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[12/19] Preview: Peligrosa 7th anniversary party at Empire Control Room & Garage

December 18, 2014 By Austin Vida Staff

Peligrosa Dec 19Friday, Dec. 19, Austin-based Latin DJ collective Peligrosa is celebrating seven years together at their old stomping ground, the patio of Empire Control Room & Garage. It will be an epic all crew throw down that will have attendees dancing to the best of pinche perreo, delicious dembow, titillating tribal (pronounced like tree-ball), saucy salsa, bubbly bachata and of course digital cumbia.

Peligrosa is composed of members DJ Orión, Chorizo Funk, King Louie, Manolo Black, Pagame, Sonora (San Antonio), DJ Manny and DJ Dus (Chorpus Cristi).  The official Peligrosa photographer goes by “Quito”  and visual master VJ 4th Wall provides the backdrop to the music.

For those that aren’t yet familiar with Peligrosa, watch the KLRU documentary series Arts In Context episode featuring the Peli-boys here.

Empire Control Room & Garage is located at 606 E. 7th Street. Doors open at 9 p.m. 18+ are welcome. $5 for 21+. $10 for 18+. Visit the Facebook event page here.

Filed Under: Events, Music Tagged With: empire control room & garage, peligrosa, previews

[11/21] Preview: Peligrosa ft. Venus X at Empire Control Room & Garage

November 20, 2014 By Ian Morales

Peligrosa

Friday, Nov. 21, Austin-based Latin DJ collective Peligrosa is throwing their monthly dance party once again at their home base, the patio of Empire Control Room & Garage. Like they do every third Friday of month, they will be joined by a special guest. Friday night the Peligrosa boys will be joined none other than Venus X from New York City.

DJ Venus X is the music moniker of Jazmin Venus Soto. A native of Washington Heights, she is the daughter of a Dominican mother and an Ecuadorean father. Soto made her name with her New York party GHE20GOTH1K (pronounced “ghettogothic”) that she put on with friend Shayne Oliver. She’s been a DJ for superstar rapper M.I.A. and opened for popular acts including Gang Gang Dance and Theophilus London. Get a sample of Venus X’s mixing style below.

For those that aren’t yet familiar with Peligrosa, watch the KLRU documentary series Arts In Context episode featuring the Peli-boys here.

Empire Control Room & Garage is located at 606 E. 7th Street. Doors open at 9 p.m. 18+ are welcome. $5 for 21+. $10 for 18+. Visit the Facebook event page here.

Venus X

Peligrosa

Filed Under: Events Tagged With: edm, empire control room & garage, peligrosa, previews, venus x

Q&A Interview: Roberto Lange aka Helado Negro

October 22, 2014 By Ivan Fernandez

Helado Negro
Roberto Lange is Helado Negro. See him at Empire Control Room & Garage on Sunday with SINKANE. Courtesy photo.

Roberto Carlos Lange is one busy guy. Years ago, Lange moved from his home in south Florida to New York where he turned the dial up on his artistic endeavors. However, it wasn’t until about four years ago when he put much of the painting and sculpture to the side and focused solely on his music. The result of that output is five albums, tours across the hemisphere, videos, and collaborations galore.

Lange, who performs as Helado Negro, will be in Austin this weekend to perform songs from his latest album, Double Youth, and others. I spoke with the prolific artist by phone who explained why he has no filter when it comes to releasing his unique type of electronic music (seriously, just try to pigeonhole it), why he considers each concert a unique experience beyond being in a different city with a new crowd, and how he composes songs in English and Spanish.

You’re a busy guy!

Lange: Well…you know, you gotta do something.

Is that your philosophy in life? Because you’ve published a lot of material in recent years.

Lange: Umm…yeah! I would say so. I make music because that’s what I enjoy to do. I’d rather spend time doing that than spend time not doing that.

Yeah, didn’t Invisible Life come out last year?

Lange: It did. It came out last March.

And now you have another full-length album released last month too.

Lange: It’s not like this is rare or anything. I would say, in reference to musical history like in the sixties and seventies, groups used to put out albums every year. That was a pretty common practice. I don’t think it’s that rare personally. I’m not trying to belittle the work that I do but it’s definitely…it’s just keeping up with my own ideas and I’m lucky to work with a label that wants to keep up with me. It’s a good back-and-forth between them and the people I work with.

It’s rare for a label to do that too, isn’t it? Usually they want an artist to release an album and follow it up with a lengthy tour before they even think about writing something new.

Lange: Yeah, there’s definitely that and I think there’s different philosophies behind that. There’s no good perspective on that in terms of what works and what doesn’t. Everyone sculpts their own path on how they make music, how they want to release it and how to share it. For us, it’s kind of like we’re always adapting or mutating to what the music is. That comes first and then deciding what I want to do show-wise and, for the label, they’ve been really supportive and they’re not pressuring me to feel or shape or do specific things.

It’s wonderful how open they were with your Island Universe EP-trilogy project.

Lange: Making that series is parallel to the albums. It’s as steeped in tradition as making an album is but…more experimental in the economies of what music is and sharing it and it’s really about what it is now. It’s a lot more prevalent to share a lot more stuff in abundance and, I think, we’re just finding different vehicles through that series and make a lot of music, so we’re just constantly exploring how to share it, more than anything, and give people access to music. The exciting thing is, for me, I’m giving people who want to listen to my music the option to plug in whenever they want to plug in. It’s nice to have context with what I’ve done in the past but you can just dive in at whatever point you want to. That’s what that series establishes for me.

You’re going to perform music from that series at a special event in Minneapolis next year. That sounds exciting!

Lange: Yeah, it’s not so much performing that series specifically. What it is is a part of that series. The idea of the series doesn’t mean it’s just the release. The part of sharing music is also extended into performance of the recorded music into however you can experience it. It’s just another extension of the idea than anything. That night in Minneapolis is going to be a series of reinterpretations of music I’ve created that are songs from that series but also of songs that are on different albums and a couple of newer things but it’s all reorganized and rearranged.

'Double Youth' is available now via Asthmatic Kitty.
‘Double Youth’ is available now via Asthmatic Kitty.

How are you interpreting Double Youth and other songs on this tour?

Lange: I tour and play on stage by myself so it’s not that I reinterpret it but I just try to figure out a way to make sure there’s enough of what I want people to hear musically. It’s just me, my laptop, and some electronics and I sing. It’s really straight-forward and I also work a lot with creating a stage atmosphere to have a visual representation of my songs.

I saw your performance at Vive Latino in Mexico City this year and your setup was very elaborate. It looked more like a play complete with actors in costume.

Lange: That’s awesome that you were there! I made those costumes specifically for that concert. That was a catalyst to keep moving forward and figure out how that can be elaborated on. I’m using this tour to better study what it means to be in a performance and better interaction with the crowd and working our these ideas. It’s interesting because people interpret it in different ways. It’s almost like a distraction for your eyes to disorient you and, as you’re bring disoriented, you’re listening, and as you’re listening you’re getting lost.

So you get to create a unique experience for each show you perform.

Lange: Yeah and I get volunteers in each city to come in, so that’s exciting, to meet some people and figure out ways to talk to people about it and it’s really cool.

You’ve collaborated with LOTS of artists. What is it about collaboration that you enjoy?

Lange: It’s always a challenge and I know that’s probably a cliché but it’s a challenge in that you have your own sonic expression when you want your sound to be arranged and other people hear things so much differently than you do so finding those bridges between yours and theirs ends up being the exciting adventure. Sometimes it’s a disaster, sometimes it’s amazing, sometimes it’s just really dull. When it’s extreme, it’s really exciting and that becomes a really interesting thing more than anything. A lot of my music isn’t written or performed in a traditional song format…it becomes like sonic architecture. You’re building parts, you’re building rooms in a building and you’re figuring out how everything is going to flow together.

Is there someone you really want to work with that you haven’t yet? Like, a dream collaboration?

Lange: A lot of people ask me that question and a lot of times I’ve answered that with my favorite is to collaborate with people that I know, and not just people that I’ve known but people that I’ve gotten to know. In a way, recently, I’ve wanted to get to know a few newer people and people that I’ve been interested in their music. There’s a Japanese musician named Harry Hosono who started that group Yellow Magic Orchestra. His trajectory is because in the sixties he was making the music of that time, then all that changed in the eighties when he was doing Yellow Magic Orchestra and now he just makes pretty bizarre music. It’s cool because you can tell he’s seeking it out. You can tell he’s looking for something. Those are the people I really want to collaborate with, the people who are trying to find something. That’s exciting.

This new album has a pretty even mix of lyrics in English and Spanish. I didn’t even notice it at first because it comes off so naturally. Did choosing which language to sing come naturally or did you have to work on it?

Lange: It’s very much a flow of words and sounds. A lot of times when I’m shaping the lyrics for the music, I’m mouthing words phonetically and when I do that, that shapes words in English or in Spanish. Then I start building words and I’ll record that and sometimes it doesn’t make any sense. Then I’ll start making more sense of the content I want it to be. There’s a song on the album that’s called “Our Game” and, the most literal example of what I just said, I say the words “blanco, negro, azul” and those were the words that built the melody. It didn’t have any context and I used that as a way to start building the song and build the lyrics. That created a really small, contextual underpinning, “blanco, negro, azul” as the color of bruising and the progress of it.

__________

Watch the official music video for “Invisible Heartbeat” from Helado Negro below.

*Helado Negro performs at the Empire Control Room this Sunday, Oct. 26. Buy tickets here.

Filed Under: Events, Features, Slider Tagged With: electronic, empire control room & garage, helado negro, indie, interview

[9/19] Preview: Peligrosa w/Dave Nada, Dre Skull, Jubilee at Empire Control Room & Garage

September 18, 2014 By Austin Vida Staff

Peligrosa posterThis week at Empire Control Room & Garage the big WEEKENDER event is happening. It is a unique 4-day party combining a massive festival style lineup accompanied by killer indie rock bands and Austin’s biggest Latin DJ crew, Peligrosa. The boys from Peligrosa will be hosting their monthly event on the Empire Patio during WEEKENDER on Friday, Sept. 19. They will be joined by special guests Dave Nada, Jubilee and Dre Skull.

D.C. -based DJ and producer Dave Nada (born David Villegas) is one half of popular EDM duo NADASTROM. Nada is credited with being the founder of EDM genre Moombahton, which combines Dutch house music with reggaeton. The genre is now a worldwide movement in EDM thanks to relentless touring and events like Moombahton Massive.

Jubilee is referred to as “Brooklyn’s bass sweetheart who moves between upfront bass music, sweaty tropical jams, party rap, UK grime, house, techno, R&B, dancehall, and more.” She released her critically acclaimed Pull Ova EP via Mixpak earlier this year, and recently dropped her JMZ Riddim EP, also through Mixpak.

Dre Skull is the music moniker of Brooklyn-based Andrew Hershey. The Mixpak Records artist and boss may look like every other bearded gringo hipster, but he is one of dancehall’s most sought-after producers. This year he executed and produced an entire album with dancehall superstar Vybz Kartel and was was tapped by Major Lazer to help produce the upcoming Snoop Dogg album.

________

Empire Control Room & Garage is located at 606 E. 7th Street. Doors open at 9 p.m. 18+ are welcome. Advance tickets for this event are available for purchase online here. Visit the Facebook event page here.

Peligrosa

Dave Nada

Jubilee

Dre Skull

Filed Under: Events Tagged With: dave nada, dre skull, empire control room & garage, jubilee, mixpak, peligrosa, previews

[8/15] Preview: Peligrosa and Bombón at Empire Control Room & Garage

August 15, 2014 By Ian Morales

PeligrosaTonight is the night Austin-based Latin DJ collective Peligrosa takes over the Empire Control Room & Garage patio. While that alone is news worthy to Latin electronic music fans and EDM peeps, tonight the party is getting “turnt up” Houston style with Bombón. This party is a long overdue and doors are opening an hour earlier if that tells you anything.

At first look, Bombón appears to be the doppelgänger to Peligrosa. The tropical dance party purveyors are composed of DJs Gracie Chavez, Navó, OG Bobby Trill and Panchitron. They too have their monthly Latin tropical throw down in Houston at Fox Hollow, much like Peligrosa at Empire. They have garnered their own online buzz since their inception with more focus on remixing H-Town classics, of course. Be ready to enjoy screwmbia, moombahton and more.

Special guest percussionist Chappy Luna of Los Skarnales and The Suffers fame will be joining Bombón tonight. La Comadre Mel will be in the house. ‘Quito will take your picture.

Empire Control Room & Garage is located at 606 E. 7th Street. Event will take place on the patio. Doors open at 9 p.m. 21+ welcome. $5 cover. Visit the Facebook event page here.

Peligrosa

Bombón

Filed Under: Events Tagged With: Bombón, chorizo funk, dj orion, empire control room & garage, peligrosa, previews

[7/18] Preview: Peligrosa at Empire Control Room & Garage

July 18, 2014 By Austin Vida Staff

Peligrosa July 18Austin-based Latin DJ collective Peligrosa throw down on the patio of Empire Control Room & Garage tonight continuing their monthly residency at their home venue. Expect to dance to the best of pinche perreo, delicious dembow, titillating tribal (pronounced like tree-ball), saucy salsa, bubbly bachata and of course digital cumbia. See for yourself why Peligrosa is the longest running dance party in Austin.

Tonight Peligrosa will feature members DJ Orión, Chorizo Funk, King Louie, Manolo Black, Pagame, Sonora, DJ Manny and DJ Dus from Chorpus Cristi. Be ready to be photographed by Peligrosa photographer Quito and have your mind blown away by visual master VJ 4th Wall. For more about Peligrosa, watch the KLRU documentary series Arts In Context episode featuring the collective here.

Empire Control Room & Garage is located at 606 E. 7th Street. Doors open at 9 p.m. $5 cover. 21+ welcome. Visit the Facebook event page here.

Filed Under: Events Tagged With: Austin, empire control room & garage, peligrosa, previews

[7/4] Preview: ¡Explosivo! Fiesta Del Dia de Independencia w/ Money Chicha, La Vida Buena

July 2, 2014 By Austin Vida Staff

Money Chicha July 4Celebrate our great nation’s independence Latino estyle this Friday at Empire Control Room & Garage with Austin’s first (and baddest) chicha group, Money Chicha. They will be joined by some of Austin’s finest Latin bands of various styles and genres, offering attendees a look at what our city has to offer. You’ll want to come early and stay late.

Headliners Money Chicha are composed of members from Grupo Fantasma and Brownout. Their music pays homage to the musical and cultural movement of the ’60s and ’70s found in Peru and Colombia, incorporating the psychedelic sounds of guitars, fuzz, and reverb with heavy percussion. Money Chicha peform at midnight.

Getting the party going for Money Chicha are salsa-fusion band La Vida Buena, Urban Tejano group Son De Rey and melodic-indie rockers Migrant Kids. Visit the Facebook event page here for set times. See music videos below for a quick look and listen.

Empire Control Room & Garage is located at 606 E. 7th Street. 10 p.m. 21+ welcome. Advance tickets are available for purchase online here.

Money Chicha

La Vida Buena

Son De Rey

Migrant Kids

Filed Under: Events Tagged With: empire control room & garage, la vida buena, migrant kids, money chicha, previews, son de rey

Austin Ticket Giveaway: Brown Sabbath at Empire Control Room & Garage

June 24, 2014 By Austin Vida Staff

Brown Sabbath
Austin-based funk band Brownout as “Brown Sabbath.” Courtesy photo.

Brown Sabbath is the alter ego of Austin-based Brownout, delving into the catalog of the hard rock and heavy metal godfathers themselves Black Sabbath. Today the eight-piece outfit released their debut full-length album Brownout Presents Brown Sabbath via Ubiquity Records.  They’ve also released a limited edition 10-inch, color-splattered vinyl single “Hand Of Doom,” featuring The Black Angels’ Alex Maas on vocals. With Brownout Presents Brown Sabbath, Brownout remain true to the darkness, bombast and fuzz of Sabbath’s sound, while re-imagining the music with greasy Afro-Latin horns, hypnotic percussion and psyched-out, rare-groove improv

On Friday, June 27, Brown Sabbath will be celebrating the release of their debut album Brownout Presents Brown Sabbath with a live concert at Empire Control Room & Garage. Austin-based Afrobeat fusion band Hard Proof open the show. The best part? We are giving away a pair of tickets to one of our lucky Austin Vida readers!

The giveaway will be conducted as a raffle from our email list. Just click “enter the drawing” below after submitting your full name and email address. Only submissions with full names will be officially entered. We will pick the winner from these submissions before 10 a.m. on Friday, the day of the show. The winner will be notified via email from Austin Vida. Good luck!

Empire Control Room & Garage is located at 606 E. 7th Street. 10 p.m. 21+ welcome. Advance tickets are available for purchase online here.

Listen to Brownout Presents Brown Sabbath below.

Filed Under: Events, Giveaways, Slider Tagged With: brown sabbath, brownout, empire control room & garage, ticket giveaway

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