MTV Unplugged: Mexican Electronic Band Kinky Talks 'Dynamic' Acoustic Album, Playing in NYC (EXCLUSIVE)
Latin Grammy-nominated, electronic band Kinky, who hails from Monterrey, Mexico has been making cutting-edge and eccentric music since its inception in 1998.
Now, the band is getting to the heart and soul of all of its albums and looking at its music with fresh eyes though its latest MTV Unplugged album.
"We recorded live here in Mexico City. We did it acoustic as the rest of the MTV Unplugged family," Kinky's lead singer Gilberto "Gil" Cerezo told Latin Post in an exclusive interview. "It's a little journey through our last five records. ... We did it in a different way, I think. We just took out the soul of those songs tried to make new arrangements, musically and harmonically-wise."
The band composed four new songs and put their spin on regional Mexican classics by incorporating accordions and authentic sounds.
"We are really an electronic-based band. We did this acoustic, which is very different for us. We incorporated new elements," he explained.
These added "little details" and "props" enrich the sound of the album -- from small synthesizers to small, battery-operated toys, such as toy machine guns, to trash cans and bicycle wheels that are placed near the mic to give off a different effect and conjure unexpected emotions.
"The final product is a really dynamic adventure," Cerezo said. "It' pretty fun to listen from beginning to end."
After headlining a festival at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, Kinky was thrilled to learn that its MTV Unplugged album debuted No. 1 on iTunes Latino and the first single was featured as a "Top Tune" on tastemaker station KCRW on the day of its release.
Now Kinky is touring coast-to-coast in May and will make a stop at Best Buy Theater in New York City on May 22. Kinky has performed in the Big Apple in the past at acclaimed venues such as New York's Summer Stage, Brooklyn's Prospect Park and Joe's Pub, among several others.
The band is made up of Cerezo, Ulises Lozano, Carlos Chairez, Omar Góngora and Cesar Pliego. Kinky's music has been featured in numerous soundtracks, including Jorge Gutierrez's "The Book of Life," as well as TV commercials (including Motorola, Smirnoff Ice, Nissan, Honda) and TV shows, including "Nip Tuck," "Weeds" and "Gossip Girl."
Cerezo pointed out that the band loved working alongside "The Book of Life" director Jorge Gutierrez as well as longtime friend and supporter Diego Luna, who lent his voice to the beautifully animated film. (Kinky's song "Más" appears on "The Book of Life" soundtrack.)
"Our music is very visual. ... When the hero comes out, it was pretty emotional to see that on the big screen," he explained. Kinky watched the film beside Gutierrez.
A huge fan of Kinky, Luna also introduces the band at the beginning of its DVD as the "Master of Ceremonies," Cerezo pointed out.
Kinky's songs have also been featured in video games, such as EA Sports' FIFA and its aforementioned hit song "Mas" is also included in the video game "SSX 3" and was used in a Taco Bell commercial in 2012.
Starting out in electronic music genre at the end of the '90s, Kinky has noticed a big transformation of Electronic Dance Music, otherwise known as EDM.
"It's been developing a lot, especially the EDM. It has become mainstream ... it transports brilliantly. The electronic sound is going so many places. It's still one of the most interesting genres of music," Cerezo explained.
Kinky is inspired by different sounds from around the world, including the band's native Mexico's Mono Blanco and American hip-hop artist Kendrick Lamar (who Cerezo has taken a liking to his latest "jazzy and soulful" album). However, it's been the sounds of Los Angeles that the band has been most inspired by lately for they have been spending a lot of time there.
"We're open to whatever comes," he said. "Now you can listen to music over the world from your computer so we mostly are listeners, more than musicians. We are consumers of music and that's the way the music comes out of us as well."
Kinky was nominated for eight Latin Grammy Awards in various categories, including: Best Alternative Music Album for "Dream Machine" and Best Alternative Song for "Black Day." The band was also nominated for "Best Latin Artist North" at the MTV Europe Awards, among others.
Check out Kinky's second single of their MTV Unplugged album, "Soun tha mi primer amor." The band is touring coast-to-coast in May; check out the band's official website for more details.