Two Minute Interview: Las Cafeteras

One of the first licks I learned to play on the guitar was the opening riff of "La Bamba". As soon as I got home from the used CD store with a copy of the Ritchie Valens Greatest Hits album, I listened to it over and over until my fingers knew their positions on the fretboard. Which is one of the reasons why I liked what I heard when I tuned in to All Things Considered late last year. On the show a group called Las Cafeteras was about to release their debut album, and by the time their version of the song ("La Bamba Rebelde") ended, I wanted more. More, I learned from NPR, of Son Jarocho, a style of folk music from Veracruz, Mexico. My wish was granted about a month later; the ten track recording is now available on iTunes, eMusic, Amazon, and the band's own website. In my seventh Two Minute Interview, Las Cafeteras made time to share their thoughts on performing live, musical activism, and the cultural diversity of Los Angeles.

1. How has travel influenced the music of Las Cafetaras? Do you or other members of the band have an especially poignant travel memory (music-related or not)? Our travel experience has really allowed us to recognize the importance of our musical trajectory. We have been really supported here in East Los Angeles, but we were somewhat nervous about taking our music outside of the Mexican capitol of the United States, Los Angeles. When we visited places like Chicago, northern California, Tejas, New York, or Arizona, we were truly honored by the young folks at our shows, considering us representatives of a newer generation of young people of color. We began to view our role as cultural ambassadors. Folks all over the country, and the world, have an image of what Los Angeles, or East Los Angeles, represents. We want to represent our communities in a more positive light, to remind others of the rich cultural diversity that we represent. And there is great responsibility in that. As Chicanos, we also try to represent an alternative image of cultural pride. We are a unique people, from both sides of the border. We feel we’ve been given a unique opportunity to build bridges.

Beer-Themed Travel Guides

Above all, I travel to taste. In every country I've visited, from Canada to Panama, Scotland to Thailand, my goal is almost always to find a beguiling beer that captures something about the essence of a particular place. Because even though the internet has made it possible to see parts of the world that we could once only imagine, we still have to travel farther than our well-provisioned kitchens to truly experience foreign flavors. If you ask me though, the pursuit of good food and beer are two of the best reasons to leave home in the first place.

Earlier this month, I published two stories about beer-themed travel. The first, entitled "Rooms with a Brew," was inspired by a trip to Texas that included a stop at the Fredericksburg Brewing Company in Hill Country. Roughly a year later, I found myself spending two nights at Maltsters, a pub in Llandaff on the northern edge of Cardiff, Wales. Built in 1310, it's probably the oldest licensed pub in the city, but you'd never know it from the look of their rooms or the taste of their breakfast menu. In the second story, I list "Eight of the Best German-Style Beer Halls Outside of Germany." Of course I could have included more than eight locations, but I figured one rule of beer drinking should probably also apply to list-making: Know your limits.

Beers, Blogs, and Birthdays

This time last year I had just returned from Panama. Aging, out of work, and unsure of my next step, I chose to procrastinate in a place that's been described as "a shortcut with its own national anthem." Looking back, I think my decision to go actually made a certain amount of sense. All of the hiking, kayaking, and surfing I did kept me from dwelling on the disappointing reality of my joblessness, and the journey along the Pacific Coast reconnected me with two of my passions: writing and traveling. In fact, I started this blog not long after finally unpacking my luggage.

While in Panama City, I spent a very pleasant evening at the Istmo Brew Pub, a bar and restaurant that has been growing in popularity since opening in El Cangrejo in 2005. With 14 bottles (mostly imported lagers) and four of their own brews (Veraguas, Cócle, Colón, and Chiriquí) to pick from, Istmo definitely boasts the best selection in the capital, if not the country. Other than color however, their house styles differed little in flavor and body, and at $5 a pint, cost about four times as much as native brands like Atlas and Balboa.

That night the crowd was local, and yet the soundtrack consisted of hits from the US and the UK—"Under the Bridge," "D'yer Mak'er," "Love in an Elevator," and "Hurts so Good." The scene seemed a bit more Floridian than Latin American, but I liked the outdoor seating area, and was tempted to order one of their plantains smothered with toppings like cheese, guacamole, and pico de gallo. In the end I stuck with drinks though; I guess I'll have to go back if I really want to try the Isla Iguana or the Bocas del Toro. Who knows? It could make a nice birthday gift to myself in another 12 months.

Two Minute Interview: Sergio Rotman

Once upon a time I played guitar in a ska band. This was back in the nineties when the genre was in vogue and a group from Argentina could find fans in the United States by putting a Latin twist on ska. Nearly fifteen years later, following the release of their newest album, El Arte De La Elegancia, I caught up with one of the founding members of Los Fabulosos Cadillacs. Here, in my first Two Minute Interview for Where and Back, I ask saxophonist Sergio Rotman about tour highlights, the influence of travel, and the best new band in Buenos Aires.

1. How has travel influenced the focus of your music? Traveling has changed our perception of the world radically. Our first US/Mexico tour was in October 1990 and the life of Los Fabulosos Cadillacs was never the same.
2. What are some of the most memorable places LFC has visited, and why? I remember our first show in the Sonoran Desert (in Mexico), playing while it was more than 120 degrees in Hermosillo. It was with Café Tacuba, Negu Gorriak, and Paralamas, and it was kind of a breakthrough show in the history of Latin rock. I also remember our tour through Europe in 1995/96, when we participated in the first Sex Pistols' comeback tour. The bill? Cypress Hill, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Fabulosos Cadillacs and... the Sex Pistols! What else could you ask for in life?
   
3. Many groups compose songs while touring—during sound checks, on the bus, etc. Is that also true for LFC? If so, which songs came to life that way? It's not like that for Los Fabulosos Cadillacs. While it's true that we've been together for 25 years, it's rare to find songs composed collectively, as a group. Composition for LFC is something very personal where Vicentico, Flavio, and eventually myself build the band's repertoire.
4. What about the current music scene in Buenos Aires makes it so exciting? Well, just three words: Boom Boom Kid! Check them out!
5. Where in your travels together has the band experienced something spectacular, or maybe just funny? When you travel the world, you are influenced by everything and it's exciting. We have all kinds of anecdotes, but we keep them to ourselves! Life is full of surprises!
6. How has the Internet changed the way you connect with your audience or collaborate on various musical projects? Not as much as the way it changed the way music is marketed. We are a classic band. For us it's still: Album, Stage, Tours, and Music. Everything else is skin, just superficial!

Wordy Wandering

With iTunes, YouTube, and Twitter to entertain us around the clock, I suppose a bundle of paper glued together and perfect bound can seem like a rather old-fashioned form of escapism. But I like my books anyway. Because even though a shrinking bank account has limited my wandering to the lower 48 this summer, my little library of travel literature still affords me plenty of opportunities for vicarious globe-trotting. A few titles that I've recently added to my collection really impressed me with their honest wit and wisdom so I thought I'd post about them today:

• The last great book I finished was Jeffrey Tayler's Angry Wind, a riveting account of his journey across the Sahel from Chad to Senegal. The small sounds, smells, and sensations that he captures as he navigates the landscapes and customs of Muslim Black Africa greatly enhanced my understanding of the region.
  
• For reasons that I'll explain in another post, I've been steadily working my way through a sizable stack of graphic novels. One my favorites is called Pride of Baghdad by Brian K. Vaughan and Niko Henrichon. Inspired by a true story, it imagines Iraq's chaotic liberation in 2003 through the eyes of a family of lions.
  
• The next hardcover I'm eager to crack open is David Farley's An Irreverent Curiosity, a zany tale that could accurately be described as The Curious Case of the Missing Foreskin. His chapter entitled "The Semi-Retard's Guide to Learning Italian" got plenty of laughs at the last Restless Legs night on the Lower East Side.

And finally, for people who insist on doing their reading online, I have one more recommendation: my friend Nick Gill's new journal of Latin American food, drink, and travel. I can practically guarantee that his restaurant reviews, slideshows, and hotel suggestions will have you itching to book a flight to Chile, Ecuador, or Peru. Perhaps all three. So what's in your summer pile of reading materials? Which authors have transported you somewhere lately?