The single alone (“La Que Me Gusta”) will make you chair dance. But why restrict yourself to just one crazily catchy track from the world’s premier Venezuelan disco funksters?
CBC Music streams the entire Los Amigos Invisibles (LAI) album, Repeat After Me,for you right now, until the album drops on April 2. So commence dancing. And check out the LAI cheat sheet, plus the “get to know LAI” Q&A with the band’s bassist, José Rafael “Catire” Torres, below.
Los Amigos Invisibles's Repeat After Me
Album stream to April 2, 2013
Track Listing
Los Amigos Invisibles cheat sheet, by the numbers:
1 famous supporter, David Byrne, who “discovered” the band in the ‘90s.
1 Latin Grammy and 2 Latin Grammy nominations.
3 Grammy (NARAS) nominations.
8 studio albums.
1 live DVD+2CD.
1 record label.
20 years in the music business.
1 seemingly unlikely gig (2011’s performance with Maestro Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Phil in the Hollywood Bowl).
What inspired the name Los Amigos Invisibles?
The band was named after a TV show hosted by a very well known Venezuelan intellectual at the time. We used to see it as kids, because in school they asked you to watch it and sometimes teachers even made a quiz about it. It was a very popular show and he opened every night saying, “Hello my invisible friends.” That phrase became very popular so we were just taking a phrase from a show that was part of our culture. We thought it was kind of cool and fun at the same time.
What was it like being “discovered” by David Byrne?
It was like being taking out of the darkness, a place in which you were a nobody and suddenly being taken to the daylight to become somebody. We’re eternally thankful to David.
How has Los Amigos Invisibles changed since then?
At the beginning we were musicians wannabes and now we’re professional musicians. We pay our bills and maintain our families because of what we do. Aside from that, artistically we’re now much better musicians, performers, producers and friends than at the beginning.
What’s new with the new album?
It sounds very global to me. I think the album is the result of being expats for so long. When that happens you start integrating new cultures, languages and new points of view. [So] that as an artist eventually you’ll express [all of that] in whatever is the art that you do.
You guys moved from Caracas to New York City. What do you miss most?
At this moment I’m living in Mexico. After being in New York for 10 years, I had to come back to my hometown to deal with some family issues. Later, instead of coming back to New York, I decided to give it a try in Mexico. My wife is Mexican so it helped the decision. I miss everything from New York except the high rent prices. From Caracas I miss my family and friends the most.
The audiences: U.S. versus Venezuela versus Canada?
Even in Venezuela you can say that there are differences between cities. If I compare the best crowd from Venezuela, which I think is in Maracaibo, those guys are party animals and they like to sing along. In the other hand, in the U.S., when we play to mostly English speaking audiences it’s amazing to watch how they commit to the dancing. The Canadian crowd, it’s similar to the U.S. one. I guess it’ll take us more time touring Canada to see the differences.
Weirdest Canadian gig?
Once we had a gig in Toronto and our guitar player got stuck in a winter storm in New York so he never made it to the show. We played without him. We said, it’s either cancelling or doing the show without the guitar so we did the show. I think we ended up being victorious but it felt really weird.
Best gig ever?
It’s really hard to tell [because we’ve done so many]. I think I should mention the one time we were headliners in the Vive Latino, the most important festival in Mexico. We didn’t know we were so popular over there and nevertheless we managed to keep 50,000 people dancing during the whole show. Amazing experience.
Pre-concert rituals?
A long time ago we used to do like sports teams, we got together and said “Let’s kill it,” and then everyone screamed. We stopped doing that 10 years ago. I guess now we just enjoy a glass of good rum before the show.
Band motto or slogan?
It never gets easy.
Los Amigos Invisibles play Toronto's El Mocambo on April 11.
Related:
David Byrne's favourite Venezuelans, Los Amigos Invisibles, share tour playlist
Q&A: Los Amigos Invisibles on David Byrne, Dimitri from Paris, Gustavo Dudamel