Growing Up

Earlier this year Los Angeles-based fusion group Ozomatli released their eighth studio album, Place In The Sun, which is a party starter from no matter which way you look at it – funked-up groovy beats, hints of Latin swagger and bouts of straight-up rock. Reflecting on the celebratory nature of the album, band member Ulises Bella says, “We're sort of just counting our blessings to have been able to play music for this long and being accepted by the beautiful iconic bands of LA. [The album is] about the band and how we stick together, and in a way we're just enjoying our place in the sun. We've made it through so many crazy things – bands come and go over the years whether they have a hit song or not, so it's beautiful to still be a musician and spread the noise.”

With the group having kicked around in the music industry for nearly 20 years, Bella explains that the album is a reflection of their longevity and growth as a band. “For us the album is kind of a transition into adulthood. We've grown up around each other and now we're entering this new phase of life. It's great that we've done so much as a band, but it means when we come to make a new record we kind of have to think out of the box, so it's interesting now to just come back and do a straight-up Ozomatli record. We just wanted to have fun with it.”

Fans of the band can expect Ozomatli to bring the same exuberant energy to the stage when they hit our shores, and should welcome newcomer Wally Valdez on drums, who will be making his first ever visit to Australia. Reflecting on that trademark energy, Bella offers, “I think our reputation as far as our live show is considered is one of those things that's pretty intense. We really are hard on ourselves to constantly keep the energy up and not let any kind of excuse get in the way of that. That energy has been a thing that's always consistent with Ozomatli as a band. As far as our dynamic and how we communicate with ourselves is concerned, it's way different to how we were when we started. We've gone from, like, 20-year-olds who were just really going for it and partying and going nuts, to just now being chill about what we are, our place in the band and our roles in the band.”

With the band's 20th anniversary just a year away, Bella feels that the celebrations are going to be huge next year, and deservedly so. “It's got to be big,” he laughs. “At our tenth anniversary we had this huge show where every member of Ozomatli, past and present, was there, so the 20th anniversary is going to have to be crazy. I'm talking fire, a parade, elephants. I don't know, but it's going to be crazy.”