MELTING POT
Afro-Latin band blends funk, soul, roots rock in high-energy dance music
Life on the road has some great advantages. You get to see the entire country. Yet, there is a downside. “Traffic is a bummer,” says Armando Pérez. “It’s a part of it. We experience rush hour in every city.”
Pérez is a member of Chicago-based Esso! (El Sonido Sonic Octopus) Afrojam Funkbeat.
In addition to Pérez, the band, formed in 2013, consists of Dan Lieber, Jess Anzaldúa, Matt Davis, Logan Lu, Puerko Pitzotl, Ezra Lange, Diana Mosquera and Kevin Miller.
The band is known for its funky AfroLatin and roots rock-inspired dance
music.
Pérez says the members share a love of funk, soul and high-energy music.
Esso! earned its start as the house band for a live music night in downtown Chicago, and the rotating members collaborated live onstage until a solid foundation assembled. With a growing set list of original material, co-founders Pérez and Miller released the first original recordings as an EP mixtape.
The band is currently taking preorders for its next album, “Juntos,” which will be released in September.
As the band works its way around the country on tour, Pérez says, it’s hitting new spots in the West for the first time.
“It’s really a new experience,” he says. “Getting to these new areas, like Albuquerque, we’re trying to just be prepared. That’s always a challenge. We never know what to expect on these types of tours. We want to get people dancing. That’s our goal.”
Esso! also has a diverse list of influences, and Pérez credits the complexity to being based in Chicago, which is a melting pot of cultures.
With “Juntos” ready for release in less than a month, Pérez can’t wait to have new music out.
“This is something that we’ve been working on for a while,” he says. “We’ve put in the hours and had discussions about the songs. We’ve been road-testing some of the songs for a while now. Part of this leg of the tour is to introduce ourself to the new communities.”