Audio Ozomatli
Don't Mess With the Dragon Podcast RSS The Exclusive MP3.com
Interview Podcast

Hello? Hey, this is Uli [Bella] from Ozomatli. Hey, how you doing, man? Hey, hi. Sorry about not hearing you, we're riding in a van right now and I didn't hear the phone. Hey, no worries at all. Do you have a few minutes? Yes, totally. Cool. So you guys recently did some touring through Nepal and India in support of the new album, Don't Mess With the Dragon, and you were named cultural ambassadors as a part of that trip. Isn't that wild? Yeah, it's crazy. But I wanted to make sure that before we start, did you gain the prefix of a dignitary that I should be using to address you, like Sir or His Honor or anything like that? Yeah. Your Holiness. How about that one, bro? That one flies with me, man. OK, cool. Your Majestic Holiness. How about that? Because I get the monarchy and the theology in there. Perfect. You've got to work both angles in. Yeah, man. Religion and government, bro. Exactly. So what was that trip like? It was really amazing. To go to these places and to experience the art and the culture, it's those kinds of things that really in a lot of ways create a mystique for Ozomatli. It's like, people kept telling us that we were the first band to ever play in Kathmandu. That's incredible. The whole time I was like, "bulls***," but that was true, and for no one to really know who we were and for us to play there and 12,000 people come out, it was amazing. Good stuff. So what did you guys do when you weren't performing? I mean, did anyone, you know, go and climb Mount Everest or anything? If we weren't performing, we were trying to hook up with local musicians, mostly in India. We got to jam out with a couple and hang out with a couple. Oh, fantastic. So that was hot, you know? It's those kinds of experiences that are both inspiring and heart wrenching at the same time. Right. Seeing how the other half lives and that kind of thing. Sure. The flip of it, you know? Yeah, absolutely. Did you record anything with local musicians or more of just jam sessions? We didn't technically record anything, but some of it was filmed. One time in Bangalore, which is one of the last stops on the trip, we went to a percussion school, jammed out with all these different kinds of musicians, and then at the end of the night on our last show we invited the same musicians that we went to the school from to come jam with us on stage. Oh, sweet. So it was a really cool exchange going on. That's fantastic. I was curious, I know you guys have been all over the world, Down Under and now obviously India and Nepal. Is there anywhere that you haven't yet performed that you would like to? Well, if it all works out, we're planning to go to some countries in the Middle East like Egypt and places like that. Also, there are also plans of us maybe going to China. So we're really hyped on that, too. And, of course, I think most of South America we would really like to hit hard. We've never been south of Mexico. We've only been to Mexico and Cuba, and then that was it. Let's talk about the record Don't Mess With the Dragon. In my estimation, it seems like a slight move toward accessibility in some ways. Is that fair to say? With certain tunes, I think that'd be a proper analysis of it. We wanted to do an Ozomatli song, yet do it in the confines of what maybe commercial radio can digest. When we first started 12 years ago, no station wanted to deal with us. They didn't know what box to put us in. So this time around, we just said, "Let's see if they can handle a different twist." "When I Close My Eyes" is very clearly an Ozomatli track, but it's got a little bit of a Los Lobos flavor that you can hear on some rock radio stations. But yeah, you're right. It needs to be a little smoother around the edges, I would say. Yeah. We're dealing with radio at its most commercial nowadays, where it's not even about the DJs' tastes or anything like that. And tracks like "When I Close My Eyes" are definitely kind of a tip of a hat to bands like Fishbone and Oingo Boingo, that whole LA scene, the kind of new wave with horns. Who in the band, or was it all of you, listen to bands like Oingo Boingo when you were coming up? Oingo Boingo and Fishbone were both huge influences on this band. Growing up, when kids mentioned and talked about Fishbone, it was almost on, like, some legendary status s***, you know what I mean? Kids were always like, "The Fishbone show, the Fishbone show." People were crazy devoted to that sound in that band. Cool. So how important is it to you guys to get on the radio? It depends on where you are as a band and what your goal is. Because, for us in the beginning, it was like, "F*** them. We're going to do what we do." With that attitude and that faith in our music, we were able to tour the world, gain the accolades of critics, the Grammys and bulls*** like that, and then at the same time get that underground love through our connections with, like, Chali 2na and Cut Chemist and people like that. So I think we've accomplished a lot regardless of that whole machine. And then I guess when we're looking back now on the whole thing, it's kind of like, "OK, well, that's the missing piece kind of a little bit of the puzzle. Like, we should get a song on there that maybe that they'll f***ing bump the s*** out of us." And you guys are 12 years in, so it's not like the motivation or vibe of the band is going to change or anything. Not to be raw, but we don't have to suck their d*** that much compared to these young bands that if they don't get a hit, it's like they're history, man, in this f***ing world and how the industry rolls, man. It's really f***ed up, you know. Absolutely. But the other thing is, what would life be like if there were paparazzi tracking your every move? You know what? We've established our personalities and are true to ourselves, so I don't think that that s*** will even fly. Like, is the paparazzi going to hang out with us in East LA and s***? Yeah, c'mon. Come through. Let's go. Follow me around East LA, man. F*** it, you know. It's going to be boring. You'll probably think it's really f***ing boring. [Laughs] Right. Hey, the other track that I was really intrigued by on the album is "La Segundo Mano." There are so many different sounds at work in that. How did that track come together? That song actually started out with me and a couple other guys, mainly [percussionist] Justin [Poree], who came up with the beat. We discovered this crazy blend of Jarochos music from Veracruz and these old synths, and we just kind of created this thing. It's like if Afrika Bambaataa went to a Jarochos party, you know? When I heard that track, I'm like, "Dude, this is, like, f***ing Afrika Bambaataa going off in f*** South Mexico and just flipping it on like a 'Planet Rock' vibe." That metaphor definitely works for that song. Absolutely. I can't recall ever hearing that kind of concoction of sounds in one song. So given the multicultural sound of the band, is it impossible to describe the kind of music that you like personally? Man, everybody in this band listens to all kinds of music. That's why when people are like, "What are your influences?" I'm like, "Dude, it's going to take too long." So you guys are all one of those people that walk into a record store and, kind of, it doesn't really matter what direction you walk, you're going to find something that you like. Yeah. I'm going to try to find something hot in that section. Last one: What's up next for you guys? Lots of touring, I assume? Yeah, touring our a**es off and doing promotion all over. And we have a tour planned with G. Love and Slightly Stupid, and then we're going to be hitting Europe, Australia, Japan, and the Middle East is also in the works. You guys are breaking down barriers all over the place. We're trying, brother. We're trying, man. Cool. Well, it was good to talk to you, Uli. I really appreciate your time. Thank you, man. I appreciate it, brother. All right. Have a good one. You, too.