PIERO F. GIUNTI
A melting pot of rock ‘n’ roll 50 years in, Los Lobos isn’t going anywhere
by Adam Perry
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t could be argued that Los Lobos is American music’s Statue of Liberty—a genuine melting pot of rock ‘n’ roll, folk, traditional Mexican music and even punk rock; 50 years with its core original members intact; and a never-ending quest to create exceptional and relevant original music rather than rest on its beloved catalog. According to co-founder Louie Pérez, the American tradition of democracy is a Los Lobos keystone as well. “For the last 48 years,” Pérez says, “we respond to other band members’ requests for anything, even if it’s, ‘Hey, can we pull over for a second? I need to run in here.’ We don’t question it. If it’s worth it for you to ask, it means something. Maybe it’s a tribal way of operating—I dunno.” The new Los Lobos album, Native Sons, is a collection of songs from classic Los Angeles artists Pérez and his bandmates cherish, from the Beach Boys and Buffalo Springfield to the Blasters, and democracy played a big part in the song selection. “It is unusual,” Pérez muses. “Why didn’t we pick ‘Help Me, Rhonda’? Why did we pick ‘Sail On, Sailor’ of all the songs the Beach Boys did? Why didn’t we pick an iconic one?” “Well, much like the way the Lobos universe operates, [bassist] Conrad [Lozano] said, ‘Let’s do “Sail On, Sailor.” It’s one of my favorite songs.’ And we said, ‘OK.’ And that was it. That’s how we’ve always operated. It’s a form of democracy, and respect for each 18
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other as friends. We started this band as friends; we were friends before we even had a band. We have roots. This band didn’t come together through classified ads.” In fact, Los Lobos had been a unit for a decade before releasing its first proper album, 1984’s How Will the Wolf Survive?, on proto-alternative label Slash Records. The four core Lobos—Pérez; Lozano; and singer-guitarists David Hidalgo and Cesar Rosas—met at Garfield High School in Los Angeles. After getting into music via rock ‘n’ roll, they made a living as Lobos Lobos in the 1970s playing traditional Mexican music at countless weddings and parties before being integrated into the legendary L.A. punk scene that included bands like Black Flag, X and the Blasters (from which Los Lobos lifted multi-instrumentalist Steve Berlin). Eventually Los Lobos was opening for groups like the Clash, U2 and the Grateful Dead on its way to becoming one of the most respected recording and performing acts in the world. When Los Lobos became a household name in 1987 with its cover of “La Bamba,” Pérez was introduced to millions of MTV viewers as a drummer. “That’s, like, punk rock all the way,” Pérez—who these days usually plays a jarana on stage—says when asked about phasing in and out of being Los Lobos’ full-time drummer. “Punk rock bands back then, they literally would figure out what instrument they were gonna play on the way to the gig. We needed a drummer and I had always fooled around with it. In 1980, when we became an electric band full-time after having been together for about 10 years, we needed a drummer, so we made MARCH 3, 2022
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one. I became a drummer ON THE BILL: Los all through those first years Lobos with Tenth of the band’s touring, all the Mountain Diviway through ‘La Bamba.’ But sion. 7:30 p.m. Boulder Theater, by the time we were record2032 14th St., ing, in the studio I didn’t play Boulder. Tickets: much drums. I left that to the $29.50-$39.50 pros.” Los Lobos’ early records feature session legends like Elvis Presley drummer Ron Tutt and Jim Keltner, and when the band hit its composing and recording stride with 1992’s Grammy-nominated Kiko, longtime Elvis Costello drummer Pete Thomas became a go-to in the studio. “Our songs got more complicated rhythmically,” Pérez explains, “and as a songwriter I wanted to hear those songs the way they should sound and give them the musicality that they needed. I showed up to rehearsal and strapped on a guitar and that was it. I just got back to playing guitar again. I never felt weird about that, because it didn’t feel like I was being replaced. I replaced myself. I was the one that said, ‘This is the way we should go.’” “I’ve had the strangest career,” Pérez muses, “starting off as a guitar player, then going from playing electric rock ‘n’ roll to playing traditional Mexican instruments to being a drummer, and going back to playing guitar again, and I think my guitar playing is, like, in arrested development. When I play guitar it’s like when I was playing in the early ’70s. It’s OK—it just makes for a strange musical career.” BOULDER COUNTY’S INDEPENDENT VOICE
