A Conversation with Los Lobos’ Steve Berlin – HuffPost 10.30.13
Mike Ragogna: Steve, Disconnected In New York City was recorded at The City Winery in New York. Why that venue? What was it like that night?
Steve Berlin: Well, to answer the first question first, we don’t really get to do many multiple-night stays, where you get the chance to stay in place and play and see a venue across more than one night, that’s very rare. So the fact that we had three nights in New York City and in a place that we knew and liked a lot, it’s a great venue, that’s why we chose it. It was a no-brainer at that point as we were discussing what we were going to do for this fortieth anniversary thing. That’s what we came up, so that’s why we chose it. I remember the nights; they were a blast. It’s always fun to be in New York City full stop, and it was Christmas time in New York City, so it was really kind of magical. Most of us had our families with us, so it was just really relaxed, more so than most New York shows. It was a warm environment. Fun for everybody, I think.
MR: Did it feel like a celebration of your forty years together?
SB: Honestly, Michael, we don’t ever do that. We never stop and smell the roses or celebrate that stuff. It’s literally zero. We just play on and don’t really think about any of that stuff. Even when we have to, it’s sort of like, “Eh.” We had to acknowledge the fortieth some way or another, whether it be making another record…we kind of did the celebratory thing for our thirtieth anniversary with The Ride. But that’s really the hardest part of being together this long. You’ve sort of done, in one way or another, every variation you can do. So it’s really hard to come up with something you haven’t tried in the past and this is the one thing we hadn’t done, something semi-acoustic, finding older material that fans hadn’t asked us to play. We tried to bring some of that stuff into the set list for the record, and also “La Bamba.” We’d never actually done “La Bamba” live, which was kind of nice. That was another good reason to do a live record.
MR: Los Lobos is still a pretty powerful musical force to this day. What are your thoughts about the cool career that you guys have had to this point?
SB: I consider myself the luckiest man on Earth, basically. It’s kind of ridiculous that you get to do this at all much less for this many years, so that would be the first thing that I would say. I don’t know…there’s not really a lot of paradigms for what we’ve done or what we’re doing. The Allman Brothers have changed many members over the years, and The Dead–well, without Jerry it’s really not The Dead–so it’s the same lineup for this many years, same everything, same guys. I can only tell you that it’s something that we literally never think about, not ever, not once. No one’s ever internally brought up anything about acknowledging or commemorating or, “Gee, isn’t this wild, we’ve done this for so long.” I don’t think any of us consider ourselves anything more than very talented craftsmen. We just kind of plow through it. It’s a job that we do and we do well, and we’re amply rewarded for doing it but as far as our place in history and all that stuff it never crops up. We just don’t think about it.
MR: How about internally, Los Lobos now versus Los Lobos early years? And how are the dynamics within the band forty years later?
SB: On many levels, really nothing has changed. We’re still the exact same guys doing the exact same thing in the exact same way, so there’s not been a wholesale change in that respect. There’s not anything that we’re doing that much differently than we did in the past. I think if anything, one of the things people ask me is, “What keeps you guys together for so long?” and there are a lot of answers to that question. One of the answers is the fact that the guys had families before we started. In other words, we were already kind of grownups, much more so than the other people that I was playing with and the other people in “The LA Scene,” they had kids and mortgages and that stuff before anybody knew what they were up to, before the first record, before anything we were sort of already well into adult-like life and making adult decisions and concerning themselves about taking care of families and all that stuff. So I think to a certain extent, that ethos affected the fact that we don’t really change that much. I work with a lot of young bands, I’ve been lucky enough to work with people across a number of records and you sort of see them grow up as people and stop f**king around and stop partying non-stop and all of that stuff. To a certain extent, the fact that these guys had families at twenty and were all past that point when the process began I think to specifically answer your question, that’s why we haven’t changed that much. There wasn’t really much of a growing up process as we received adulation and a little more money and press and stuff, they were well into adulthood. It took me a little longer to grow up than it did for them, but I think that’s one thing. Again to answer your question specifically, the only thing that’s really changed is that we have to make more time for families. We really don’t tour for very long. The longest stretch for any tour these days might be ten or fifteen days tops because the guys are grandfathers. The family thing and taking care of stuff at home actually becomes more intense than usual, plus the guys don’t really like to be out that long anyway. So that would be the one thing I would say, twenty years ago it wasn’t unusual to stay out for three weeks or so. That’s really the only palpable difference I can see.
MR: One of my favorite songs by Los Lobos is “Just A Matter Of Time,” which almost seems like the storyline could’ve been a metaphor for the band.
SB: Yeah, that’s very true.
MR: I guess you’ve already answered the next question, “Will The Wolf Survive?” You certainly did.
SB: Yeah, right? I’d say it’s hard to argue the evidence!
MR: [laughs] Steve, what advice do you have for new artists?
SB: Don’t. Don’t bother. [laughs] That’s a joke. In many ways, this current landscape is, on some levels, much fairer than the one that existed previously although we were huge beneficiaries of that system. I don’t know if Los Lobos in 2013 would make it forty years just because it’s so much harder. We were able to build a fan base and grow with a little more nurturing because we had a record label. The stuff that went along with being a touring band was a little easier for us to do as opposed to these days when every band is basically an entrepreneurial unit where they’re having to pay for and do all of the stuff that we didn’t really have to deal with. But on the other hand, the fact that these bands today are entrepreneurial units and learning about not just making music but building a business and how that actually works and how the real world actually works, in some respects, that’s very healthy, I think. If the 2013 Los Lobos, whoever they might be, can figure all of that stuff out and do all of that stuff, I think it’s going to be a good deal in the long run for them, but I just think it’s so much harder to get to that. We were able to make a living and feed our families, really, from the very first song. We were able to get a booking agent early on, we were able to tour and make enough money. It was not a lot of money, but it was enough to cover living with a wife and kids. These days, I really don’t think that first rung of that ladder–getting from zero to the place where you’re feeding your family and taking care of all of your stuff–I think that ladder got a lot higher. I think in the long run, getting from zero to that place, I have nothing but the deepest sympathy for the people that are doing it. I’m working with a lot of them myself and I see the struggle involved and it just seems like the stage of starving is a much, much longer stage than in times past. I would say if you want to do this for a living, just be prepared to go without for a very long time and be prepared to learn about a hell of a lot of stuff that has nothing to do with music, per se, but a lot to do with not working for anybody. Basically, you are your own record label, you are your own public liaison, you are your own booking agent, you are your own travel agent, all of the stuff that we had people doing for us for a very long time, and I have to say doing an amazing job doing it, especially in the early days. I don’t especially see bands at the early stages getting any of that. Basically they have to learn to do all of that stuff themselves, which, to get longer-winded here, the internet, which really didn’t exist when we started, makes a lot of stuff relatively easy, but I don’t think when it comes time to pay the rent I’m not sure if it makes it all that much easier.
MR: What’s down the pike for Los Lobos?
SB: That’s a good question. We’ll be touring for the rest of this year, certainly, and then if I’m not mistaken, next year, there’ll be a tour late winter. Early spring, we’ll actually be touring in disconnected format. There’ll be a bunch of stuff this year and then next year, the fortieth anniversary year we’ll be doing a lot more of these disconnected shows and doing a lot of stuff around the anniversary.
Transcribed by Galen Hawthorne