David Hidalgo has been the singer, songwriter, and guitarist for the venerable roots rock band Los Lobos since its inception over 40 years ago. Ahead of the group’s latest album, the terrific Gates of Gold, Hidalgo spoke to us from the road about the motivation for the quintet’s 19th studio collection, the process behind its creation, and the challenges of promoting new music in the age of social media.
What motivated the band to put out a new album?
It had been five years since we’d done a studio record. People don’t buy CDs like they used to. We depend on the live shows, so we figured we needed some new stuff to keep the ball rolling.
As you add to the repertoire, are you trying to do something that fits in with what you’ve done before or are you trying to do something you haven’t done?
We always do. Ultimately it ends up sounding like us. We’ve always tried to go somewhere we haven’t been before; go back to some older ideas, maybe. We try to keep it moving forward. Or backward. Moving somewhere. (laughs)
Was there a particular creative spark or did it just feel like you were due for another studio effort?
We work all the time. We’re always on the road. When we did the Disconnected record, we had signed up for a two-record thing. We put out the live record, and now the studio album as part of the deal. We put aside some time between February and April. We need deadlines. That’s the way we work. It’s not like we’re constantly writing and storing this material. Between family and the road, all the time is taken up.
So, did any of the inspiration come from touring?
Over the years, in hotel rooms or whatever, if I have an idea for a riff or melody or chord progression, I’ll tape it on my phone. I went through them and found a few that worked. That was the starting point.
Did working on the Disconnected record, which was an acoustic record in a Los Lobos way, inform any of the writing for this album?
Well, maybe it did. A third of the songs, at least, started off as acoustic ideas. That was the foundation. They eventually ended up the way they ended up.
How was it decided where to record the album?
We all live east of L.A. We didn’t want to be driving into Hollywood every day, 50 miles in traffic one-way. We found a studio in Santa Ana called Blue Velvet; just a small studio in an industrial complex that had great gear. What we recorded we got on playback. It was true to what the sound was in the room. It was a good little studio to work in. And, it was convenient so that took some of the pressure off. Plus, we had an engineer, Shane Smith, who worked with us on Tin Can Trust.
When you were recording, did you block-out time or go in when you felt inspired?
We set aside about three weeks. We didn’t work on weekends or when we had some shows to play. So, we’d do a three-day or four-day week depending on our schedule. We had to do all we could with the time we had.
The band collectively produced the record?
Yes. Self-produced by the band.
And you wrote mostly in the studio?
On most of the songs we would start with just the core to get the basic track. We would start with guitar and drums, or guitar, bass, and drums. My son played drums on the album.
How much of the record did David play?
David played drums on the whole album. We did a couple of days, and it was going so well, we just stuck with it. He did a great job.
Any chance he’ll join you on the road?
He’s got a good job playing with Social Distortion.
To my ears, this record seems to thematically touch down on each element, each aspect of the band’s history in a way- from blues, cumbias, and acoustic to funky soul and sonic adventure. I guess, just a typical great Los Lobos album.
I think that’s just the way it ended up. We go in (to the studio) pretty much with nothing. We’ll sit there and stare at each other and say okay, who’s got an idea? The first song will influence the next one, and that will inspire the one to follow. It’s not premeditated. We follow the inspiration. But, all those things, all those references, are in the back of our minds, so it could be what you’re saying. But, it’s not a conscious effort. It’ll be what it’s going to be.
As a band that is playing so many live shows, does that factor in to the recording of a song; knowing you will need to also perform it live at some point?
Sometimes. It doesn’t stop us from recording the song the way it should be recorded. To do it live, sometimes we have to re-think it. Some songs are just hard to play live, but we were able to pull of the Kiko album, so…
Your work on Kiko especially reflected that use of sonic interest, I’ll call it- a hallmark of producers Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake. If there is one song on Gates of Gold that captures the spirit of the band’s sonic aura, it’s “There I Go.” Can you talk about the process of recording that one?
We approach each song individually. For “There I Go” I was going through my cassette tapes and I found the original demo that I had done at home. We ended up using that. It was lo-fi and it had a certain vibe to it. That was the starting point. We took it to the studio, transferred it over, then added a more hi-fi drum sound and some things.
What was it about the demo that you liked? Was it the performance or the sonic quality?
It was both. Part of it was that I did it at home on 8-track cassette. It had this looseness, this casual kind of arrangement. The vocal was (done) at night, so it was understated, and with the echo I put on it, sounded kind of cool. We just went with it. We tried to re-record it for the album, but it didn’t have the same charm. So, we just let it go.
One area of the industry that has changed so much over the band’s career is promoting a new album. How do you approach that?
That’s hard. There are new ways to do it; the way people find and listen to music these days is different. I’m not up on it. I know there are various media on the internet to get the word out. That’s the only way to do it now. There is no radio. The only radio we’ve had is WXRT in Chicago. That’s the only place in the world that still plays Los Lobos on the radio. They’ve been great to us. We’ve made a lot of friends there.
Placement in a movie or TV show seems a popular choice for artists and labels to promote their new music.
If a movie soundtrack or TV show wanted to use a song, and it made sense and wasn’t a cheesy idea just to get our music across, we would consider it. We would welcome it. It would be nice.
Was there ever a time when you were promoting a record and you were asked to do something that you thought was not in the best interest of the band?
We were in England to do the Old Grey Whistle Test. They had a set for us. It was like a cantina, with big swinging doors and giant maracas and cactus. We said no, that won’t work. Take that down, please. We didn’t take it personally. We are who we are. It’s evident in the music where we come from, but we’ve always approached it from the mainstream- to push it through the mainstream. Now I wish we had a clip of it. It would probably be pretty funny.
