{"id":12585,"date":"2017-04-19T05:30:38","date_gmt":"2017-04-19T09:30:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=12585"},"modified":"2017-04-19T08:15:23","modified_gmt":"2017-04-19T12:15:23","slug":"chicano-batman-its-playtime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2017\/04\/19\/chicano-batman-its-playtime\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicano Batman: It’s Playtime"},"content":{"rendered":"

The style of music known as \u201cpsychedelic soul\u201d enjoyed an all-too-brief heyday in the late 1960s. Deftly fusing elements of African American soul and the dreamier end of psychedelic rock, the genre was exemplified by artists such as Sly & the Family Stone<\/strong> and The Chambers Brothers<\/strong>. But the incredibly rich and varied musical landscape of the era meant that any given style didn’t enjoy prominence for very long; something newer always came along to supplant it. In the 21st<\/sup> century, a southern California group called Chicano Batman<\/strong> has developed its own distinctive, modern and original musical personality, based in large part on the influence of psychedelic soul.<\/p>\n

Bassist Eduardo Arenas<\/strong> explains that Chicano Batman’s sound borrows timeless elements from music’s past. Songs like \u201cFriendship (Is a Small Boat in a Storm)\u201d \u2013 a standout track on the new album Freedom is Free<\/i> \u2013 draw upon \u201cgenres that our aunts and uncles and grandparents were listening to,\u201d says Arenas. \u201cJust like a soul band now will borrow from Otis Redding<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Yet Arenas and his band mates aren’t trying to duplicate the music of days gone by. \u201cWe’ve never really seen ourselves as part of that image,\u201d he says, \u201cbut only time can tell.\u201d Instead, the music of Chicano Batman evocatively taps into the positive vibes of psychedelic soul.<\/p>\n

The quintessential Los Angeles four-piece band Chicano Batman formed nearly a decade ago. The group released its self-titled debut in 2010; after following up that disc with two EPs, the band returned in 2014 with Cycles of Existential Rhyme<\/i>. After a third EP \u2013 2015’s Black Lipstick <\/i>\u2013 and a single, Chicano Batman released Freedom is Free<\/i> in March. And in yet another nod to the past, Freedom is Free<\/i> was recorded the old-fashioned way: using analog tape.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’ve recorded our previous albums digitally,\u201d Arenas says. \u201cThere’s nothing wrong with digital; it has its advantages, definitely. But all of the records we have in our collections \u2013 Earth Wind and Fire<\/strong>, James Brown<\/strong>, Janis Joplin<\/strong> and anything that we have \u2013 all that stuff was recorded in analog.\u201d And there’s something about the warmth and directness of recording onto tape.<\/p>\n

Part of that has to do with the manner in which Chicano Batman creates music in the studio. Arenas says that the group’s recording method is designed to leverage the band’s strengths. \u201cOur live act is our strongest thing,\u201d he says. \u201cSo we don’t go into the studio and multi-track; we play it live, and then<\/i> we do over-dubs, extra vocals and harmonies and that kind of thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

It helps to have a producer who’s experienced at making records that old-school way. \u201cLeon Michels<\/strong> has been recording to tape for several years, so his team at the Diamond Mine has the swing of things,\u201d Arenas says. Describing the producer’s working methods as \u201cminimalist,\u201d Arenas explains that getting the right sound sometimes means \u201cusing old mics: not the fanciest things, but the most appropriate for the job that we have to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Arenas insists that Chicano Batman is not a politically-focused group, there’s no mistaking some of the lyrical messages on Freedom is Free<\/i>. The original motivation for putting the band together was simple and straightforward, say Arenas. \u201cGet a name on the band, get a project going and then just play. You know, just jam on some songs.\u201d But creativity never exists in a vacuum, and the group was aware of larger issues in American society. \u201cWe’ve tried to bring a lot of harmony to every city that we play and in all of the music that we bring, but I think we kind of came to a breaking point,\u201d Arenas admits. And that led to the group’s music taking on a more topical nature.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe band has been together for nine years; we’ve seen three Presidents already,\u201d Arenas notes. \u201cWe saw the tail end of Bush, Obama and now we have Trump. <\/b>And so a lot has happened over the years. A lot of perspectives.\u201d Those perspectives inform the group’s upbeat, positive and socially-conscious lyrics. \u201cI think the band has become relevant in our changing times,\u201d says Arenas. \u201cThe music lends itself as a tool to talk about real issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chicano Batman focuses on the values that connect people, not the ones that encourage division. In February, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer announced, \u201cThe earth is a very dangerous place these days.\u201d Arenas seeks to put that kind of broad-brush statement into perspective. \u201cVolcanoes are dangerous when they erupt,\u201d he says. \u201cCarbon monoxide is dangerous in the long term. There are a lot of systematic dangers, but there’s no enemy out there.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we create the enemy,\u201d Arenas observes, \u201cand I think we integrate it into our everyday existence. And that’s where it becomes really dangerous, when it becomes a dangerous world. I think greed<\/i> is dangerous. Greed is so embedded into the system all over the world, and it drives fear.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eduardo Arenas and his band mates in Chicano Batman seek to drive away that fear. The solution, he believes, is found in \u201cpeople coming together and hearing each other out. Once we can start unraveling that fear, I think we can have clear minds to think more freely about how we relate as humans.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the band’s lead vocalist Bardo Martinez<\/strong> sings, \u201cNobody cares to extend a greeting aid connecting lands,\u201d he’s weighing in on immigration policies that involve the planned construction of a massive Berlin-style wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.<\/p>\n

But the band is careful not to lay the entire blame for xenophobia upon the current occupant of the White House. \u201cRegardless of who would have been the President, I think the topics are still the same,\u201d says Arenas. And in fact the song wasn’t written specially to address Trump’s \u201cbig beautiful wall\u201d at all. \u201cWe recorded the album one year ago,\u201d Arenas says, \u201cand it has been in the works for a year and a half.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Arenas believes that \u201ca lot of policies \u2013 especially a lot of these new executive orders \u2013 are coming out of a fear for the unknown.\u201d But \u201cFreedom is Free\u201d conveys a definite sense of hope, and a clear focus on the ideas of togetherness. \u201cNo amount of negativity can put a dent in me,\u201d Bardo sings.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere we are talking about the world and our political atmosphere,\u201d says Arenas, because \u201cour ideologies are us as people.\u201d But the band \u2013 whose music combines a late 1960s psychedelic soul vibe with elements of tropicalia and rock \u2013 isn’t about polemics; there’s a healthy sense of humor emanating from the group, beginning with its name. \u201cChicano Batman was just a pet name that [Bardo] had given himself for his compositions,\u201d Arenas explains.<\/p>\n

While the core band features Bardo and Arenas plus guitarist Carlos Ar\u00e9valo<\/strong> and Gabriel Villa<\/strong> on drums, the songs on Freedom is Free<\/i> feature more instrumentation. And close-harmony female vocals are a key ingredient in many of the songs. So for live dates on Chicano Batman’s current 30-plus date U.S. tour, the band features an expanded lineup. \u201cWe’re going to be a seven-piece on the road,\u201d Arenas says. Three female vocalists are touring with the group. \u201cOne of them plays the Rhodes and the organ, so we’ve definitely added a different dimension to our live act.\u201d<\/p>\n

The group cuts a memorable and striking visual image, with matching ruffled-shirt tuxedos. But Chicano Batman remains primarily focused on the music. Arenas and his band mates are proud of Freedom is Free<\/i>, released March 3. \u201cWhen you present the songs on an album, it’s an album,\u201d Arenas says. \u201cBut when you see us live, it’s playtime.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The style of music known as \u201cpsychedelic soul\u201d enjoyed an all-too-brief heyday in the late 1960s. Deftly fusing elements of African American soul and the dreamier end of psychedelic rock, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12586,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,49,57,69],"tags":[3028],"class_list":["post-12585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interview","category-new-release","category-psych","category-soul","tag-chicano-batman","cat-41-id","cat-49-id","cat-57-id","cat-69-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12585"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12585\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12587,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12585\/revisions\/12587"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}