WTF with Marc Maron Podcast - Episode 1236 - David Hidalgo

Episode Date: June 17, 2021

David Hidalgo has been making music and touring the world with his bandmates in Los Lobos for almost 50 years. From their start playing in schools, in restaurants and at weddings to their crossover into the LA music scene, David tells Marc how Los Lobos became a quintessential American rock band, with influences and techniques as diverse as Los Angeles itself. They also talk about the new Los Lobos album, Native Sons, which pays tribute to other LA-based artists. Plus, Tom Scharpling stops by so you can get to know him better. Sign up here for WTF+ to get the full show archives and weekly bonus material! https://plus.acast.com/s/wtf-with-marc-maron-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's a night for the whole family. Be a part of Kids Night when the Toronto Rock take on the Colorado Mammoth at a special 5 p.m. start time on Saturday, March 9th at First Ontario Centre in Hamilton. The first 5,000 fans in attendance will get a Dan Dawson bobblehead courtesy of Backley Construction. Punch your ticket to Kids Night on Saturday, March 9th at 5 p.m. in Rock City at torontorock.com. Hi, it's Terry O'Reilly, host of Under the Influence. Recently, we created an episode on cannabis marketing. With cannabis legalization, it's a brand new challenging marketing category.

And I want to let you know we've produced a special bonus podcast episode where I talked to an actual cannabis producer. I wanted to know how a producer becomes licensed, how a cannabis company competes with big corporations, how a cannabis company markets its products in such a highly regulated category, and what the term dignified consumption actually means. I think you'll find the answers interesting and surprising. Hear it now on Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly. This bonus episode is brought to you by the Ontario Cannabis Store and ACAS Creative. Lock the gate! all right let's do this how are you what the fuckers what the fuck buddies what the

fuck nicks what the fuck tuplets if there are any out there how are are you? What's happening? Everybody okay? Are we good? I talked to David Hidalgo from Los Lobos. Yes. Now, the weird thing about me and Los Lobos is that, you know, like, look, with any band, I know the albums I know, and then I listen to a few new albums, but going back into the Los Lobos catalog, I start to realize, holy fuck, this is probably one of the best bands that ever lived. This band makes most other bands look like fucking novelty acts. These guys are hardcore pros paying their dues on the on the wedding circuit and dance club, sort of Latino dance club circuit, Mexican music, Mexican folk music, Mexican dance music, doing the weddings. That was like their Hamburg for the Beatles was playing these events. And man, there is no band that's tighter and looser simultaneously than Los Lobos. No band

understands each other in such a fluid and connected way, can create so much space. Such a beautiful goddamn sound of true American music. I guess people compare them to The Band, because The Band was one of the first kind of consciously, in a way, or I guess it was kind of hung on them, this idea of American music, Americana music, on them, this idea of American music, Americana music, of an indigenous music to America that kind of was rooted in Appalachian music country, some jazz and some funk. But those guys were Canadian, not to judge. And the one thing they were lacking was the Latino foundation, the Mexican roots. And that's where the true American music of Los Lobos comes.

And you can hear them. You know them immediately. It's astounding to me that people don't really dig in to the entire Los Lobos catalog. But this new album called Native Sons comes out next month, but I got to listen to it. It's all kind of L.A. related or based covers of music that influenced them when they were coming up. And I talked to David about it because I was pretty fucking excited about it. And you'll hear that momentary. We also we also have a new segment on the show that we're starting today. It's called Get to Know Tom with Tom Sharpling. You'll hear that shortly as well.

I would also like to throw a little love to the Sparks Brothers documentary. It opens in theaters tomorrow, Friday, June 18th. Edgar Wright put this together. It's his film. The Sparks Brothers. I don't know if you know Sparks the band. I've tried to lock into Sparks the band. I can't say that I have yet.

I did enjoy the documentary. I can't say that I have yet. I did enjoy the documentary. I learned a lot. It was impressive, but I still have not quite locked into that band. And they've done like a thousand records and there's many different sounds, but it's seemingly that, and I respect them,

but I don't listen to them. I don't know that this is necessary for the plug because the movie stands on its own. And it's not a paid plug. It's's you know edgar asked me to watch it i watched it i was like holy shit i didn't know any of this i have a few other records i'll listen to them again i now have a new respect for them but that was the last time i listened to them not that you're going to listen to sparks every day enough enough okay enough you know sometimes we haven't done this in a long time but uh you know we used to do

short interview segments with people who you you know, friends of the show or whatnot. But this is something different. This is a new segment on the show for a limited time only. It's a, what do they call them, a limited series of segments called Get to Know Tom. Some of you know Tom. Tom Sharpling is a dear friend of mine. He's been on the show many times. He appeared at the beginning of one of my HBO specials,

Thinky Payne. We've done several Mark and Tom shows together that you can also listen to. So to some of you, he's not a stranger. But the point of this is he's got this book coming out. What's it called? It Never Ends. Yeah, the book, it's a book about Tom.

It's a memoir called It Never Ends. And I read it. And it's a difficult position to be put in. I have to be honest with book about Tom. It's a memoir called It Never Ends. And I read it. And it's a difficult position to be put in. I have to be honest with you, Tom. Hey. Okay. Well, you never know, man. You know, a friend of yours is like,

will you do me a favor? You know, will you read my book? Yeah. And then I'm like, what? I've been in both sides of that now. For the first time in my life, I'm on the other side of that. Where I'm like, what do you want? Do I have to do i can just blurb it without reading it is it a blurb or is

it does he want notes what am i supposed to do and but but i read it and i've done that twice i've it's it's only happened to me a couple times actually and i think maybe it's people have sent me books before and i haven't read them but i read read the whole book and I, you know, I, I don't know you that long or, or, you know, it turns out not that well, even I didn't know any of that stuff, but why would I, it's not like when we talk, we're professional broadcasters generally, we're friends, we eat dinner and stuff, but I'm not going to be like, you know, Jesus, what happened? Yeah. You weren't, you don't just go like, so tell us a 10 years old.

What was that? What happened to you? Like, why, why? I never even, I didn't even what happened to you like why i never even i didn't even why you like you are you know what but the the point is i guess there's many points but it's a great book and and i think we should just sort of um like let's just just so people know like you know what do you do you i mean yeah i mean i know you host the best show. Yeah. I host a show, The Best Show. Yeah. Which I've been doing that for, man, 20 years. 20 years. 20 years doing this.

And it started on terrestrial radio. It started on station WFMU. Right. And that was standard old-fashioned radio. And then- But like in the book, you talk about how you were very excited to get the job. Oh my God. I couldn't believe it.

It was like, you just grow up. Radio was my thing. It was? Like idolizing and fetishizing just disc jockeys. Especially when you get into like personalities. Because you're like New Jersey guy. Yeah. So I would hear all the New York stations.

The early talk guys. Early talk guy. Yeah. So I would hear all the New York, all the New York stations. The early talk guys. Early talk guys. Yeah. Bob Grant. No, I don't know that guy. He was a right wing piece of garbage on WABC, but he was, he's one of those guys where it's just like, you're really funny and great at this, but you're evil. Like you're using it for evil purposes.

Like so many of them. So many, it turns out. Yeah, some of them, there used to be a guy, I had to do an evening show here that was preempted frequently by Clippers Games. Like it was a live show at 10 at night because it was some sort of like a placeholder when after Air America fired me,

they put me on the air, I can't remember the name of the fucking channel. But it night show brendan came out here to produce it you know for a while okay and but literally if it was women's basketball season they had a pre-existing contract with that to go live yeah so we'd have to wait until the game was over to start our live show and we're in overtime ziegler was the guy's name and And there was exactly, there was a right wing guy named Ziegler. Okay. You know,

and he was sort of on the same floor, different channel, but like two studios down. Yeah. And the worst, most malignant fucking right wing douchebag,

you know, but he was good at being a broadcaster. Absolutely. They are exclusive. Yeah. Right. So I remember

there was one time we're at the urinals and I'm like, I'm like, you know, you're good on the mic, man. He's like, really? I mean, I didn't think you would think. I'm like, dude, I mean, you're like, all right, just take it. You're a horrible human that happens to be good at broadcasting. But you just knew it was going to be your thing, right? Because I know you cover this in the book, and it's a great story. Early on, you never can dream it could even be your thing.

You just love it. Yeah. And it seems like it's a million miles away. Right. Especially pre-podcasting. Yeah. Did you ever imagine this? Did you ever think, well, I mean, it's different because you're a unique radio guy.

But let's be honest, just as you were saying, and this is off topic, but Kevin Christie framed it in a way that I never really thought about it. In light of the podcasting thing, it's like who knew so many people wanted to be mediocre radio

personnel? Oh my God. It's the craziest thing. When suddenly who knew everybody just wanted to shoot the shit. But it's so terrible. There's some people that are better at other things, basically doing mediocre midday radio style. Yeah. And they're not good at it. No.

They have lowered themselves. Right. I didn't even think they know what that was. They've gotten it through. It's like three steps down. They didn't listen to that and say, I want to be that. They want to be the

person who was influenced by the person who was influenced by that. As a comic, going into these places, you always know you're up against these guys, these regional guys and you go in and there's always a sidekick guy.'s like i used to stand up there and you never wanted to be that guy you know that was like that was if all the things failed yeah you hope you could be the the you know the the chuckle guy yeah the guy you know you know chiming in on some local radio show yeah it's like in music it's like the last refuge of the scoundrel in music is

you go become a country artist because they'll they'll apparently accept anyone that pretends yeah that's just like i like country is my favorite thing and there's like we like you then but in comedy it's that yeah it was just like and now i just like now i cannot get that framing out of my head that like you know everyone now is just like for some reason they they've just forgotten that radio was the end of the line yeah no not some practical way to try to get traction no you like howard stern used to say it was the lowest rung on the showbiz ladder for sure it is and he was a hundred percent right about that with the largest egos yeah you used to we used to go in you do these um morning shows and you're having a cock fight with you know like joe nobody yeah

you know who's like you know he's got the drive time in the entire columbus area it's like this fucking guy and they're causing you trouble they're're like, we're going to fuck with the comic. I'm like, I'm just going to sell a ticket, dude. These guys are just, meanwhile, terrified that somebody's going to just walk in and go like, yeah, we're just changing the whole thing. Now we're playing, it's a Latin station now. Everybody out. Like, that's hanging over their head every day.

When Clear Channel was, that's not, I guess that's not happening. It's like that Cleveland story. We head every day when clear channel was that that's not i guess that's not happening it's like that at cleveland story we must have talked about that when i go to do morning radio yeah i get off the elevator and there's just some sort of commotion and some guy runs by he's not wearing a shirt and he looks exasperated i'm like what's happening and they're like hey man just be cool with the the something went wrong with the puke cannon and we're gonna have to move you into another studio. I'm like, what the fuck is happening? I'm not sure if you should be happy or sad

something was wrong with the puke cannon. But that was just like the end of it. Yeah. I forget the guy's name. It was terrible. And it's like, yeah, man, we were, we had some guy drink milk, and then we altered a leaf blower,

and I'm like, what are you doing? It was like, this was like, to me, this was like the end of shock radio. Like the device that they had gone out of their way to create, to manufacture, to reinvent some. It was ridiculous. The puke can. And it just blew up. Just puked milk all over their studio for no reason. Nobody can see it.

No idea. And no one cares. Well, yeah, and no one cares. Well, there's probably a video element, but it was just so stupid because there's always nine dudes involved, you know, like at those morning shows. Yeah, yeah, there's like that. Yeah, that's, Billy will get it.

You want something to eat? Billy, get him something to eat. You know, that guy. John Worcester, who I do stuff on The Best Show with, we do comedy stuff and you know John. Yeah. John, growing up in Philly, would listen to classic rock radio and then one week there was a format change on the best show with uh we do comedy stuff and you know john yeah john growing up in philly would

listen to classic rock radio and then one week there was a format change where the the the classic rock station tried to go like punk or like they were going alternative yeah and there was this old guy who he would listen to on the station and then he's listening and now there's this guy on same voice but now he's calling himself mo hawk and then john called in he's like wait hey are you uh aren't you the guy who like you're not you know that's not your name he's like yeah it's not me they're making me call myself mo hawk he's like i'm out of here but it was my last week radio mo hawk that an adult has to at some point say like yes i'm calling myself mohawk today but yeah but it's just it is a specific talent and not everyone can do it and you're great at it

and and it was it was something that evolved like the the guys that are good do it like nobody else somehow and you've kind of figured out this own your own niche with the best show which is hilarious and but how did that evolve it just sort of you just started i can't remember i know it's in the book yeah it started off doing rate starting off doing a music show yeah right like because i was on wfmu primarily a music station new jersey new jersey jersey city uh was in east orange at that point yeah but doing a music show and then slowly the balance was like 99 music one percent talk and then i just kept going to where i was slowly talking more and more and that was then that just made sense and i was like oh my god this is what i

want to be doing not just playing records yeah and you're really good at the music beds and the pausing. All that, but the appeal was to use the music as a compliment to the talking. Yeah, yeah. And then it just was like all bets were off. I knew what I wanted to do with it. But it's interesting because you come out of this other part of your life where there's stuff in the book where I'm like, don't you want to, what's that stuff about your name? Oh, well, you know, we've got to save something for the but no i mean all right

no i mean all right there's there's stuff about my name and yeah all right it's in the book all right okay yeah all right you're right yeah we should even want more yes no people should if you want it's crazy man that whole thing in the book is crazy do you want you want it no please just i mean all right no no no talk about in the book is crazy. Do you want it? No, please just, I mean. All right. No, no, no. Talk about some things, other things I'd prefer. Do you want to get something to eat or?

Yeah. All right. So we'll, all right, we'll do it. Let's do it again. I'll try not to, we'll do this again. Sure, sure. You know, a couple more times. I want people to, ah, the name thing's good though.

It's all right. We'll do it again. We'll do it. We'll do another one. Okay. We'll save some of it. So, look, folks, you can go order Tom's book. What is it called again?

It Never Ends. It Never Ends. I read it. A Memoir with Nice Memories is the subtitle. Because now I know what it's referring to. Yes, you do. And that's also in the book. All right.

So, I'll talk to you. We'll do it again. We'll do it again. It's at TomWroteABook.com. And you can order it to other places too right at book places oh any any bookstore will take your order for this book all right we're gonna we're gonna do this again and tom will tell i guess some you know you're just gonna be selective about you know yeah no we'll talk to find her. Okay. We will have another talk with Tom, Tom Sharpling, the amazing Tom Sharpling, next week. So you can get to know him a little better and then get his book. It never ends. So you can get to know him a lot better, like a lot. Pre-order it at tomwroteabook.com.

Okay. I'm very excited to have had this conversation. I have a tremendous amount of respect for the band Los Lobos. They are still out there working. I'm looking forward to going to see them. I believe me and Gimme Gimme Dan are going to go see them at the Pacific Amphitheater with X and The Blasters. I think it's like

the first day of August, maybe. The new Los Lobos album is called Native Sons. It's a collection of songs by Los Angeles-based artists that were influential to the band. The Beach Boys, War, The Blasters, Jackson Browne, Buffalo Springfield, and more. It comes out on July 30th. I think I'm going to see them on the next day.

Yeah, yeah. This is me and David Hildal. It's winter, and you can get anything you need delivered with Uber Eats. Well, almost, almost anything. This is me and we deliver that too. Along with your favorite restaurant food, groceries, and other everyday essentials. Order Uber Eats now. For alcohol, you must be legal drinking age. Please enjoy responsibly. Product availability varies by region. See app for details.

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so I'd like this room to be more than it is, but I've got to put these panels up so the shit don't bounce around. Right. You know? I like it dead. up so the shit don't bounce around. Right. Yeah. You know? I like it dead. I like that sound to just be dead.

Yeah. What kind of guitar are you playing these days? What's your main one? I usually go back to a Telecaster, you know? Really? Telecaster, Strat, and I was playing an SG for a while. Really? Yeah.

I still, I go back and forth. Well, the SG, that's a different sound than those fenders, man. Right? It's a little thicker. Yeah, it is thicker, but it's, I don't know, the neck pickup on an SG is just, it cuts through. You know, I play Les Pauls and I try to get, I love Les Pauls too. Right. And, but the SG just had to, it was there.

It cut through, huh? Yeah. I guess it's because it's just that, like, just that humbucker sitting on, the body's so thin. Yeah. Right? I think there's the whole makeup of the guitar with the neck, you know, way out here. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And I have, like, that one, I got that black one, that Captain Kirk one, he sent that to me. I'm not even that great a guitar player, but I try to get as many guitars as possible for free. You're one of us. That's how it works, man. Yeah, man. I talked to Steve Miller, right? A few, about a month ago.

Because he releases this movie of a concert he did in the 70s. And they're all playing these ridiculous guitars, Ibanez guitars. Right. And one of the guitar players had a music man. And I asked him, I said, what the fuck was with the Ibanez and the music man? He's like, Gibson and Fender wouldn't give us anything. So we took what we could.

The Ibanez said, they'll make us anything. Yeah. Yeah. Ice man. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right. That's what, the one with the big hook on it like it like it was their version of an explorer kind of right yeah that's what they were playing yeah i remember that two of those so do you guys you are y'all still live in la i'm in orange county now i've been out there for 16 years oh yeah is it nice out there? It's nice. It's, you know, pretty sterile. I mean, it's okay.

It's all right. You sound like you didn't have a choice in the matter. Well, I had a little more room out there. Yeah. A bigger yard. Yeah, yeah. I have grandkids now, so they need to run around. Run around.

But you guys, you started here. You grew up here. Yeah, I grew up in LA. What part? Well, East LA down by the Long Beach Freeway, about that way. Yeah? And did you come from a musical family? Sort of, yeah.

Music appreciation was high in the family. With your family? How many people? How many people in the family? We had three brothers. Yeah? Three brothers. And my dad, he to have a few drinks and

liked to sing. Oh, yeah? Yeah, he liked the Ink Spots and the Louis Prima. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Louis Jordan and stuff like that. That was his... So that's what you grew up listening to and hearing? Yeah, I heard a lot of that.

What'd he do, your old man? He was a truck driver. Oh, yeah? He delivered caskets for... Caskets? For West Coast Casket Company. That's heavy. They're empty.

Yeah, no. But that's one of those things when you're a kid, that's kind of a heavy thing. It's like, what'd your dad do? He drops off coffins to do his caskets. And we lived in the- he got a deal with the company. Yeah. We lived in the office, and the warehouse was, that was our backyard. Oh, man.

It was full of caskets. So you guys could go play in the caskets? Yeah, we'd play hide-and-seek in the caskets. Make some vampire jokes? Oh, yeah, all that. Yeah. My dad loved vampires. Well, that's good.

He was in the right business. And when did you start playing? I was about 11, I guess. And you started on business. Yeah. And when did you start playing? I was about 11, I guess. And you started on guitar? Yeah. Well, drums first. My brother was a drummer. Oh, really?

Yeah, so he taught me just basic where to put it, you know, where to, one, two, three, four. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Can you do it now? Yeah, I mean, I haven't played in a while,

but I enjoy playing drums. Yeah? Yeah. But you started with the guitar. When did you pick up the accordion? That was until later, the 80s. You know, the Lobos got into Mexican folk music back in the 70s. How long have you guys been a band, man?

Since 73. That's crazy, dude. I know. How old were you when you started? I was 19. And it's the same dudes. Yeah, same four guys, yeah. I don't know how we did it.

And you all get along still? For the most part. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I listen to the new record. I'm a big fan. And there were some records I hadn't listened to in a while. But it's like, what's amazing about you guys is that even with this new record,

with the Native Sons sons with all these covers except for the one out of the one new song i mean even though they're covers and even though we know some of them somehow or another they all sound like you you know what i mean that's good it's good you know like that and it's all through all the music it doesn't matter what style of music you're playing which is sort of an amazing thing you know You know, it's a testament to how connected you all are. And that just comes from fucking being together since 1973. It's like, what is that, 50 years almost? Just about.

I think, yeah, probably this year or next, well, it's coming up. That's crazy, man. Yeah. So how does it start? So you're in high school or what? Just out of high school. And you're all just, you're playing, at that point you're just playing guitar. Yeah.

And you meet the, where do you know the other guys from? We all met at school. Oh, yeah? In high school? High school. Yeah. One of the friends, he's not in the band anymore, but he went off, he's like a year older than I am.

Yeah. And he came back from a college break. Yeah. And he'd got into Mexican folk music. Uh-huh. And it was, you know, come down and play. You know, we're doing this stuff. And I'd never, I mean, the music was around.

I thought, you know, it was. Not Conjunto music, but Mexican folk music? Yeah, more like the regional stuff. Okay. Like, you know, central Mexico. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. A lot of strings and violins no accordion no accordions right so you know uh i always wanted to play mandolin you know that was a good excuse to to learn because i couldn't we couldn't play violin right so we

were trying to play the violin parts with the mandolins and uh and you figured out mandolin on your own yeah we just kind of you know little, little by little. Yeah. You know, song by song. So you worked out a Mexican folk set list? Yeah, we had about five songs, and we'd play. Just you and that one guy? No, it was Caesar was there, and then I invited Louie down. Yeah. And then through Louie, Conrad came down.

So before you know it, we had five guys, and five guys and five songs. Playing Mexican folk music. Yeah. What'd you do with, we had five guys. Five guys and five songs. Playing Mexican folk music. Yeah. What did you do with that? But we looked more like Can't Heat. We all had long hair and beards. You like Can't Heat?

I like Can't Heat. They were great, right? Yeah, they were great. That Wilson guy could sing and play that harp. Didn't you do, did you do something, you did that record, man, with the guy from Can't Heat. Oh, yeah. Hound Dog? Hound Dog, yeah. Holy shit, that's a great record.

Thank you. You can't get it on iTunes, though. Yeah, I don't know. Well. I had to find the CD. He owns the rights to it, and he passed away, and I don't know what his family's doing with it. What's his name again? His name is Mike Helby.

Was he with Canteen from the beginning? No, he was later. Later, right? Because those guys at the beginning were, I didn't realize it, but they were all like, there was a couple of those bands back then, I think Butterfield too, that were just so, they were like blues nerds. Yeah, yeah. They were record collectors.

Yeah, deep in. Yeah. Yeah. So how'd you, when did you make that record? That was in the mid-90s or something, I think. And how'd that come about? Because that thing was like, there's no record that sounds like that, man. It's kind of very deep, deep groove.

Well, I met him through a friend that had a music store out in the Whittier area. And we just started talking, and Mike had a studio at his house. Yeah. and we just started talking and he had Mike had a studio at his house yeah I guess the

inspiration or the influence was Jimmy Reed yeah and Donna Dewey oh yeah those are like I don't know Donna Dewey

well you should look into Donna Dewey you'll Sugarcane Harris yeah yeah he plays the electric violin oh wow yeah he's the first guy

to come up with electric violin okay he took the stylus off of a record player and put it on the bridge of a violin and plugged it in. Oh, no shit. Yeah. So that was the inspiration? Yeah, because, you know, we wanted to do blues, but we didn't want a harp player. Right.

And he wanted to do it simple but dirty. Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, like Jimmy Reed is as deep as it gets. He's great, man. Yeah. Great poet, great, man. Yeah. Great poet, too, man. Just the way he...

Oh, yeah, yeah. The things he said were beautiful. Yeah. Did you ever get to see him? No, I never did. Oh. So you guys are playing Mexican folk music. Yeah.

And did you realize there's not a big future in this, or what happened? Well, we didn't know, you know. What was the scene? What were you doing? You were playing parties? Well, it started off playing, they called them tamaladas, where they had little tamale parties.

Yeah. For like at the VFW and stuff like that. In the neighborhood? Yeah, around the neighborhood. And we met, who became our manager for a little while, his name was Fernie Mosqueda. Yeah.

He worked with the LA.A. City Schools. Yeah. And he's the one that thought, man, you guys could do, you know, you could play, you know, assemblies. You could play colleges. You could do, you know, this is like educational type of stuff. Yeah, because no one's doing this music.

People should learn about it. Yeah, so that was our way in. So he got us our first gig for the L.A. City Schools. And then we started playing at East LA College. And we made a friend who was down there from UC Davis recruiting students. And he heard us play. And he took us up to Sacramento area. And that led to the Bay Area.

And before you know it, we were playing all over California. But this was this very specific type of music. Yeah. And so you got known for, you were almost like historians or playing some sort of folk music that people weren't familiar with. So you were probably, the teachers were probably bringing students to watch. Yeah, and we did that a lot. And then every single day of my old, we'd have like 30 gigs within four days.

And we took all the dash for cash. So by that point, I'm assuming you had more than five songs. Yeah. It branched out? It branched out a little bit, yeah. So how long did you guys do that for? Did you think like, well, this is it. This is what we're doing.

Well, all that work started to dry up. Really? When Reagan came in, a lot of the programs were cut. A lot of the extra music programs, arts programs were cut. So you guys were brought in by teachers to inspire young people in a way. Yeah, yeah. And while we were doing that, we were playing weddings and baptisms and stuff like that, too. But almost all exclusively Latino gatherings.

Yeah, pretty much. Yeah. So Reagan comes in, shuts the school, you know, kills the spirit of the kids. Yeah. You guys get pushed out. So that's 80, what is that? 80, 81. Yeah. And then kids yeah you guys get pushed out yeah that's 80 what is that 80 81 yeah and then what'd you guys well we ended up because we already had we had started families by that time you know oh yeah and uh had to keep money yeah so we ended up playing in restaurants

like uh like mariachi style yeah like you know but we wouldn't stroll we refused to stroll you know Yeah, but we wouldn't stroll. We used to stroll. That's where you drew the line? Yeah. Every once in a while we did, but we would split up. Play across the room with each other? Yeah, one would go upstairs, the other guy would go the other way.

How did it work with, like, there was no drums, so what was Louie doing? He was playing guitar. He's a guitar player. Oh, yeah. I'm trying to think who the, it's you and Cesar who do the guitar playing? Mostly? Mostly, yeah. All three of us play guitars now. Louie got off the

drums. He'll play a couple of songs here and there. On drums and then it's all three of you doing the guitars. Yeah. Wow, man. So we were in there playing restaurants and that got boring and we played this one place and there was a drum set and electric guitar for the band that was coming on after us, so we started goofing off with it. And it led to rediscovering, like, Ritchie Valens and the music of the Midnighters, the Eastside Soul Band. Some of the foundation of this new record, right?

Yeah. I'm trying to figure out, I'm trying to remember the set list. I listened to it a couple times, but I think I got it here. But you guys did, well, you do an interesting bunch of songs, but you did some real old ones, huh? Yeah, there's a Midnighter song on there. Yeah, I don't even know those guys. I should know. That's one of these things where I have a bunch of records and I grew up listening to my dad's music,

but there's some people on here I'm like, I don't know them. I don't know them. Like Farmer John, you did a lot. Right? Yeah, that's Don and Dewey. Yeah. Oh, that's it. That's Don and Dewey. Okay. Yeah. And Sail on Sail. So you guys started

playing, you started playing the rock music. Yeah, little by little, we worked our way, and that's when the accordion came in. And how'd you figure out how to play that? Is it hard? Yeah, it's'm not i'm no good at it you know i can play you know songs i know where that's enough yeah enough to get by but uh uh well you know but we're listening to all this music and uh and uh rye cooter had done this record with uh flocco jimenez you know you heard that record

heard that record heard the way Flaco played then I started looking for his records and you know just an amazing accordion player right

oh that's so sad so you picked it up yeah I tried to he was my inspiration you know and then a friend of mine he had an accordion

that he he bought yeah and it was just sitting in his closet so he loaned it to me and I just started figuring it out

yeah song by song again you know well it's a vibe right it's a feeling yeah it's it's a good thing it's beautiful so then you make the shift into sort of like old style rock music and and kind of music yeah yeah yeah and you and all you guys could sing in spanish so it worked out yeah that was important yeah so so what what what was the shift? So then you shift from restaurants to bigger weddings. Now you've got drums. People can dance.

We could play the recession and the dance. But you must have done that for a long time. Yeah, we did it for a few years. And at that time was when the Roots Rock thing started happening, came out of the punk rock movement, you know. Sure. You know, like the Blasters and people like that. Yeah. But like I have to assume that that time you guys spent together, because you're still together now, but that time was almost like the Beatles in Hamburg where you're just knocking out these gigs.

You're probably doing like four or five a weekend, right? Yeah, something like that. For a few years and you're probably doing like four or five a weekend right yes over a few years and you're practicing it's like it's like that's where all the dues were paid so you guys were become like one mind you know in terms of how you play with each other right yeah yeah that's pretty much how it was so the and so when the roots rock hit well that was a weird time right because there was this there there's all these different types of bands playing simultaneously like these like right because like i've talked to dave alvin i've talked to john, right? Because, like, I've talked to Dave Alvin. I've talked to John Doe.

I've talked to Rollins. I've talked to a lot of cats who were around then. But there was definitely, like, a Roots Rock thing, but then there was, like, Insanity, right? And you were kind of on the same gig. And sometimes there would be crossover, right? Yeah. It would be, you know, the Circle Jerks and, you know, Blasters and Weed Play.

It was just all over the place. Or Joe Liggins, you know, from the Honey Drippers. The old, kind of like a Louis Jordan era musicians that lived here in L.A. Right. So they would play gigs. Really? Yeah. On the same night?

Same night, you know. So, like, what was the vibe then? So you're coming out of playing these weddings. So how do you transition? Who pulls you into that? How does that happen? How do you start doing those gigs? Well, I think just the idea of playing restaurants for the rest of our lives scared us.

I was like, man. And at that time, when the Blasters were doing their thing, and everybody at Sir Douglas Quintet had reformed. Did you do a Sir Douglas Quintet song? No, we didn't. We were doing all L.A. type stuff. You like that song, Mendocino? Oh, yeah.

Oh, man. We got to be friends later on. Doug? Got to know Doug, yeah. Really? Did you play with him? Yeah, yeah. Oh, man. We got to be friends later on. Doug? Got to know Doug, yeah. Really? Did you play with him? Yeah, he jammed with him. He had the last Texas Blues Band for a while there, and he had just a great band.

Yeah, yeah. We were on the road, and we'd run into him somewhere, and we'd sit in and stuff like that. We got to know him, and we did an album called The Super 7. Yeah. And he was part of that, too. Oh, yeah? Yeah. Who was the original singer of the Sir Douglas Quintet?

Do you remember that guy? That was Doug. It was Doug? Yeah. Huh. Yeah, he was the writer and the singer. And then Augie Myers was the triplets organ player. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

That's great, man. The locks player. Man, it was a great band. I don't know if for some reason I thought Doug was just a guitar player, but he sang. He did all the singing, too. Yeah. Yeah. So, okay, so you knew you were staring down the barrel at a lifelong restaurant gig, and

you're like, fuck this. Yeah, so then that's how we went to Conrad's Garage. Because we were playing Richie Valen stuff by that time, and a few names like Farmer John and a few, like Conjunto Music, you know, with the recording. So we made a cassette and took it to the country club in Reseda. The Blasters were playing and met Phil in the parking lot. Yeah.

Passed the tape over to him. And a few weeks later, a few months later, Dave calls me and says, you know, we're doing, they were kicking ass at that time. And they were like, they were doing five nights at the Whiskey. Oh, wow. And so they asked us to open one of the nights. Yeah. And that was our big boost right there.

That was it? We owe them. You know, we owe those guys. Yeah. Well, that was, so like I would assume That was it? We owe those guys. Yeah, well, that was, so I would assume if they were playing five nights, they had pretty solid following of those type of, those kind of retro-minded people. Must have been kind of a roots, half rockabilly looking scene. Yeah. Was it?

Book rockers and rockabilly people. Yeah, yeah. Dressed up, greasing the hair up, doing the thing. Homeboys, everybody was there. Wow. That must have been exciting. It was cool.

What did you guys lay out? Do you remember the songs? Like, were you doing Richie Valance or did you do... I think we did Come On, Let's Go

and Little Susie. Yeah. And then we did Farmer John and we did the polkas that we play. Oh yeah? That we still play, yeah.

We used to do them faster because we'd try to punk it up a little. Yeah. The punk rock polka. Yeah. So because I have that, they reissued that record, the Just Another Band from East LA, the all Spanish record. Right. And I got it, you know.

I don't understand it, but I like it. Yeah. But that was a it, but I like it. But that was a set list before you started integrating. That was your restaurant and wedding set list? Yep, that was it. And you still play that stuff, right? Yeah, we do. We'll do tours.

We'll dedicate a tour to that type of music. And so you're going out with X? Are you going to do that? Yeah, I know we have a show with them coming up. Are you guys friends? Yeah. Yeah? Yeah.

They were good to us, too. They would include us in some shows. Back in the day? Yeah. Well, they're sort of interesting, because you and the Blasters are sort of dug into a root scene, and X is kind of like tilting towards some other, you know, like they're leaning into some other area. You know that guy?

I don't know why I thought to ask you. That guy, what's his name? Carlos Guitarros? Yes, I do. You do? Yeah. He's out of his mind. He's a Bay Area guy, right? Where's he from? He's from here. He's out of his mind. He's a Bay Area guy, right?

No, he's from here. He's from Echo Park. Because I was thinking about him, and I knew that David helped him out. Because I bought that record when he kind of came off the streets briefly, and they made that record. Were you on that record? Yeah, I think so. You helped out with that? Yeah.

But he couldn't keep it together, I guess. He goes in and out. Yeah. But he's a great player, a great songwriter. Was he like, back in the day, was he like something to see kind of deal? Yeah. They had a band, Top Jimmy and the Rhythm Pigs. And we used to play with it.

That was one of the first gigs we got, too. It's called Blue Monday at Cathay de Grand. Yeah. And it was almost like an open mic kind of deal. Yeah. The bands could go up and play a few songs. Yeah. And so that helped us, too.

So we started getting in front of all these people and got to know Carlos and Gil T. and Top Jimmy. And it was just a drunken mess. Right. But it was fun. Yeah. It's like a battle of the bands. Yeah. Almost. Yeah. It was just a drunken mess. Right. But it was fun. Yeah. It's like a battle of the bands. Yeah.

Almost. Yeah, it was cool. You got to know those guys. It must have been so wild because it was such a community, it seems like. Yeah, exactly. Everyone knew each other and everyone's just going crazy. Yeah, everybody showed up at each other's gigs. Yeah.

And jam. And now you guys become sort of these elder statesmen, man. I mean, you guys are like the guys. Like, you've played with everybody. You must have played with all your heroes by now. A lot of them, yeah. And you're a Peter Green fan? Yes.

Because I got into him, like, hard in the last 10 years. Like, I can't believe that guy. Yeah, I grew up. He was like Jam with a friend of mine that, you know, played, he was a blues player. Yeah. And I found out that I didn't know anything about the blues, you know. I knew Johnny Winter, which is cool, but it wasn't. The real deal.

So then, you know, Peter Green was the one that kind of put it together for me. Oh, really? Yeah, I mean. That's interesting. So when was that, when you were like a kid? Yeah, I was in high school. And yeah, Peter Green. And the interviews with like Clapton,

and they would talk about Otis Rush and Albert King, Freddie King. Yeah. So I started looking for the records. Right, yeah, yeah. And you got hold of it? You got the hang? Yeah, pretty much.

I mean, there's still more to learn no well i guess so yeah is i think there's more to it seems like there's more to learn if you do less yeah yeah that's the thing that was the big uh that was the lesson you know space yeah man you know well you guys certainly know how to take that space it's kind of mind-blowing because you can go you go back and forth, but even in the stuff you guys play fast, there's such a unity of rhythm that I don't know what it is, but it's kind of amazing. And I know people have compared you guys to the band before,

but it seems like when I listen to you guys, it's one of those things. I imagine Clapton's a huge fan. Have you met Clapton? Yeah, we've played the Crossroads. Yeah, yeah. He must love you. Does he?

I hope he does. Yeah. He did. Did you play with him? Yeah, he sat in with us a couple times. How was that? It was mind-blowing or what? Yeah.

When I was 14 and playing the Cream Records in my bedroom, and there's Eric Clapton right here. Yeah. That must be great. He can still lay out the blues pretty good, huh? Oh, yeah. Yeah. But, you know, like, I know he was a big freak for the band.

Like, there was this idea that when the band came on the scene, that, like, it was like, oh, it's over. These guys did it. They reinvented music. They figured it out. But, like, what's interesting about you guys even from the beginning in the way you kind of came up and together not unlike those guys but they were sort of appalachia and they're all canadian most of them and they're coming up through country

western but you guys are doing a similar kind of root sing in terms of uniquely american music but you got all the latino stuff in there they don't have any of that like you know the band doesn't so you've got this whole other element this whole other texture i'm just pulling smoke up your ass but you know what i mean yeah but i mean you can feel that because you can feel that element of where you guys come from and almost all the music too yeah i you know it was that uh homemade kind of uh uh approach like like the band, you know. Yeah. Did you listen to them? Yeah, we used to listen to them a lot.

You know, if they wanted to fiddle, they'd pick up a fiddle, you know. And, you know, we're mandolin. So we did that instead of trying to, you know, we did it in-house, I guess. Sure. We wanted to hear, and through all the folk music,

there's so many different, each region in Mexico has a different set of instruments. Right. All these different, so we had all that stuff, you know. You figured it out? Yeah. I mean, we're still working on it,

but yeah, we had all that stuff to pull from. Yeah. Or steal. Right, yeah. And it still shows up in the music. Like almost on every record, there's some of that in there.

Yeah. Yeah? Yeah. It took a while to get to where we felt comfortable where we could try to write a song in that style. Uh-huh. like like almost on every record there's some of that in there yeah yeah yeah it took a while to get to the to where we felt comfortable we could try to write a song in that style uh-huh most the time it was just you know we would we would play the old stuff and stay true to it you know where'd you first start where'd you first feel the confidence what's the first song you think that you did that

was you know kind of drawing from that directly was it on Kiko I was on the neighborhood record oh there was a song called be still yeah yeah yeah and it's I was kind of drawing from that directly. Was it on Kiko? It was on the Neighborhood record. Oh. It was a song called Be Still. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it was written in English, but it had that 6-8 rhythm that's used in Mexico. A lot of music from Mexico. Oh, Wapongo, it's called.

Yeah. And so we wrote a, you know, took a stab at it, and it worked. You know, so it opened the door to more stuff like that. To the confidence. Yeah. Necessary. Yeah. Yeah, I just listened to that record, too.

That's a great one. I didn't know Colossal Head that well, and I had to kind of get caught up on that. But how did the, so when, like, obviously the first record that I bought was How Will the Wolves Survive. But how did that, so that happened in that time, in the 80s, right? It came out of the L.A. scene. How did you get that deal? How'd that work? Well, again, it was the Blasters.

They were on Slash Records. Yeah. They told Bob Biggs, who was the main guy. Yeah. He's passed away recently, but he said, you better listen to these guys, man. Pick them up,

you know, do something. So our first record was an EP because he didn't want to invest much into it. He didn't want to make sure. He didn't know where it was going to go. Right. He didn't know how to sell it or anything.

Right. Really? Even with the Blasters, were the Blasters more defined to him? I guess so. Huh. He thought, like, what do we go to, the Latin market? Yeah, right.

No, no. This is mainstream stuff, man. Just try it out there and see what happens. Yeah, yeah. And it worked. Yeah. So he just put it out there and the kids came? Yeah.

And then that led to uh will it will survive well i mean it's interesting because it seems like on every record you do like at least a little one or two of each of what you do do you know what i mean you mix it up yeah you know like there's definitely there's a there's a rocker old swing rock you know bop blues blues. And then you got a Mexican thong. And then you got like, you know, maybe a little country-ish stuff. But you kind of mix it all up, right? Yeah. And then like by the time you get to Kiko, then all of a sudden you did some other thing.

Yeah. Like all of a sudden everything became wove together. And there was this natural sort of movement through everything did you feel that happening well you know we did the neighborhood record yeah and uh we wanted to produce it ourselves and the record company didn't believe in us so they they kind of just let it die almost what the neighborhood record yeah it's a it's a it's a very thoughtful record so it didn't get the push that you might have wanted. Yeah.

Yeah. So we were frustrated. And then Lenny Warnker was the head of Warner Brothers at the time. He always liked the band. So he put us together with Mitchell Froome. He says, I think you guys have worked well together. And Mitchell was kind of in the same place with his career. He was like, man, he wanted to do something, you know. Yeah. Something different. A producer. Yeah. Yeah.

Who else did he work with? Crowded House. Oh, okay. But he did a lot of stuff, you know. Interesting. Yeah. And him and Chad Blake, who's the engineer, who was another, I think he's an alien. A wizard. Yeah, he's just really amazing. So we all got together and had the same mindset. Let's do something that, you know. No one's ever heard before. Yeah, and we knew, Louie and I, we knew it's a good opportunity to, you know,

write some stuff that we haven't done before. Try to write better songs or different songs at least. Yeah. And it seemed to work out. Well, so that's interesting. So the guy who's, as a producer, he brought a whole other point of view to it, right? Because he had his own way of thinking. If he did Crowded House and stuff, he's not just doing rock music.

He's got a vision of some kind. Right? Yeah. Got his own point of view. And the engineer's a wizard. And then so that kind of encouraged you guys to take it to some other level. And what was the process of writing that? Because, I mean, it's pretty much universally seen as a masterpiece of a record. Did you feel like, how did you approach it differently on that record?

Well, like the first the first one was stuff that we played live and then uh well we'll survive we that's what we started okay we have to write some stuff yeah we can't just play covers right so that let got the ball rolling and uh the difference was we didn't rehearse we didn't uh uh go into you know uh pre-production or whatever you know right because where you weren't taking it on the road so you it's all studio work yeah so we'd come up with the lou and i or caesar you know he'd come up with the songs and an idea and we take it to the studio and we'd throw it together there you know right just build it build it from the bottom and let

the guy use the studio like an instrument yeah so that was probably the difference you guys weren't just working like as a like grinding out songs as a band you're kind of using the space differently yeah that's it that's what we did yeah and it worked you know and then having Mitchell's you know point of view or listening you know he helped us refine a lot of stuff oh yeah and uh and then chad just you know yeah we're recording through uh you know exhaust manifolds and stuff really you know yeah he had all these uh crazy ideas you know to make weird sounds yeah or tell him you know i'd say man this could be some uh backwards guitar on this

song so he flips the tape over and he goes, okay, go. Yeah, I didn't know it was that easy. It's easy if you got a guy who knows what he's doing. Yeah. Did you guys know

Weights back in the day? Around that time was when we met. Around Kiko time? Yeah. Yeah? Is he a fan? He must be a fan.

Yeah, he's a good friend of ours. Yeah? Yeah. Well, he does kind of weird shit with exhaust manifolds and interesting sounds. Yeah, I think it was, Chad worked with him fan. Yeah, he's a good friend of ours. Yeah? Yeah. Well, he does kind of weird shit with exhaust manifolds and interesting sounds. Yeah, I think it was Chad worked with him, too.

Oh, really? Yeah. So that was the connecting tissue? Yeah. They got weights doing the exhaust manifolds, and that allows everyone to do the exhaust manifold. Yeah. And after that, were you guys able to tour a lot of those songs? They seem tricky to play.

And do you play – what do you play? There's a couple ones on there. What's on your set now from Kiko? We still do Kiko. Yeah, yeah. Train. This Train Don't Come. Train.

We do that. Wicked Rain. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Just a Man. We can do most of them. Not all of them, but we can do most of them, yeah. How often do you tour? I mean, like before COVID.

Were you guys going out? Yeah, it was crazy. It was... It seems like you never stopped playing. We didn't. It was... It was getting... Getting real tired, you know?

Like, to the point where it was like... It was nice to have... Good to have the work, but it was... Around the time... I remember our last gig was March 9th. Three days before the lockdown?

Yeah. Yeah. Because we were supposed to play. I think we were supposed to go to San Antonio or something. Yeah. And then our drummer at the time, his wife worked for the city of Pasadena. Yeah. And she says, no, man.

This thing is, they're not telling you everything in the news. This thing is serious, man. You guys shouldn't go anywhere. So we backed out of the gig, and then that's when the shutdown happened right after that. And it hit? Yeah. Did anyone get sick from the van? No.

Oh, good. That's good. Thank God we've been all right. That's great, man. Yeah. So how did you feel about the break? I mean, even though it was forced, I mean, did you need it? Yeah. Yeah. you feel about the break i mean even though it was it was forced i mean did you need it yeah yeah not not necessarily that way but right we needed the break but you might not have taken it yeah

you're right uh so it you know it was great being home it's great being home now you know because you got the kids grandkids everybody yeah i haven't been home this long since the 80s you know you know wow man So it's a trip. Well, you're lucky, man. I mean, like the road's hard and it sounds like you guys went at it pretty hard early on. I imagine you've all grown up out of that shit, right? You don't go too crazy. Oh, yeah. No, it's not like it used to be. We're too old. Too old, man. We can't move anymore. So did you guys do most of this record during the lockdown or no yeah we did so were you able to play with each other were you sending stuff back and forth or

did you guys just hang out most of it uh when we did it uh we would you know we did the whole distancing thing but we're in the same studio we had mass yeah yeah we do the are you guys test before we go in and make sure everybody's. But do you guys like, I mean, you hang out. You seem like, I'm always wrong about this, but I always assume that everybody hangs out, even though you've been playing together for 50 years. Do you guys, your families all hang out together and stuff? Not so much anymore, but special events, you know.

Yeah. But most, everybody goes to their corner. Oh, really? It's probably better, I guess. Yeah. You you know we need a break from each other too but you know we're still friends you know we still get along good so what was the conception before i talk about this so let's talk about this the disney stuff now the because there was i i'm which one did you do there was the because i know you did los lobos goes disney right but there was you did uh uh you were on a record first right right that was what what so did you do uh uh walk like me talk like

me i knew it i don't know why because i have a memory of that record and that was just such a great song and that led to the disney record i i guess so you know yeah yeah it was that that seems like a fun thing to do. Oh, yeah. Well, that was Louis Prima and Phil Harris did the original track. So we're Louis Prima fans. So we're like, if we're going to do one, let's do that one. Yeah, it's great.

Okay. So in terms of conceiving this record, was it because you didn't have new material, you didn't want to write new material, or did you just think, like, why don't we do our influences? Like, whose idea was that? You know, I don't know whose idea it was. Yeah. It was pitched to us to do a covers record.

Uh-huh. And then we were, okay, that sounds cool. And then it, I don't know who came up with the idea to do it, just a LA-based music, you know, artists. Yeah, right. And which, you know, narrowed it down,

which made it, I think, made it easier to do. Well, after we found the songs, it took a long time to find. You know, we went through a lot of stuff.

Well, how many, and then you did one, you did one original one. Yeah. The Native Sound Record, the song, which is great.

But so, but these were, like, there are some interesting choices. You know, like Sail on Sailor, that was an interesting choice. Right? Yeah, yeah. That's a Beach Boys song. You know, you think L.A. bands, you think Beach Boys.

But did you listen to them? Yeah, yeah. I listened to them a lot. Oh, yeah? Yeah. That era of Beach Boys is good, huh? Yeah. But I guess you listen to all.

You kind of listen to Surf and Safari. Good Vibrations and In My Room. Oh, yeah. Well, that's later. But even the early ones are great. They're great, yeah. They did a cover of Barbara Ann that I used to listen to on that party album. What was it?

Beach Boys Summer. Yeah. Remember that? That's a cool record. Yeah, yeah, man. And then you did the Jackson Browns. I just talked to Jackson Brown. Yeah, that's another one.

I mean, we just went through all the... Jamaica Say You Will. Is that the name of that band? Yeah, that's the first song I ever heard from Jackson. We just tried to touch on all the, like, war, another band that... That was the other thing that amazed me, that war thing. Because I can hear war in your shit. Well, we learned from them. another band that that's like that was the other thing that amazed me that war thing like because I can hear war

in your shit well we learned from them you know they were you know they're from central LA but they were big on the east side

you know they were honorary Chicanos you know yeah yeah right because they always had that little

that Latin element in their music that percussion yeah yeah yeah and so and through the years we became friends with the guys. How many of them are still around?

Well, the bass player just passed away, but everybody else still. Yeah? Over the years, they lost the percussionist years ago, and the sax player died a long time ago, too. But it's so funny that that thing comes true because that, you know, well, Lowrider was huge, right? Yeah. But, I mean, but, like, once you guys played that tune, I'm like, oh, like, all of it makes sense to me. Like, I think that's what kind of got me so excited

to sort of talk to you and also just to hear the record because, like, you know, I've listened to your records, you know, half my life, you know, here and there, but then when I'm, like, someone said, well, listen to this, here's the new record, and then the idea of all this being your influence, it all made sense. Like, you know, I can hear all of this

because you're playing them. I can hear you guys playing them, but I can also hear that stuff in your shit. You know, I could all wove together. Like, these were really, these are very thoughtful choices. We tried. And then for what it's worth,

I mean, geez, man, I mean, that sort of seems relevant now. You know, that song. And that's a hard song because everybody knows that song, but you guys took it on. It was hard. Yeah? We were afraid. We were hoping that they would like it, you know?

Buffalo Springfield? What's left of them? Steve? Buffalo Springfield and the war and even, you know, Sail on Sailor, too, you know? You were concerned that they would approve, you know? Well, how many, too, you know. You were concerned that... That they would approve, you know. Well, how many of them are there to approve of it? I mean, like... I heard that Brian sent something on social media

that he liked it. Oh, yeah? He liked it. Oh! And we played with Al Jardine this last weekend. And Big Sur, he came up and played it with us. He did? Yeah. Oh, that's kind of beautiful, huh? came up and played it with us. He did? Yeah.

Oh, that's kind of beautiful, huh? It's a stamp of approval. That's for sure. If Brian says okay. Yeah. Well, have you heard from Stephen Stills? Who wrote that one? Yeah, Stephen Stills.

No, I haven't heard from him. We'll find out one day. You ever played with that guy? Yeah, we have. He can play too, huh? Yeah, he's a great player. I always liked his music, Manassas. Do you ever hear that stuff? What, his original band?

Yeah, he had a band after Buffalo Springfield and after the solo stuff. Manassas. Manassas. Who else was in it with him? Chris Hillman. Oh, really? I don't know if I know that stuff. Yeah, you should check it out.

It's great. It's big guitars. It's great. Big guitars. It's great. Really? Yeah. Why don't you listen to that, what's that one, Blues with Bloomfield, Al Cooper, Supergroup? Oh, yeah, Super Session.

Super Session. Yeah. There's some good stuff on there, but a lot of those are separate songs by the guys. Yeah. Were you a Bloomfield guy? Yeah. I can't, like Peter Green I listen, and I'm like, I get it.

Bloomfield, I get it, but it's too much for me. It's a little mind-blowing. It's beyond my understanding, but it's great. He's amazing. Yeah. Have you tried to work out those licks? I've tried. Still trying.

Yeah. So, like, who are your main guys? Is it, like, you went to the three kings. Yeah. But who do you prefer out of those guys? You can't judge? No, I can't judge. They're old.

Yeah. Did you ever play with Beb or any of those cats but we've done shows with him but i've never actually played with him never sat in with him who were some of the guys that you know from like you know your heroes outside of clapton that you were able to play with that's blew your mind did you play with stevie ray yeah we did that must have been something to watch him play right up yeah. Yeah. The first time we met him, we were in Lund, I think it was, in Sweden. Yeah. And he was doing the big show at the college.

Yeah. And we were playing a bar later in the evening. Yeah. So we went to his show, and then he came to ours and sat in with us, and that's how we met. Oh, you guys must have had a blast. Yeah, it was fun. And then over the years, we'd run into each other here and there.

We did some shows in Italy with the Pogues, Stevie Ray and ourselves. It's interesting, like lineups. And because you guys toured so much, you really, like that was your whole life is hanging out with these guys. All these different types of people. The Pogues, that's an interesting billing.

It's you, Stevie Ray and the Pogues? Yeah, I think it was the accordion. Well, Stevie Ray was the, that's an interesting billing. It's you, Stevie Ray, and the Pogues? Yeah, I think it was the accordion. Well, Stevie Ray was the headliner. Right. And then the accordion connection with the Pogues and Lobos, that kind of made sense. It does make sense. A totally different approach, I guess, huh?

Yeah. So what's the plan now? How many dates are you going to do? Well, as few as possible. I've gotten used to staying home. That's a lot, dude. Yeah, well, we did this weekend. We did four shows.

In Big Sur? We did two in Big Sur, and then we played in Santa Cruz and up in Napa. What were the venues? We played in Santa Cruz and up in Napa. What were the venues? The Big Sur was just a small outdoor amphitheater. And Santa Cruz, it was at the Dream Inn. It's a hotel where we played poolside and people, they rent. Oh, I think I saw some footage of that.

They're up on the balconies and stuff. It worked out all right? Yeah. Yeah, we did it earlier when the COVID was still, the lockdown was tighter. So that was the only way we could do a gig. We did some driving gigs. But little by little, it's opening up. Yeah.

Oh, you did the driving gigs? Yeah. I'm a comic, and I just was like, I can't do it. That's got to be hard. I can't do it. You stand there and wait for them to flash your lights like I can't do it that's gotta be hard I can't do it you stand there and wait for them to flash their lights

you can't connect with anybody no no I couldn't do it but I tell you well that's some like that's the that's why I envy

musicians it's like because of all these years you got I mean you know playing those parties and playing those weddings and stuff

I mean you can play anywhere I mean you know and deal with it right yeah and deal with it yeah some? Yeah. And deal with it, yeah. Some are better than others, huh?

Yeah. How do you want to work in the future? If you don't want to tour, are you going to do more collaborations with people or kind of lay low or what? Well, it's... See how it comes? Yeah, it's kind of up in the air still. We will be doing more shows, but I hope we'll try to spread them out and not kill ourselves like we were.

It's sort of astounding how many things you were involved with. Do you look back on it and just go, holy shit? Yeah, I feel grateful. I've been able to play with a lot of people that we've admired over the years. Yeah. It's been good. Yeah. Well, I mean, I wish you continued success, and I love the record, and it was great talking to you, man.

Well, thank you. Thank you, man. Thanks for doing it. Thanks for having me. There you go. The new album, Native Sons, will be available July 30th. You know, when we were walking out i asked him if he had any strats because i have a strat and we were talking guitars on the way to

the car i said you got a strat you got an old strat he's like i got one i got a 58 i'm like oh really he's like yeah jerry garcia gave it to me i'm like no shit he says yeah we were playing with the dead and he said uh you got a strat do you want a 58 strat? Do you want a 58 Stratocaster? And Hidalgo says, yeah, it's a little out of my range, man. He's like, no, I'm going to give it to you. And he gave it to him. He said he keeps it in the locker. So he's got Jerry Strat. There's a little trivia.

Now I will play my Stratocaster. Not a 58. It's like an 87. Not impressive. Thank you. Teksting av Nicolai Winther Thank you. Boomers. Boomer lives. Monkey and LaFonda. LaFonda. Cat angels everywhere. We'll be right back. plain old ice yes we deliver those gold tenders no but chicken tenders yes because those are groceries and we deliver those too along with your favorite restaurant food alcohol and other

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