LA LOM stands for “Los Angeles League of Musicians.” The band makes use of inspirations from conventional rhythms and melodies to pay tribute to their dwelling metropolis.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
LA LOM stands for the Los Angeles League of Musicians. It is a band that desires you to bop.
(SOUNDBITE OF LA LOM’S “DANZA DE LA LOM”)
MARTÍNEZ: The debut album from this Instrumental trio of drums, bass and guitar gives a nostalgic, romanticized portrait of Los Angeles. NPR’s Milton Guevara has been listening.
MILTON GUEVARA, BYLINE: The album is a musical time capsule. LA LOM takes you again with their ’50s, ’60s type of vibe.
(SOUNDBITE OF LA LOM’S “LORENA”)
ZAC SOKOLOW: I believe our music actually displays a variety of the type of various influences which might be across the metropolis.
GUEVARA: That is guitarist Zach Sokolow.
SOKOLOW: We play a variety of cumbia, however we additionally type of have a background in a ton of various kinds of music – a variety of soul and rockabilly and traditional Latin music like boleros. And we form of combine all of it collectively and make it our personal.
(SOUNDBITE OF LA LOM’S “LORENA”)
GUEVARA: The album is a tour of their LA, with songs named after their streets and neighborhoods, like Figaroa and El Sereno.
(SOUNDBITE OF LA LOM’S “EL SERENO”)
SOKOLOW: We discover a variety of inspiration within the individuals on the locations we play across the metropolis.
GUEVARA: Sokolow says that he, drummer Nicholas Baker and bassist Jake Faulkner normally provide you with the melody first. Then if it reminds them of a spot, they identify it – like Angels Level.
SOKOLOW: It is this lovely viewpoint the place you may see the entire skyline of the town and Dodger Stadium, and only a very nice place to drive up there, sit behind your truck and type of watch the town.
(SOUNDBITE OF LA LOM’S “ANGELS POINT”)
GUEVARA: The track “Moonlight Over Montebello,” Sokolow says, got here from one other distinctly LA backdrop.
SOKOLOW: We named that after this glorious place we play generally. It is out in Montebello, which is fairly far East LA. They’ve nice DJs, and it is actually all in regards to the dancing. There’s simply one thing actually lovely and romantic about enjoying for all of the totally different individuals from Los Angeles and, you understand, driving by means of the town at evening in your means dwelling from a gig and listening to the radio, and I am at all times listening to that for inspiration.
GUEVARA: The band received its begin enjoying traditional Latin covers at lodges and bars round city. And Sokolow says he and drummer Baker drew on the music they grew up with.
SOKOLOW: A number of the first music that we performed collectively after we had been beginning out was a variety of traditional Latin music from the ’30s. It was one thing that me and Nick realized that we had in widespread after we first met and began gigging. Nick’s grandmother comes from Durango in Mexico, and my grandfather is from Buenos Aires in Argentina. By way of them, we realized about a variety of the previous tangos, and Nick knew about a variety of the traditional Mexican boleros.
GUEVARA: Musical heirlooms handed right down to a brand new technology by means of LA LOM’s rhythms and melodies.
Milton Guevara, NPR Information.
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