For the cool kids that follow pioneering new music, Bang Data is a band they're all well aware of. Singer/rapper/songwriter Deuce Eclipse and producer/multi-instrumentalist Juan Manuel Caipo, who first started as a production team, have been making music together since 2008, taking the Latinx, musical movement to the next level. As NPR Alt-Latino said in a piece on the band this summer, "As they continue to show off their broad-reaching musical abilities, Bang Data remains true to its mission: delivering an edgy, alternative take on folklore with incomparable style and swagger." With the release of LOCO, set for Feb. 2018, the band's third studio album, they once again deliver the goods. Pre-Orders are available here(https://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/bangdata).
For Bang Data, LOCO -- " it's about this world and how crazy it has gotten in the past six months... We live la vida loca," says Deuce, "The world seems focused on the wrong subjects these days." Adds Ciapo, "The world is loco right now! Life is loco! We are bombarded with information at lightning speed, from someone's food picture on Instagram to political propaganda on Facebook to hearing about another killing on twitter. I think that it's just crazy."
True to Bang Data's sound, LOCO hones in on the many different musical textures and veritable assortment of sound, with elements of cumbia, reggae, dance and hip-hop mixed with a heap of rock n' roll energy. Unlike any other music out today, LOCO exposes you to a fusion of contagious electro acoustic rhythms, melodies and rhymes. When compared to other releases LOCO is more politically leaning, reflecting back Deuce recalls, "we always have kept our eyes and ears and hearts closely related to the community and the world we live in, so every album entails the story of how all the ancestors and immigrants and natives made the "REAL" America the beautiful place it can truly be. We don't preach, we are artists. We, however as individuals will always try and have a voice for our people...our Raza."
In 2011, a track from Bang Data's debut album, La Sopa, was prominently featured on the 4th season of Breaking Bad. They became the house band for two seasons on El Rey Network's wrestling show, Lucha Undergroud, performed live on multiple ESPN programs, and had songs in the feature film Spare Parts and TV series
Criminal Minds Beyond Borders, Sneaky Pete and I Love Dick. In 2016,
Bang Data collaborated and contributed the song "Fortunate Son" to the critically acclaimed Creedence Clearwater
Revival tribute album, Quiero Creedence on Concord Records. Conceptualized by Caipo, Quiero Creedence, soon became a collaborative effort with
Criteria Entertainment and Concord Music Group. The album features such artists as Juan Gabriel, Andrés Calamaro, Bunbury, Enjambre, Los Enanitos Verdes, Juanes, Los Lonely Boys, Ozomatli,
Billy Gibbons & La Marisoul from La Santa Cecilia,
Bang Data and
Diamante Eléctrico. The album topped the iTunes US Latino and Mexico chart.
Honoring Deuce and Caipo's heritage LOCO is a bilingual album, with songs in both Spanish and English. The new album has a universal appeal and is about love, politics, and life. For Deuce and Caipo, they explain, "with LOCO, more than ever, we feel we want to share our music, stories and culture in a time that many call "Trumps America". We are Latinos born in the USA, we're from here and our music is a reflection of that as well as a contribution to American culture. Hopefully this album will open the mind of those people who feel that people that speak another language do not belong here."
The new album LOCO was recorded and mixed at Caipo's studio, Rockolito Music in Oakland, which brought the guys back to the place where they first started recording songs. For the band, the serendipitous feeling settled in when they ended up re-renting the studio where the guys had their very first meeting as future friends and musical band mates. " I feel that reacquainting ourselves with that energy added fuel to how this album was made," commented Deuce.
One of the band's strengths has always been songwriting, and while the inspiration can hit in many different ways, Bang Data's process for LOCO was unusual even by their standards. "Songwriting for LOCO was a little different than in this past," says Deuce, "Caipo came up with a concept that if a song worked acoustically, then it could stand on its own as a piece of art; that had a lot to do with how these songs were created. Caipo would also bring out instrumentals, or ideas from the past, and if we felt something had an undeniable energy, we'd keep working on it." Concurs Caipo, "I feel the songwriting has grown, and we are able to share the songs in a different way lyrically. We worked really hard together on lyrics and melodies and we did a lot of experimenting."
LOCO also has some very cool guest musician, including Seti-X featured cosign on "Furiosos" along with
Equipto of the Frisco Five, who dropped a verse on the track and also inspired the song, Asdru Sierra of Ozomatli, who played trumpet on "Memoria," with Bob Sanders of Locura performing guitar on the same track. Also featured is the Grammy nominated Nicaraguan band, La Cuneta Son Machin, who collaborate on "Aqui No Se Gana Pero Se Gosa," Ivonne "La Rimi" Iriondo, who sings on and co-wrote, "Todo Se Va," and Bay Area artist Elena De Troya from
La Misa Negra plays congas on "Candy" and "Loco."
Stand out tracks include the lead single "
Galactica," which premiered on
PopMatters earlier this year, a cool groove of a song about an unrequited love, a person so out of your orbit that she's galactic. "
Ya No Mas," featured on the Telemundo American telenovela
Silvana Sin Lana, was hailed by
NPR's Alt. Latino as, "...soulful and homegrown in essence..." Among the other outstanding tracks is the upbeat and horn driven tune "Candy," a serious take on love, immigration and the new laws that could hinder that, and "Aqui No Se Gana Pero Se Gosa," a terrific collaboration that is so danceable and celebratory, you can't help but smile at the song and it's positive message. And of course the title track, "Loco," a hip hop inspired call to arms which encourages an optimistic attitude in the face of crazy times.
Bang Data will hit the road in November in an effort to make sure audiences everywhere hear LOCO. "We are focused, now more than ever, on getting our music heard by as many people as possible. We feel that our live show brings a whole other element to what
Bang Data does. It's a very energetic show with a lot of crowd participation. We like to say that our shows are a mixture of organic live instrumentation with a splash of digital influence, which gives it that "Bang" sound."
Bang Data's LOCO will be out in February 2018.
Tour Dates
- Nov 27 Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV
- Nov 28 Flagstaff's Green Room, Flagstaff, AZ
- Nov 29 Club Congress, Tucson, AZ
- Nov 30 Valley Bar, Phoenix, AZ
- Dec 01 Winston's, San Diego, CA
- Dec 02 The Slidebar, Fullerton, CA
- Dec 03 The Roxy Theatre, West Hollywood, CA
- Dec 05 The Siren, Morro Bay, CA
- Dec 06 Fulton 55, Fresno, CA
- Dec 07 Harlow's Restaurant and Nightclub, Sacramento, CA
- Dec 08 The Catalyst, Santa Cruz, CA
- Dec 09 Cornerstone, Berkeley, CA
- Dec 10 Mystic Theatre, Petaluma, CA
- Dec 12 Humboldt Brews, Arcata, CA
- Dec 13 Volcanic Pub, Bend, OR
- Dec 14 Doug Fir Lounge, Portland, OR
- Dec 15 El Corazon, Seattle, WA
- Dec 16 Hi Fi Music Hall, Eugene, OR
