Rene Lemus of Los Vicios de Papá
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Over the weekend, I invited Rene Lemus of Chicago's Los Vicios de Papá over to sit down and converse about the band and what they're up to. We got to talk about some of their history, what's up next, and an interesting digression into band etiquette...
NR
What's up, Rene. How's it goin', man?
Rene
Pretty good, man.
NR
Alright, alright.
So, ya'll have been making music for a while now — how long has it been?
Rene
Making music, it has been since 2001. That's when the band started and from there it just went up and kept on going.
NR
Who were the founding members and how many musicians did you start out with?
Rene
We started out with 5 original guys and the founding members of the band were Sergio and Eliazar. We went to high school together and from there we got together and started making music.
NR
What are some of the musical elements that are important in defining Los Vicios de Papá's sound.
Rene
Musical elements, I think...
NR
The ska is there; it's really pronounced...
Rene
Right, you know because at the beginning, it was supposed to be a full ska band and that's what we tried to do at the beginning; and as time went on — with the evolution of the band — we started to add reggae and cumbia to it. I think those elements are what define the band, more than anything.
NR
How about some of the smaller elements you've incorporated into the music.
Rene
At the beginning there was also some punk...
NR
And some folk in the form of son?
Rene
Yes, the sones. At the beginning it was a mix of finding our sound and that's where all that came from; we were experimenting with a lot of sounds and we knew a lot of people around us that had their bands, so we tried to do things with everybody and we got a little bit of everybody in our sound — in that time while we were experimenting. I remember a band, we used to follow a lot back then, they were called Fandanguero. And it was not only me, we were all fans of the band — it was pretty good. It was in the style of Son Jarocho.
NR
Back in January you guys expanded a bit...
Rene
Yes...
NR
I remember the show at Old Town School of Folk Music and it was incredible. I was thoroughly impressed by the additions — much richer, more texture... Tell us a bit more about who you added and what the goal was.
Rene
Yes! The additions to the band were Ryan on guitar; on saxophone — Russ; and then Carol on trombone. They bring they're own style of playing, Ryan especially, he has a pretty unique solo style — the way he does his ska and reggae is pretty awesome. He also has a percussion side to him...
NR
Yeah, he's a multi-instrumentalist...
Rene
Yeah, he does that, too; so he brings a kind of sabor to the sound, and Russ on Sax — I think he's just an amazing saxophone player. He brings, um...some of the, (gets intense) just beautiful, sexy sound to the horn section. And Carol, I think, Carol was a great addition because she kind of leads the horn section. She has that, what do you call it, that power with the trombone and she's just an amazing performer and artist. They respect her very much as an artist so adding her gave us a leader in the horn section.
NR
Has she played with Rúben Blades?
Rene
(Thinking for a bit) Yeah, I think she has.
NR
That's super cool.
Rene
Yeah, you know her and her husband have a salsa band called Carpacho.
NR
Carpacho? No...I have some research to do; nice!
Last month you opened for Molotov;
how do you think that went?
Rene
The Molotov show I believe went good and bad. The good side was we got to share the same stage with Molotov and perform for the people out there that came to see Molotov. We got to expand our audience a little more with people that came out from the suburbs — not just Chicago; so we had more of an audience to play to. Bad in the sense that the event was poorly managed I believe, I think the promoters and the staff side of it could of done a better job...
NR
Yeah, your set seemed really short.
Rene
Yeah, I guess that falls into the management side of it. Some bands had more time to perform while sacrificing the time of other bands because they did not follow the times, or whoever was the stage manager didn't have the...what do you call it, that...
NR
Presence?
Rene
Exactly. Didn't have the presence to lead the bands that were there.
NR
I see — to take control when something is getting off schedule.
Rene
Yes...
NR
That's important, it's important to keep those deadlines, especially when so many...
Rene
Yes...
NR
In addition to Molotov, there were 3 bands that were playing.
Rene
3 bands, yep.
NR
Man, that could be a poor-management-issue; that could be a band-etiquette-issue...
That's rough, you'd think bands would understand the importance of respecting their set times. It kind of screws things up in a major way for everyone involved.
Rene
I think it's both. Because, if it's not the stage manager telling everybody what time to go on and what time to go off, it also falls on the band because you know how much time you have, and you know how much you can play, and you know when it's over...so I think that falls to the respect from each band to say, "Hey! We're done; (welcoming off-stage gesture) next band."
You know?
NR
Right. They should of rehearsed and know what songs they're playing and just how long it's going to take...
Rene
Exactly. Exactly.
NR
It seems like the ball was dropped in a couple places, there. Well, with that said, what else do you think is important in, at least... You don't have control over the stage manager but you do have control over yourselves; what other things do you think are important in terms of band etiquette and maybe give us some examples of good things and bad things you've experienced.
Rene
(Inhales thoughtfully) Good things and bad things — well, a good thing, in this same show we shared equipment with the other bands that were there so we could have a fast transition without taking everything up and down. I think that's good band etiquette. You both work with each other in a positive way. Another one is where we've performed up on the North Side and for us it was a whole different crowd — different bands. We were the only Latin, or Spanish speaking band and other bands came up to us to make us feel welcome. That's good band etiquette; where you interact.
NR
Yeah: Communication. Sitting off to the side in your little circles, not intermingling or intermixing at all...
Rene
Yeah. Exactly.
NR
It creates a weird energy; a weird tension. How about some other stuff?
Rene
I have a bad example; once there was a battle of the bands that we were invited to a couple years back. But, instead of being a battle of the bands, we took it more as, like creating a scene; you know? Why call it a battle, why not make it a scene where we are the local bands here, so let's just have fun together. But...I guess another band took it pretty seri—they wanted to win the battle of the bands (we laugh) — so everybody had their little clique. Their fans — when everyone went up — it was complete awkwardness. Nobody did anything; nobody enjoyed it. They just kind of were staring, crossing their hands (closed off body language). You know?
NR
(Distasteful) Yeah...
Rene
Another bad one...this actually comes from us: Our ex-guitarist, we had a show, and the show wasn't going very well and he got upset with the sound, and he started kinda like breaking, or — just doing stuff to an amplifier. It was horrible.
NR
Oh man...I thought you were going to say he went after the sound guy. (Both laugh)
Rene
Haha, I guess that was his way of going after the sound guy. It's like, "Hey! You don't do that shit." You know?
NR
Yeah yeah yeah...that's when the sound guy's already memorizing your name and is about to get ready to tell all the other sound engineers...
Rene
Exactly.
NR
"Eh, you better watch out for so-and-so." Those are great examples.
So tell us what's next for Los Vicios de Papá.
Rene
So, after this show at CumbiaSazo, the 22nd, and after the show on November 4th at Martyrs' with Dos Santos, we're gonna go back and, hopefully, do a bit of hibernation to keep recording. We've been recording — and we're trying to finish it. We also are thinking about a few more videos to accompany the new songs, and a few of the old songs from Fiesta y Lucha; so maybe 2-3 videos in our near-future...
Pins and needles, man.
Pins and needles.