Ozomatli writes a new creative chapter
The L.A. band turns a hit song for kids into a book
After rocking a generation of kids with a children's album back in 2012, Grammywinning Los Angeles group Ozomatli is once again focusing on its young fans.
But this time Ozomatli isn't reaching the youth through music, instead dropping a new children's book.
“For the band, this has been an interesting accomplishment and we'll see what kind of movement it makes,” saxophonist Ulises Bella said about the group's latest project, “Moose on the Loose,” a 32-page book that will be available Tuesday.
Written by the band and illustrated by Germán Blanco, it follows the lyrics of the breakout song of the same title, which appeared on the family-friendly album “Ozomatli presents Ozokidz” more than a decade ago.
That album led the band to perform kidfriendly concerts and appear on PBS Kids shows. While Ozomatli is known for its mash-up of musical styles and lyrics that take on serious cultural issues, the children's album was filled with educational songs that talked about animals, balloons, exercise, birthday parties and other, more lighthearted topics.
“We've always been one of those bands that would play for kids at school all the time, so the idea of creating an album for kids popped up and it was really kind of liberating, in a way,” Bella said.
The song “Moose on the Loose,” which is about just that, became a hit at concerts, Bella added.
“That one song always kept getting requested. It got a lot of love on the mommy blogs, on satellite radio,” Bella said. The band had always wanted to do a followup album, but other musical releases, concerts and then the pandemic delayed those plans, he added.
“So the idea just got thrown around about, hey, why don't we make a kid's book? And it was just a no-brainer focusing the book on that song because the song had become so popular,” he said.
The colorful pages follow the lyrics of the song as it takes kids into an enchanted forest where they camp, hike, swim in a lake and go fishing. But just like in the song, they start hearing noises in the forest and they realize that, yes, there's a moose on the loose.
Bella thinks the book may even set the band's creativity loose in new directions.
“If it makes a splash, it could be one of many different books. We're happy to cater to that next generation,” he said.
While the band typically puts on an energetic show where members end the set by leading conga lines through the audience, a new book may also mean performing in different kinds of venues.
“We've talked about that, if we release the book in certain places we can make appearances at bookstores or read the book at some schools,” he said.