Thursday, February 27, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

Music: Ballistic baile

Latin alt.dance act Kinky enjoys a quick ascent

By Mike Prevatt

Drummer/percussionist Omar Gongora has just come from the Caribbean to New York City, and he's freezing his ass off. His band, Kinky, which hails from Monterrey, Mexico, was enjoying more temperate conditions days earlier, and then had to fly to Chicago to start its 10-date American tour. It was 10 below. New York has not been much warmer.

"It's so cold, it's like, the snow and raining...it's horrible for us!" says Gongora. "We're not used to this kind of the weather."

Once Kinky hits the stage, though, things are likely to get hot and sweaty--but not in the way you're thinking. The band's moniker has adapted the literal definition of "kinky"--meaning, "closely twisted"--as its MO, intertwining several different elements, influences and tones to make one cohesive, fluid sound. Kinky is largely considered an electronic act, but its live performances throw it into the almost genre-less company of fellow synth-friendly peers such as the New Deal, the Faint, VHS or Beta and Particle--tuneful bands that will their audiences to dance.

This couldn't have been better demonstrated than at the band's South By Southwest showcase last March in Austin, Texas. Conventioneers and curious music fans alike crammed into an off-Sixth Street club as the band played selections from its 2002 self-titled debut. There was more dancing going on at the Kinky gig than the party thrown by respected L.A. megaclub "Giant" a night earlier and two clubs down. It was one of the conference's highlights, as well as a major coup for the band.

"We were thinking about releasing the album in Europe, and we invited people to SXSW," says Gongora. "A lot of people know about us because of SXSW. That was the first step to the U.S."

Kinky's success has come blindingly fast. After forming in Monterrey in January 2000, one of its single-song demos found its way to producer Chris Allison, who had produced Coldplay and the Beta Band in England, and was now assisting Kinky's musical neighbors, Plastilina Mosh (who had hired Gongora for some percussion work). When Kinky won a battle of the bands at the Latin Alternative Music Conference in August of that year, Allison signed it to his Latin-based Sonic360 label, and soon after scored a deal with the Nettwerk label for North American release. It recorded during 2001, while 2002 saw SXSW, the release of Kinky, as well as its first American tour. A summer trek with the Flaming Lips and Cake spread the word even further. The band's been all over the place ever since.

"Maybe that's why it's all happening so fast--we have been traveling for two years," says Gongora. "You have to hit a lot of places to get known."

Kinky is undoubtedly a product of its environment, influenced by both its Mexican roots and the influence of nearby America. The balancing act between the cultures is the reason for its eclectic and rhythmic tendencies.

"We live in North Mexico, and the cumbia and norteno [styles] are more rhythmic, more percussive," says Gongora. "Your parents are listening to that, the radio is full of that, so you develop that. You grow up with that and you reflect it, even if you don't play cumbia, but it's in your music because you make what you see, what you hear, what you eat.

"In Monterrey, we grew up with all this Chicano culture, like L.A.," he continues. "We [also] have Kmarts, Sam's and McDonalds. We already have the culture and we reflect it on our songs, so it's easy to see [the connection]."

Still, Kinky doesn't try to distinguish itself among genres or music scenes. "We made this kind of music, and we didn't even know what it was," says Gongora. "I know how to play Latin and rock and jazz, because we have been playing for years. I think people think it's good music, and people who know it can recognize it. I'm pretty sure we're doing okay."