Friday May 9, 2008
ym.com > stars > band of the month
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Artist of the Month: Murphy Lee Artist of the Month: Murphy Lee: Nelly. Chingy. Now Murphy Lee. There are so many talented St. Lunatics that we're starting to lose count.
You may not recognize this bilingual electro-rock band from Monterrey, Mexico, but they've been nominated for a number of Grammys and have worked with Coldplay producer Chris Allison (who signed them after they won a battle of the bands at the 2000 Latin Alternative Music Conference in New York). They've toured with cool bands like The Flaming Lips, De La Soul, Cake, and Modest Mouse, and their song "Mas" has been used in commercials for Nissan, Motorola, and NBC's mobster drama Kingpin. We think it's about time you got acquainted with them. Read on, then click here to listen to their songs "El Presidente" and The "Headphonist"
I first heard Kinky at 2002's South by Southwest (SXSW), a huge music conference in Austin, TX. Their live show was so energetic and imaginative that it blew me away — I describe their first album, Kinky, as a salsified Beck with the occasional intensity of Rage Against the Machine. On their follow-up, Atlas, out December 2, the band tones down the techno samples in favor of what lead singer Gil Cerezo calls "organic grooves." I'll shut up now, and let Gil and keyboardist and programmer Ulises Lozano speak for themselves.
How would you describe your sound? Gil: Our style is a blend of authentic Mexican music that is put in the context of new technology — a mix of techno and organic rock. [They even use an accordion on some songs!] Ulises: We all grew up listening to different music, and you can hear that in our sound. I listen more to electronic music. Omar listens to a lot of Latin and jazz, while Gil and Carlos are more into rock and trip-hop.
What bands did you grow up listening to? Gil: A lot of Spanish bands. But in the States, Rage Against the Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Faith No More. I grew up listening to a lot of rock, but now I'm more open to hearing new styles. I really like hip-hop, too.
How did y'all get together? Ulises: Pretty much everyone in Monterrey knows each other — either from school or through other bands. So we were all just friends of friends and we ended up getting together in 1998.
Why'd you call this album Atlas? Gil: We got the name from a short story by an Argentinian author named Julio Cortázar. Plus, we were traveling so much while we were touring that it just made sense. Ulises: And backwards, "atlas" spells "salta," which means "jump" in Spanish. People do a lot of jumping at our live shows, so it made sense on that level, too.
On Atlas, there are six songs in English, six in Spanish. How do you decide which language each song will be written in? Gil: When we were composing in Mexico, I don't know why, but all the lyrics came in Spanish. I think it's a matter of adapting to the geography, because I wrote most of the English lyrics when I was in Los Angeles. You listen to the radio in English, you are talking the whole day in English with people who are in the studio or on tour with you... that kind of makes you think in English instead of Spanish. Sometimes I even dream in English.
I don't speak Spanish, but I still love your music. Even if I don't understand every word you're saying, the emotions still come across. Are you noticing a lot of people in the audiences who don't speak Spanish? Gil: In the States, most of the people that come to the show don't understand the lyrics, but they get the main idea, the color and the feeling. Sometimes it's not that important for people to understand the lyrics. From my personal point of view, I would like them to, because I spend too much time trying to choose the correct words. But we have the Spanish audience who is really into the lyrics, so it makes me feel a little better.
When did you start writing songs? Gil: When I was 15, I used to write a lot of poetry, which led to me writing songs. I remember I wrote a song about a light bulb once. Now, when I'm not writing music, I write short stories. I just take things that happen to me that day and turn them into a story or song. That's how the song "The Headphonist" came to me. I was walking around town with my headphones on and the lyrics just came to me. I wrote it in about an hour.
Have you ever written a song to try to get a girl? Gil: Yeah, of course. When you are in love, you just can't write about other things. On this album, we have the last track, called "Semillas De Menta," which is in Spanish. That's the love song of the album. But I won't tell you whom it's about.
What was it like touring with Cake (Cake's singer John McCrea does the spoken-word part on "The Headphonist") and the Flaming Lips last year? Gil: This was our first real tour with a bus, other bands, and catering! For us, it was like being in the first grade and we were learning from really good teachers. It was an amazing experience for us because we admire these bands and we learned about techniques and how to be responsible. We even learned how many clothes we needed to bring with us on the road.
What do you miss most about home when you're touring? Gil: Mostly my friends and family. But I also really miss the food. I know it sounds cliché, but it's true. On the road, you're eating meals at gas stations and fast food places. But being home means you eat well. I don't cook when I'm at home, but everyone else does. The bad thing is that it's my job to wash the dishes. It's not a bad price to pay, though. It could be worse.
