Helado Negro’s experimental grooves arrive at Mohawk
Expanded version of ‘Private Energy’ album released by artist.
Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter and producer Roberto Lange makes you feel like you’re soaring through the cosmos with his experimental electro-pop music. Lange, who has released music under various aliases over the years, gained momentum in 2016 for his “Private Energy” album as Helado Negro (Black Ice Cream).
Lange’s breakthrough album brought anthems that reflect on identity, such as “Young, Latin and Proud.” This month the Ecuadorian American artist released an expanded version of the record, which includes new versions of some of the original album’s tracks. While the 2016 album released on cassette, “Private Energy (Expanded)” is available digitally and on vinyl.
Ahead of his May 10 performance at the Mohawk, we chatted with the one-man band behind Helado Negro who writes, records and produces all in his living room. Austin360: When did you begin pursuing music seriously?
Robert Lange: I attended the Savannah College of Art and Design, and I started taking music more seriously there. It was an art school and didn’t offer any type of music program or anything like that, but being in an environment surrounded by people who want to make things really inspired me to follow that path.
That’s the same college René Pérez Joglar (Calle 13 co-founder) attended.
Yeah, we actually went to school together. We worked on a school project together a long time ago. I learned a lot about sound installation art there and experimental music. That became the background for me as I began making electronic or beat-oriented music. How did you adopt the Helado Negro alias?
That’s been an evolution. At the point when I started using Helado Negro, I had already been releasing music under different aliases for about four or five years. Then as I was experimenting and figuring things out, moving from a more instrumental sound to singing and then singing in Spanish,
I took on the Helado Negro name. Some of your songs speak to the expe rienceofL atinos in America. What was your experience like grow- ing up in Fort Lauderdale as the son of Ecuadorian
immigrants?
There’s a rich diversity of Spanish-speaking cultures in South Florida, and that’s really exciting and some- thing that I cherished. You can feel t hedistinctc ultural nuances of all Latin America there. As a kid there was so much music around. It was informative and served as a foundation, but as a kid you’re not really listening — just enjoying. There was always music from South America and the Caribbean playing in South Florida, but it doesn’t define what I do or what I like or how I organize my thoughts now. So how does your Latino identity play a role in your music? The most important thing to me about Helado Negro is that it’s 100 percent how Iwanttoexpress myself. It’s not controlled specifically by any ideas of Latin identity. There’s a great term that peo- ple have been using recently to self-identity called Latinx. I think it’s something I can identify w ithass omeone who
has grown up in a combined culture here. It’s not a way to exclude yourself, but instead to feel more complete.
After shows some people who feel like they don’t belong will share their experiences with me. It’s special to hear their connection to the music. If anything, my music is about being like everyone else and knowing
that we are pretty similar.