They realized that staying in Venezuela, with its small market, wouldn’t allow them to make a living doing what they loved. Los Amigos Invisibles became a Luaka Bop artist and were about to discover, thanks to Byrne, a whole new world behind the mountains surrounding Caracas. Los Amigos Invisibles became a Luaka Bop artist and were about to discover, thanks to Byrne, a whole new world behind the mountains surrounding Caracas.Ī freaking miracle did. He liked it so much that he went after the performers, a bunch of young middle-class guys from Caracas who made a friend plant the CD in several stores, hoping for something to happen. A straight shot to the part of your brain where dancing is located. Byrne took that CD home, and he liked the mix of funk, acid jazz, disco and pop.
Maybe he was just intrigued, unfamiliar with Venezuelan music, even after showing knowledge of the rich musical traditions of the Spanish Caribbean in Rei Momo. "Oye, esta entrevista me ha dejado, como que caliente," he adds.One day, near the end of the 90s, former Talking Heads frontman and legendary musician, writer and visual artist David Byrne was browsing a New York City’s Tower Records, when he found a CD with a catchy title: A Typical and Autoctonal Venezuelan Dance Band. "If you only have three minutes and you have to choose a position it has to be 'en cuatro,' hands down!" says Mauricio. I suggest that it should be the title of their next song. "We have a Venezuelan seafood soup called the 'Rompe Colchón,' the 'Mattress Breaker,'" says Juan Manuel laughing.
These Venezuelans know that a guaranteed way to feel "so weird and so wrong" is by eating aphrodisiac seafood and as I learn, Venezuela has a lot of aphrodisiac seafood dishes. In typical Amigos fashion, there's a song called "Sexappeal" which goes: "You look so sexy in your makes me think you're a superstar and I am one of your freaky fans.they make me feel so weird, so wrong 'cause I only see how weak I am to your sex appeal." When you're taking a language course that's what the teacher always says: 'repeat after me.' So that's the idea behind it," explains Armando. "We thought it'd be fun for the record to be kind of a Spanish/English class. Los Amigos' new album "Repeat After Me" is their first one with songs written and sung by them in English. If you are afraid to say it in front of somebody, then you don't write it." We'll take it to the point where it's still funny, but not distasteful. When asked if they censor themselves during their writing process he says "Yes, we censor ourselves. People rather watch people kill each other than porn!" says Armando. "Watching people having sex is exciting! Some people deny it but it's only 'cause they're prude. If you walk into an Amigos Invisibles recording studio, tour bus or green room you are undoubtedly going to see pornography on the walls and ceilings, they say. Plus, it's who we are," clarifies DJ Afro. It took some time for people to understand that we're actually making fun of it. When we started, it was misunderstood as machismo. "It has to do with being Latin from the Caribbean.
Whether listening to their songs - many with "appropriate" titles like "Ponerte en Cuatro" or "El Disco Anal"- or sitting down for a meal with them, sex is never far from the conversation with Los Amigos Invisibles. I don't even have to look at the menu," says Armando, as he orders the traditional Venezuelan stuffed arepa "pabellón" and some very phallic looking "tequeños" (fried wheat dough stuffed with melted queso blanco).
I came here and I knew exactly what I wanted. Food that you grow up with is the food that you always miss the most. Now the members live all over including in Brooklyn, Miami, and Orlando, but one thing keeps them close to home: Food. I sat down at Coupa Café, a Venezuelan restaurant in Beverly Hills, with José Luis Pardo (AKA DJ Afro, guitar), Mauricio Arcas (percussion), Juan Manuel Roura (drums) and Armando Figueredo (keyboards) to make and eat arepas and talk about porn and music (seriously!)įormed in 1991 in their native Caracas, the six members of Los Amigos Invisibles moved to New York City 13 years ago. Not even your inner Gloria Steinem can't help but dance to Los Amigos Invisibles.Īfter sex, food is this band's second biggest inspiration (they did name their 2000 album "Arepa 3000: A Venezuelan Journey into Space" after all). Their humor, sarcasm and "life's a party" attitude make their graphic lyrics and ever-present sexual innuendos seem benign. For 22 years, the Grammy award-winning Venezuelan funk/disco band has somehow managed to make fans sing along to explicit lyrics like "En cuatro, en cuatro, en cuatro" out loud and with pride. April 26, 2013— - Los Amigos Invisibles might be the most sexually-charged band you've ever heard.
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