanes perform:

The next day, I met thousands of protesters outside of L.A.’s city hall:

And on Sunday, I had a brief discussion about neuroscience and video games with Henk Rogers of the Tetris company following the 2nd Annual Tetris Championship: