GETTING KINKY WITH IT

By Juan Data (Publicado originalmente en la revista Fuego, USA 2005. Nota: la versión publicada incluye sólo siete de los diez puntos)

If there should be such a thing as a manual on how to be a successful Latin band in the Anglo-speaking world, it should be authored by this young Mexican band called Kinky.

1. Form a band with college-educated world-traveled Mexican musicians. “I studied music in Boston,” recalls Ulises Lozano, and that’s actually where he first met with Carlos Chaírez. Keyboard and guitar players respectively, they became the foundation for what would end up being Kinky. “Back in Monterrey, I went to business school,” adds Ulises, who stills wears his businessmen attire on stage as his trademark. “I bought so many suits, and then I had to quit my job to go on tour... so I found a better use for them”.

2. Win a new talents contest in the US, and consequently land a recording deal with a British record label (Sonic 360). OK, this one might not be a very easy task, especially if you are competing at the Latin American Music Conference, in New York, with other bands from all over the continent, trying to break into the American market.

3. Release a groundbreaking self-titled debut. Before their first album came out, they were already getting airplay on many college radios across the country. But they conquered England first with their contagious live performances, so when they came back to the US, the international buzz was already launched.

4. Work with an acclaimed producer. Forget about Emilio Estefan, aim higher, get somebody like, let’s say, Chris Allison (The Beta Band, Coldplay) and it will ease you up the way into the CD players of the snob Anglo music critics.

5. Sound unique. Come out with a totally new style mixing rock, house music, Mexican folk, cumbia and Brazilian percussions with smart lyrics. Kinky are the living proof that you can sound Latin and make people dance without being cheesy.

6. Be metrosexual. When in front of a camera or a live audience, don’t forget to take good care of your looks. “We laugh about it, it’s cool, but we’ve been called metrosexual already and yeah, we are”. Have a hot Latin stud in tight pants and cowboy hat playing the bass. This, besides dragging lots of girls to your shows, will also guarantee some gay audience appeal. “César (the bass player), is a real cowboy guy, he always listen to folk music, he even likes to be in the rodeo. Look, he’s listening to rancheras right now!”

7. Do some remixes for world famous artist. “We try to choose just a few from all the remixes that artists ask us to do. We don’t like to do just a remix of a song. We like to give it another kind of approach to the song. Make a Kinky version of it.” Not just avant-guard Latin rockers like Gustavo Cerati and Babasónicos; Placebo just got remixed by Kinky, and also Carlos Santana in an amazing new version of “Oye como va” (original of Tito Puente).

8. Get played in the soundtrack for movies and TV shows. Alias, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Nip/Tuck, Kingpin, they all have something in common: some Kinky tune playing in the background. “Tony Scott, the director of Men On Fire wanted to include some of our music in his movie and he came out with the idea for “Oye como va”. It’s a great song and it just worked out perfectly for us”.

9. Keep your lyrics bilingual. Appeal to both audiences. “In the first album we already had many songs in English, the thing is that for the second we just developed them more, we incorporated more lyrics,” explains Ulises. “We play for whoever likes the music and in our shows you’ll see all type of people, Mexican, Americans, Asians...”

10. Throw the best live shows. Kinky and Atlas, their two records, sound pretty good, but you can’t go back to listening them on CD once you experienced them live. Kinky has the most energetic live performance in the Latin music universe. Period. “ We improvise a lot, we let things a little bit free. We really enjoy playing live. We have a lot of fun.”

Bonus track: Get the singer of the band to date a Mexican rock diva, like Ely Guerra, forming the most hip couple in the Spanish-speaking half of the planet.