Of all the American bands to emerge from the post-punk music scene, no group has had a more lasting impact on music and culture and is still going strong today as Los Lobos. The fact that the group still consists of the same five members that recorded the 1983 Slash Records debut EP And A Time To Dance makes its story even more amazing.

      Los Lobos began innocently enough when the original four members, David Hidalgo, Conrad Lozano, Cesar Rosas and Louie Perez, first started fooling around with the idea of forming a group in East Los Angeles in 1973. The various members played in different bands such as the Checkers, Kat Chow, Euphoria, Fast Company and the Young Souls. Early on they had influences from the likes of Vanilla Fudge, Blue Cheer, Jimi Hendrix, the Yardbirds and Tex-Mex. They began attempting to form some sort of sound at Rosas' house. Initially calling themselves Los Lobos del Norte (The Wolves of the North) and then Los Lobos del Este (The Wolves of the East), the group played at backyards, garages, weddings and other social functions.

      They slowly left their more rock-oriented influences behind and began drawing more from their Mexican roots and playing boleros and haupangos. They began a fairly regular residency at a club owned by Manny Lopez on Atlantic Blvd. They also took extended trips to Mexico City and Veracruz. In Veracruz the group soaked up the sound of jarocho music.



      Their breakthrough came when opening for the Blasters at the Whiskey A Go Go in Hollywood. Steve Berlin, a saxophone player from Philadelphia who was in the Blasters and who also played with another punk-influenced L.A. band, the Plugz, sat in with the group. The band was both being influenced by and becoming part of the Los Angeles/Hollywood punk scene and was also continuing to absorb other influences such as the sounds of Frank Zappa, Howling Wolf and Richie Valens, among others.

      The group's success on the punk scene and its outstanding live show finally landed it a contract with Slash Records. Berlin then joined as a full-time member. In 1984, its first full-length album, How Will The Wolf Survive, produced by Berlin and T-Bone Burnett, was released on Slash.

      Instantaneous critical success followed with By The Light of the Moon, capped off by the group's hit cover of Valens' "La Bamba" from the original soundtrack album, which was the title song of the 1987 movie about Valens' life. While the hit brought them mainstream attention, the steady stream of flawless albums has made it the beloved group it is today. There were six more albums through Warner Brothers, and the group has recorded for Mammoth since 2002. Along with a live album and an EP, this new release is their third Mammoth studio album.

      The group has somehow continued to maintain its roots sound while, with the assistance primarily on many albums from producer Mitchell Froom, creating music that might best be described as Latin gothic. When I suggested this tag was especially true of the group's latest release, The Town and the City (Mammoth/Hollywood), Berlin agreed.

      Berlin is more than just a member of the group. Along with his musical contribution, he brings his expertise in the recording studio as a much-in-demand producer to the making of the records. He has produced many fine albums, including recent releases from Angelique Kidjo and Jackie Greene, and prefers being in the studio to touring. In fact, he said the group will only do "month tours or less, no matter what it costs us at the end of the day."

      The results of time spent in the studio, rather than on the road, have yielded an album that ended up taking more time than expected. "There were stages along the way where it was very hard to move forward," Berlin remarked. In comparing the album to others, he added, "A lot of them were a lot easier to make than this one. We had some deadlines we just blew right past just because we weren't done."

      Although Los Lobos is a true democracy, Berlin handed out some praise for David Hidalgo. "It is a band of equals, but David is really the only true genius we have. A lot of the songs are our version of his demos. The sonic architecture starts there with his sensibility, and then we all kind of see what we can do to amplify or add to the demos. Everyone does get their two cents in and everybody does contribute. Certainly I try to keep an overview on the stuff and try to keep the ball moving."

      As for the albums he has produced away from Los Lobos and the evolution of his producing career, Berlin said that Mitchell Froom was a huge influence. Specifically, he noted that "getting to watch him work" when he produced earlier Los Lobos albums was invaluable. Berlin talked about how recording "used to be all about the performance and fabulous spaces." He loves the sound of a "real live room" and said with a laugh that when Los Lobos record there are "mics set up all over the place."

      Overall, in regard to producing, he said, "A lot of it is plain common sense. Everything I do is always 100 percent collaborative. I try not to bring in an agenda. It starts with [the artist's] material. I won't go into a recording studio with anyone who doesn't have an album-plus worth of material."