Prototype Issue
Los Abandoned is LA
By Mar Yvette
(page 1 of 1)Los Abandoned could only exist in LA. With a bilingual blend of synth-laden lo-fi rock and feisty Spanglish lyrics, the 5-year-old group explores and articulates the cultural duality of being a Latino in LA.
Whether it’s the “joy” of living in the Valley on the anthemic “Van Nuys (Es Very Nice)” or the “beauty” of fake boobs on the smooth “Nada Mio es Fake,” the quartet celebrates the cross-cultural craziness of the metropolis with hard-rocking humor that hits close to home.
Comprising Chilean-born frontwoman and ukelele player Pilar “Lady P” Diaz, guitarist Dave “Don Verde” Green, bassist Moises Baqueiro and drummer Anthony Reyes, Los Abandoned is “sort of the missing link between the new immigrant crowd and the second and third generation,” said Baqueiro, speaking from his home in Sherman Oaks.
“We’re independent and that’s the aesthetic of the band,” he said. “Demotape and Self Titled EP were self produced. From the beginning, Lady P and Don Verde decided they wanted to expose that very DIY, cut-and-paste sort of feeling. Some of the tracks on Mix Tape [the band’s recent full-length debut on Vapor Records] were part of the early sessions. We’re not a pop band, but our songs are pretty catchy. In a nutshell, our sound is Café Tacuba meets Blondie.”
Originally from Mexico City, Baqueiro packed his mochilas for Buena Park in 1991. Though initially trepidatious about his new home in a “ghost town of white suburbia,” he said it was his English as a second language classes that exposed him to a greater sense of community and culture.
“I was sitting in a classroom with people from all over the world, and we were all there for one reason—to speak English,” he recalls. “That itself moved me. At one point, there was a guy from Thailand, a guy from Korea, a guy from Singapore and myself playing blues music and singing Spanish covers! That was one of the things that really turned me on to the city. I was really blown away. Then when I got a car, I was able to drive out of Orange County and really see LA culture.”
A self-described foodie, Baqueiro admits to a cultural adjustment that’s been much harder to shake. “One of my biggest culture shocks was people calling food ‘authentic Mexican’ when it’s really LA Mexican food. People are shocked when they find out there’s no such thing as a burrito in Mexico City,” he said, laughing. “In Mexico, a taco doesn’t have that much meat. That of course is dictated by economics, but you really get to enjoy all the ingredients that way. I used to get so disappointed after going to a place that claimed to be ‘authentic,’ but I’ve changed my idea of authenticity and I enjoy it a lot more now.”
Among his favorite LA-area spots are Tacos El Pique “for the best tacos al pastor,” Bossa Nova for delicious Brazilian food, Tito’s Tacos in Culver City “for the classic American taco with hard shell, cheddar cheese, lettuce and tomato,” El Rocoto in Cerritos “for the best Peruvian food around” and Chichen Itza in the Mercado La Paloma for great Yucatecan dishes.
Aside from his strong opinions about food, Baqueiro admits he isn’t too much of an activist. Rather, he said, Los Abandoned’s music speaks for itself. “We basically expose who we are through our music. When you do that in a really pleasant way and you give everything to your craft, people appreciate it. It breaks boundaries.”
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