Cover Story - Kinky Rocks On (cont'd)
Being from Mexico, how were you guys introduced to rock?
I think that for me personally and other members as well, we all came from rock roots. Basically, everyone, especially when we were younger, we tried to discover other kinds of music because of the rock.
The thing was that we were an electronic band in the beginning and it was more because of the studio
work we did instead of the actual live shows. So little by little we started to do shows with the first
album, tour and as we played more and more together and the band became more like a rock act at the end because everybody was feeling needed and pushing forward with the energy and attitude. We were playing like an electronic band but with a rock attitude. We basically wanted to come back to the rock because
it was a thing that we knew how to do.
Describe the relationship with each member and how you draw inspiration from each one.
Well Ulises is kind of like a mad scientist. He kind of goes deep into the keyboards and software mainly. So, he's a real inspirational member in that part. Then it's Carlos, he always knows a lot of music especially in the new wave and sounds and he's deeply into the mixing and sounding of the band as well. Omar is really into the percussion of the Latin and Jazz. He'll always know a little bit more of the history of the things. Pliego is like the party partner, he's really into the real Mexican groups like Tacuba and stuff like that and he walks and talks like an authentic Mexican. So every one of them gives me a little bit more of what I am by myself.
You all seem to have different personalities. How would you describe working with your band members?
Everyone has different personalities and different musical taste. It's kind of refreshing and delightful to be surrounded by different people who like different things. It makes you discover new things about your band mates and what they show you. I think its more nutritious for each other to show one another new stuff and giving more and more because of the different personalities than being by yourself or being always on the same track. Sharing with each other our experiences is how we develop our music.
How has fusing rock with electronic and Latin influence developed your own style?
Well that's the basic note of what we do. We start in front of the computer, composing and just like puzzle pieces one puts together, the rock and electronic are very similar with the way the repetition and the decibels. The way they've come together it's easy listening to it over and over again. The rock and electronic have been the two genres we have been developing together, but the tricky part about it is to put a little bit of your personality in it to make it honest and to incorporate a bit of the roots of your music or country, combined with the personality of each of one, we feel it is right. We're not trying to be someone else or trying to reach for something. We let it grow by itself. That's the way we compose
and the way that we do music.
Is Kinky an innovator of this sound?
I think we have our own sound. I don't know if innovating is the right word. But, definitely we've been
experimenting and doing the music by ourselves and at the end of the day it sounds unique. That's what we're most proud about it.
Besides the live instrumentation, what other equipment do you guys use?
Well we use a lot of old synthesizers, even from the '70s till now. We have this main computer that gathers the information from everyone and each of us travels with a small laptop that we use to workout ideas. We use a lot of guitars, amps and analog. I like to experiment with turntables and DJ equipment. Everyone has their little toys like a bass, a trumpet and each of us has put in the time with that particular instrument.
What bands influenced you the most?
The Beatles to Led Zeppelin to Jimi Hendrix to name a few. We also like a lot of the classic bands out of Mexico.
How did the Nissan campaign help propel Kinky into the mainstream?
I think we made ourselves grow little by little by playing live shows more than anything else. Those kinds of windows, like TV and movies and other stuff that came along.we know that will show other people the music that we can't reach through live shows or that are not involved with the rock scene. Those are great opportunities for us and personally I think they are great culmination of the things like video games and stuff like that, that you're just a part of what's happening during that time. It's a great opportunity for every band and all genres of music. And we would like to keep doing more endorsements to keep showing our music to different people.
What was it like working on REINA?
For the new album we recorded in Los Angles. We set up a little home studio in the hills. We we're working on it for the last year and a half, and it was really comfortable. This is the album we feel better
doing it because we were at home doing it by ourselves. We composed, developed, mixed and produced everything by ourselves with no else around us. No one else was going to do what we need to do. So we hosted like a workshop where every member of the band came along and started to work, in an easy-going environment. It was that kind of feeling in the air. This is the album I like the most because of that. I feel more confident about my work now and that kind of feeling of what we like to develop. Everything was in our own home and now we get to showcase it to the people on tour or wherever we need to play.
You guys had to deal with a mudslide during recording...
Yea, well that was in the beginning of the album. So I kind of look at it like a new beginning. Like when you have something that cleans up the whole thing. That's the way we looked at it when we were setting up the studio. That was January of '05. It was non-stop rain so it was common in the area for mudslides and we were located in the hills and a big mudslide came into the garage and basically pushed the outer models and crushed them in the front of the house. Water was all over the house. It was a whole mess and a
bit dangerous, but at the end of the day we cleaned it up. We needed that kind of cleaning to have that kind of new beginning. So at the end of the day I feel like it's a good thing and we laugh about it now, but at that time it was pretty scary I have to say.
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