Los Hollywood on Biggest Year of Their Career, Touring With Aterciopelados & Pros of Streaming

Angie Romero
·2 min read
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Nearly 10 years since their debut on the indie Latin pop/rock scene, Heidy Flores, Gustavo Mojica and Marcos Mondragón — collectively known as Los Hollywood — are having a moment. Their new, eponymous EP was produced by Grammy-winner Thom Russo, who, as Flores points out, “has won like 15 Grammys working with everyone from Michael Jackson to Johnny Cash.”

In typical Los Hollywood style, their new EP offers retro-sounding rock en español with streaks of brit-pop and the occasional sprinkle of English (“Nobody Knows”). The work perfectly positioned them for a recent U.S. tour with Aterciopelados. “We were so lucky to play with one of the bands that we look up to the most, that’s definitely an influence in our music,” Flores, the Mexican American trio’s always fashion-forward vocalist, tells Billboard. “Their crowd is always high-energy and we were surprised to see that many of them knew our songs, too.”

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Having wrapped the joint tour with the beloved Colombian alt-rock band, Los Hollywood is currently on the road for a concert trek of their own – their biggest to date — in major stateside cities like Atlanta, Miami, Houston, Phoenix and more. That their audience is growing on this side of the border isn’t surprising; they offer something for everyone. “It’s hard to categorize ourselves because we don’t think about specific styles of music when we work in the studio,” says Flores, who hails from San Diego. “We focus on making good melodies that people can relate to and sing along to. We have really happy songs and others are more country-ish. We even do a cover of Elvis Crespo’s [merengue mega-hit] “Tu Sonrisa” in our style during our shows,” she adds with a giggle.

The band’s influences are telling of their eclectic musical palette. “Marcos he loves Kiss and The Beatles, Gustavo loves Tom Waits and Bob Dylan, but we don’t necessarily sound like that,” says Flores. “I love Aterciopelados, Alanis Morissette, Chavela Vargas, Radiohead, and the list goes on. And then there’s Bjork, whose style intrigues me and whose music is just such a pure expression of who she is.”

Yet unlike certain elite members of the artist community, the band doesn’t see streaming as the enemy. “The most exciting thing to me is to play live,” says Flores. “Of course it’s important to sell your music but things like Spotify and YouTube and everything else that’s out there, I see them as positive things because music is now accessible to everyone, especially new music.”

Check out the band’s tour dates here and enjoy the video for their most recent single “Hasta Mañana” below:

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