The popular Brooklyn-based band Chicha Libre is bringing together Latinos, hipsters and millennials by combining Latin rhythms, surf and psychedelic pop from the '70s and '80s, all inspired by Peruvian music from Lima and the Amazon. They're giving traditional Chicha music a rebirth by putting a new spin on the diverse genre, reaching an audience that ranges in age from 16 to 70 years old.

"Chicha was socially, completely excluded, it was from the outskirts of 'la selva' (the forest), and now it's super trendy and cool," Chicha Libre's percussionist and Venezulean native Neil Ochoa told Latin Post during the Pachanga Latino Music Festival in Austin, Texas.

After a trip to Lima, Peru back in 2004, Chica Libre's vocalist and cuatro player, Olivier Conan, who is from Paris, France, was enthralled with the genre and wanted to incorporate it into his repertoire along with his longtime bandmates, who he has been playing with for 13 years.

In 2006, Chicha Libre began as a "tribute to Peruvian pioneers," but soon morphed into an original project, dubbed by MTV "as one of the world's preeminent Tropical Psychedelic bands," according to the band's official website.

The band, which will be a part of the Latin Alternative Music Conference in New York City July 8-12, features a medley of instruments, from the surf guitar and organ to Latin percussion. Chicha Libre "remains true to its Chicha roots," yet it has taken more of a "psychedelic turn drawing more and more from its members' alternative background."

"It happened almost accidently, I would say. Different kinds of people have sort of latched onto the music as something that they recognize that belongs to them and older people that knew the original music who were into tropical music in the '70s and the '80s," Conan told Latin Post.

"A lot of second and third generation American Latinos completely understand because they grew up with the same kind of almost schizophrenic mix of American music — their parents' music, where you can listen to Cumbia at home and some cheesy ballad from Mexico, and at the same time listen to indie rock," he added.

This connection not only resonates with Latino-Americans, but it also bridges a cultural and generational gap, in essence making Latin music universal.

"I think we bring that, not necessarily from all the same places. As I said I grew up in France, but I was listening to rock and salsa. We listened to the same thing although we come from completely different backgrounds. All of that I think merges in a way that we can identify with from all different backgrounds," Conan added. "Now there is a new hipster crowd that started getting into non-Anglo music through Afro-beats or through various kinds of experiments, Polka music, etc., and they are getting into Cumbia a lot. There are three or four different roots that all lead back to Chicha Libre."

I can attest to this trend Conan mentions, as someone who is half-Colombian and half-Anglo, whose parents' first concert was Jimi Hendrix and whose older brother played bass in a band inspired by The Cure, The Cars and The Police. My second oldest brother, who also plays guitar and piano, rocked out to Van Halen and Led Zepplin and my older sister exposed me to the world of pop, always singing Debbie Gibson and Whitney Houston. Needless to say, there was an eclectic mix of music in my household from pop, classic rock, alternative to Latin music, including traditional Colombian Cumbia.

Chicha Libre mixes covers of Peruvian Chicha with original compositions in French, Spanish and English, reinterpreting '70s pop classics as well as Cumbia. The band itself is also cultural melting pot. Its members are made up of French, American, Venezuelan and Mexican musicians: Joshua Camp; keyboards, vocals; Olivier Conan: cuatro, vocals; Karina Colis: percussion; Nicholas Cudahy: bass; VIncend Douglas: guitar; Neil Ochoa: percussion.

Now that listeners have endless access to music across the globe with just a click of a button, Chicha Libre's music is far-reaching, drawing an unexpected demographic.

"Going back to social media ... because we have access to listen to everything from all over the world all of the time. The millenial generations are open to that because they can just tap into anything instantly. There is no more obscure trying to find an old record," Chicha Libre's keyboardist and vocalist Joshua Camp, who is from Virginia, told Latin Post.

"When I was a kid, everything was about rock for me. I wanted to play rock because it was the coolest thing to do [in Venezuela], but the only access I had to music was from the radio. Now, you can hear music from anywhere," Ochoa added.

Of course, Chicha Libre's following is stronger in some places. "There are four cities in the country where we really feel like people understand what we do and they come to the shows," Conan said. "Austin is definitely one of them. L.A. is a great city for us because there is already a built-in understanding from a lot of second and third generation Latinos who have an understanding of where all the music comes from — with all its various roots and mixes. Chicago is pretty good and Tucson, which we haven't gone to yet."

From an international perspective, Conan also points out that there is more fluidity at the borders, where music aficionados are broadening their horizons. Chicha Libre has performed around the world, including Turkey, the U.K., Germany, Portugal, Belgium, Denmark, Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, the U.S., Canada and Peru.

The band's music has been featured on the TV shows "Weeds" and "Homeland," as well as a "Simpsons" 20th anniversary special in which they were asked to play the Simpsons' theme "chicha" style alongside the likes of the Red Hot Chili Pepper and ZZ Top.