FEATURE: Spotlight: Los Bitchos — Music Musings & Such

FEATURE:

Spotlight

PHOTO CREDIT: Tom Mitchell

Los Bitchos

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BEFORE rounding off for the year…

I am keen to highlight artists who will make a big impression in 2022. Los Bitchos consists Serra (guitar), Agustina (keytar), Josefine (bass) and Nic (drums). With tour dates set for next year, and their debut album, Let The Festivities Begin!, due on 4th February, here is a group that you need in your life. I am going to come to interviews that introduce us to Los Bitchos and what they are about. Spotlighting the group late last year, PRS for Music give us a nice overview:

“Los Bitchos, who describe their sound as ‘instrumental psychedelic sunshine cumbia,’ are the kind of band you’d dream of running into on an impromptu night out. Their sprit of fun and the Latin grooves they so effortlessly produce are highly contagious, capable of eking out a vigorous toe tap from the most resolute of ‘non-dancer’ stiffs.

The band met in London - though members hail from as far and as wide as Perth (Australia), Stockholm, Montevideo and Croydon - and have been lighting up stages and festivals ever since. Notably, the band have landed impressive tour support slots with artists like The Black Lips, Bill Ryder Jones and Mac De Marco, as well as having received copious support from taste makers such as BBC 6 Music’s Marc Riley and KEXP’s Cheryl Waters – check out their KEXP performance below, it’s a beauty.

Through Lockdown, the band have created their own radio show, Planet Bitchos, which metaphorically ‘hits the road’ each month to explore a new part of the world, meeting the locals and tuning into their music, stories and experiences. It’s definitely worth checking out, which you can do so here”.

I think their different backgrounds and cultures equates to music that is more eclectic and interesting than a lot of groups. They could have put together a rather wild and random sound together. As it is, everything hangs together so well and seamlessly. Back Seat Mafia spoke with the group last year about their experience with lockdown. They also asked what they wanted from 2021:

“The international outfit based in London came together from various quarters of the world – Australia, Uruguay, Sweden and the UK – and have created an exotic cocktail of their brand of balmy psychedelic-cumbia for the spirit-fuelled summer nights.

Despite 2020 taking away Los Bitchos’ many festival appearances, including at Austin’s SXSW, the quartet are still bringing the feel good times at Linecheck Festival on November 19th, which can be streamed online.

Ahead of the show, which you can watch from the comfort of your homes, we asked Los Bitchos a few questions.

For those that don’t know, can you talk us through the origins of the name?

Serra Petale: It was just a joke name that just popped into my head that I thought would fit the style of what we wanted to do. A lot of the cumbia/chicha bands have a Los in their name, so that was the inspiration.

What have you been up to during these times of lockdown and in between?

Agustina Ruiz: I’ve been studying online, doing yoga and got back to ballet classes.

Serra: I’ve been writing and cooking and playing lots of Mario Odyssey”.

What does the future hold for Los Bitchos leaving 2020 for hopefully a much brighter 2021?

Absolutely. We can not wait to hit the ground running with touring and you will be seeing an album from us in the new year. We promise!

You can catch Los Bitchos here as well as checking out their Worldwide FM show on the first Thursday of every month. See you down the front at. I’ll be the one with biscuit crumbs, dog hairs, holes in socks and all…”

I am going to finish with an interview from We Are Raw Meat. They profiled the band late last year - where Los Bitchos revealed that their debut album was almost done. As we know, the world will receive Let The Festivities Begin! on 4th February:

“DC: One of the most interesting things, I think, is genre. It’s a surfy kind of thing, where it’s obviously instrumental and guitar led and a lot of Latin America comes into it, but also Afrobeat.

A: And Turkish.

DC: Yeah, a lot of a sort of Greek, Turkish, Middle Eastern kind of feel.

S: We love that sort of stuff.

DC: Was that a decision beforehand, or was that something that just kind of happened?

S: No, not at all. The Cumbia was a decision to do a Cumbia inspired instrumental band. No, it just evolved into what it evolved into, really, because we never really set out just to do any songs a specific way or to have a certain feel. It just sort of happens by accident in each of the songs, especially when you’re in the studio. Ever since we’ve been working with Alex as well, people’s ideas will just come to life. We’ll try something on a track.

DC: Are you going to continue single after single, or do an EP or an album?

J: We’re working on an album. It’s pretty much done.

A: We’re trying!

DC: Did you finish recording it before lockdown?

J: We finished recording in the studio, but we have more guitars and synths and bits and bobs to do.

S: The finishing touches. We like to yell on our tracks as well, so there needs to be more yelling, more body percussion.

J: We did ass slaps. We were like, oh, let’s clap, but it sounds really good when you slap your ass and you’re wearing jeans, so we did a little session of that”.

2020 and this year were not ideal years regarding gigs and being as active as they’d hope, though Los Bitchos have a lot planned for next year (including a slot at SXSW). Their debut album will be followed by gigs and some much-deserved exposure. I would urge people to follow the London-based band and follow their career. They are a group primed for something big. When it comes to the promising groups of 2022 set to explode, Los Bitchos are…