MUSIC

Electronica and more from the 'Mexican Herb Alpert'

He's an executive at EMI, but Camilo Lara remains hooked on the adrenaline of performing live

By Deborah Sengupta Stith
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Camilo Lara knows his music inside out.

The mastermind behind Mexican Institute of Sound is an avid vinyl enthusiast with a collection more than 45,000 albums deep. He also clocks in at a day job as president of EMI Mexico where he heads the label's A&R department. For the past several years he's been refining his own musical voice, releasing three albums to international critical acclaim.

His work has steadily evolved from the 2006 release 'Mé jico Máxico' — a crafty mashup of obscure samples artfully blended into a dance floor gem — to this year's 'Soy Sauce,' a dizzying mix of cumbia, electronica and hipster-friendly indie rock. On the new album Lara sings, raps and shares the stage with an array of famous guests including Café Tacuba's Joselo Rangel and Ad Rock from the Beastie Boys. His headlining spot Saturday on the Yerba Stage at Pachanga Fest 2009 will mark Lara's third appearance in Austin, with a SXSW showcase and a Stubb's gig under his belt.

We caught up with Lara by phone from his office in Mexico City to talk about the new album, Mexican electronica and his life as 'the Mexican Herb Alpert.'

American-Statesman: Your new album covers a lot of ground sonically. I read that you wrote the track 'White Stripes' as a tribute to De La Soul and NWA.

Lara: I think what I wanted to do was create some kind of a rap hip-hop sound with cumbia players. So I took some pieces of some recordings I did with cumbia musicians and just cut it in a way to have more of a hip-hop style. It is the first song I did in English. I think that the lyrics are kind of crazy. I had a lot of fun. I'm a big, big fan of hip-hop. I like De La Soul, Tribe Called Quest, all the old school and even I like Jay-Z and Dr. Dre. Hip-hop for me was probably one-third of my music, my favorite genre, when I was growing up, and I still listen to a lot of stuff.

If hip-hop was a third of your music, what were the other two-thirds?

I guess one other third was indie music in general, considering indie music as electronica and rock and everything. I was totally into all the Brit things like the Charlatans, Primal Scream, all that, the beginning of electronica. The other third was Mexican music like cumbia and a lot of sounds from Mexico. That third, I had not on purpose. I had it because living in Mexico City, you can't avoid it.

Can you talk about the evolution of your live shows?

I still enjoy the studio, but I finally have some clarity on what to do live. After two or three years I found amazing partners for live shows. It is very energetic and the more we play, the more exciting it becomes. It's like from punk rock to cumbia, basically all the rhythms that you can dance to. So I'm very in love with doing live shows and performing and at this point, that's actually what I want to focus on. Going out on tour and performing as much as possible. It's like when you discover sex, you want to have sex all the time now. I guess in a way I discovered the adrenaline of performing live.

You recently played Coachella Fest. What was that like?

Coachella was really good. The show was amazing, people were dancing and I was very glad that it was not only Mexicans. It was a very eclectic crowd. It was fabulous. I guess when you're in a rock band, you have to do your list of what you should do, and one thing is Coachella. I love going to Coachella and discovering bands, and these bands with small letters on the bill are the ones I want to see. I think it was really good for some people we were not familiar to. It was a great way to be introduced.

Have you had to scale back your responsibilities at EMI as your music career has taken off?

No, I think it's two different things. I've been working on EMI since I was 16, so I know the business, and I've been doing records for almost four or five years, so I know my way around. I know the rules. I only play over the weekends and, for example, I do these kinds of interviews at lunchtime. The experience of working in a record company and playing is like the experience of milking a cow and drinking the milk. It's totally different. And I just manage to do it. And it's not the first time I heard about someone doing it. This is going to sound funny, but I had lunch with the Radiohead guys a month ago when they played Mexico City, and Ed (O'Brien), the guitar player from the band, told me, 'This is amazing that you are doing EMI and your band and everything.' He was like, 'You are like the Mexican Herb Alpert.' I was like, 'Wow, what an awful comparison.' And he was like 'No, no, no, it's really good because Herb Alpert, he used to be an amazing record industry guy and he also managed to do his solo career.' And it is true. The funny thing is that nowadays for me working at EMI is part of my life. I think I have spent more time at EMI than at my parents' house, so it's part of me. I know all the artists. I love them. I signed them and I manage to have a record. An artist from Mexico told me in a way, I'm a double spy.

What are some trends you've noticed in music coming out of Mexico?

It's very exciting. It's probably one of the most glorious moments of Mexican music. I discover tons of bands daily. I guess a lot of electronica and a lot of rock. A lot of people trying to sing in English even if their accent is terrible. And most of them, at least they have something. I like living in Mexico because of that. After so many years I start seeing that at least there is an indie community and an electronica movement and a lot of people making movies and art. So I feel very lucky. My community, it's full of people who are inspiring.

You've been to Austin a couple times. As a vinyl collector have you checked out the local record store scene?

I love the store which has the subway sign. Waterloo. I love Austin. It's such a funny city.

Did you score any good records at Waterloo?

I remember I bought two really cool records, Black Angels 'Directions to See a Ghost' and Experimental Aircraft, can't remember the name of the album. Amazing! And both from Austin.