Interview Lachinos — a band across boarders (English)
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“People often associate Spanish and latino music with a sort of exoticism, joy or celebration, but in the lyrics, we talk about very serious social issues.”
Created six years ago and led by Nicolas Cubillos, the band Lachinos does not fit in any categorization and mixes melodies, languages and influences from all over the world, from cumbia, to merengue, to surf-rock, to punk and garage. In addition to Nicolas Cubillos, leader and voice of the group, Lachinos is currently composed of important actors of the avant-garde music scene in Peru and Colombia: Ernesto Velarde on drums, Santiago Jimenez on keyboards and voice and John Socha on bass.
A few days ago, Lachinos released their 2nd EP, Costa Brava, with the label Goutte d’Or. With these four new tracks, the band Lachinos makes us dance and travel with melodies from all over the world and drives us to reflect on important themes such as rejection, loneliness and stereotypes that Latin Americans face.
We talked with Nicolas Cubillos about the latest EP, the creation of the band, their inspirations, the mix of influences of the band and the future projects of Lachinos…
Can you present the band Lachinos ?
Since its creation six years ago, the band has evolved a lot. We were five, then six and now four. Among the members of the band today, we are three Colombians and one Peruvian, John Socha on bass, Santiago Jimenez on piano, Ernesto Velarde on drums and me, Nicolas. I am the guitarist and singer in the band. We make music that I call “dirtitional”, we use traditional rhythms like salsa, cumbia and merengue and make those our own in a ‘dirty way’. We are inspired by the music that makes you dance at home!
How was the band create and how did it evolve?
About six years ago, I had a kind of revelation when I saw the Meridian Brothers play at the Villette Sonique in Paris, I said to myself that I wanted to do like them. Up until that point, I loved music and wanted to make some, but I didn’t quite know where to start. Some friends helped me to start the band and gave me some lessons. Then everything happened pretty fast, we started to record music, we signed with the label and the adventure had begun!
The first phase of the band was more pop than today. Our sound is now evolving towards a more punk tone and a more frantic pace. We like to explore many things and mix influences. I like to call our music “dirtitional”, we are inspired by traditional Latin American music, but we do it differently than the great masters, in a way that we call ‘dirty’.
Last year, the band changed a lot, which gave it a new breath. I met John and Santiago because I had brought them to a festival where I was helping with the programming. I immediately fell in love with the sound, the universe and the very electronic voice of Santiago, who also plays in the band Mamiferos, since Berlin. I knew John for a long time because he is a bass player in a Colombian band called Romperayo in which he plays with one of the best drummers in the universe!
How did music enter in your life?
My parents listen to music all the time, it never stops! In Colombia, we live to the rhythm of music. In the bus, in the shops, in the street, there is music everywhere! We are constantly absorbed by it and we love to dance. Because of its history, Colombia is deeply marked by a cultural and ethnic mix. This creates a great musical richness, which is our pride since we were children. When I arrived in France twenty years ago, I was surprised by the very different relationship that the French have with dance. In France, dancing at a party is almost an act of courage!
I started by taking pictures of concerts. I was always amazed to see how much fun people were having and how they were themselves on stage. When I was a kid, I used to play gigs and drums on pots and cushions at home. So I think making music was the dream of my life that finally became true!
Let’s talk about Lachinos’ 2nd EP, Costa Brava. How was it composed? What is its story?
The EP was composed starting from the feeling of “seum”, which means a mix of ‘disappointment’ and ‘anger’ in French, because the four tracks express great frustrations. The name of the EP reflects this idea with a play on words: Costa Brava is a coastline in Barcelona, often associated with sun and party, and “estar bravo” means “to be angry” in Spanish.
One of the first frustrations we explore with the band is that people don’t always understand the lyrics. I’m a Spanish speaker in a French speaking country, so it’s sometimes hard to be understood. People often associate Spanish and latino music with a sort of exoticism, joy or celebration, but in the lyrics, we talk about very serious social issues.
Precisely, in all the tracks of the EP, we find this duality between a very dancing melody and serious texts that tackle deep problems. The track Place des Clichés, with its frantic and almost disturbing melody, holds a particular place in the EP.
I arrived in France twenty years ago. One day, a colleague told me about a lot of clichés about Colombians, mentioning Pablo Escobar, narco-traffic and other stereotypes. This made me very angry. I expressed and vented this anger and emotions by writing the text of Place of Clichés. These stereotypes and commonplaces come up incredibly often for Latinos, and this is felt in the place we have in the media, in the cultural space, in the movies,…
You mix a lot of influences with melodies coming from different parts of the world, from Asia, Latin America, Europe and garage and punk music, in particular. This mix is also reflected in the lyrics which are written in French, Spanish, Arabic and mention cultural references from all over the world.
We don’t want to be categorized and locked in. The broad spectrum of our influences allows us to break all restrictions. My two favorite bands are the Meridian Brothers and Thee Oh Sees, so that gives you an idea of the variety of our inspirations! I dream of a band that creates a fusion of punk and cumbia. This fusion already exists a lot in Latin American music, some psychedelic rock bands in Peru create music inspired by Asia and Colombian music contains African rhythms, by its history. This mix comes naturally in Lachinos, it makes the richness of the project. Before Lachinos, Julien was in a French pop group inspired by Starmania for example. Marius was in a punk band.
It seems that visual artists are a strong source of inspiration for Lachinos’ music and lyrics. In Fujisan, the lyrics refer to the Japanese artists Hiroshige and Hokusai and the visual identity of the record covers and music videos is very strong and original. Who are the visual artists who inspire you?
We are very inspired by many artists. I love Hiroshige and Hokusai prints. We like to collaborate with our very talented friends for the videos and the covers. It’s always about a mix of Asian and Latin American cultures. The people we’ve worked with have always had the love and desire to join these two worlds.
Who are your biggest music inspirations?
We are all obsessed with Rosalía’s last album, Motomami. We love salsa, especially Hector Lavoe, Willie Colon, Ismael Rivera… Among contemporary artists, we really admire Damon Albarn, who has explored music all his life and continues to do so. We also liked the last album of the Strokes.
How did the collaboration with the label Goutte d’or come about?
This collaboration was a happy accident! Donatien, the co-founder of Cracki Records and Goutte d’Or Records, was my roommate. At the time, I was making my demos at home and he really liked the track Cancer del Colón. I invited him to some concerts, he liked our energy and our music very much. They invited us to play at the Prairies of the Canal, then at the Macki Festival. We’ve been working together for three years, and Costa Brava is our second EP together.
What are the future projects for Lachinos?
We’ve been producing new music and we want to get it out there. We want people to listen to it and dance! We also have upcoming concert dates in Paris!
Interview by Emma Renaudin and Malo Renaudin in December 2022
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