Photos by Josue Rivas
Last Call is an interview series where I, Brittany Marino, ask talented folk all about their lasts: last time they did something, last time they felt something, etc. On this edition, I hopped on Zoom to chat with Bardo, Eduardo, and Carlos and discussed all their lasts. Bardo was late to the call and joins us halfway through the interview.
Today, acclaimed psych-soul band and Los Angeles institution Chicano Batman release their latest single “Era Primavera.” The track is the second offering from their forthcoming album Notebook Fantasy, out March 29th via ATO Records. On “Era Primavera,” Chicano Batman shares a symphonic love song inspired by vocalist/lyricist Bardo’s fascination with 1960s Latin ballads. The track is adorned with a swooning string section and soaring background harmonies supplied by Martha González of the influential Chicano rock group Quetzal with her son and two of his cousins, transforming “Era Primavera” into a multigenerational family affair with an indelibly poignant impact. The accompanying visualizer, directed by Bardo, stars Amber Pilarita and unfolds like a poetic dance as she traverses through a scenic grassy desert landscape.
Brittany: What was the last show you guys played?
Carlos: Officially, the Hollywood Bowl.
Eduardo: Hollywood Bowl! What’s up!
Brittany: When was that?
Eduardo: August of last year.
Brittany: Was that a positive experience? Have you played there before? That’s a sick venue.
Eduardo: We had played this Pandemic thing where it was empty and everybody was wearing a mask, you know. So no, it was our first time co-headlining.
Brittany: Who did you co -headline with?
Eduardo: Portugal. The Man.
Brittany: That’s awesome. Was that a fun show for you guys?
Carlos: It was a lot of fun!
Eduardo: Oh yeah, home court advantage. A lot of our people were there.
Brittany: Were you touring last year? Because your last album came out in 2020 right? Invisible People and now you’re coming out with your newest one March 29th.
Carlos: Yeah so last year was kind of like a break for us in touring. It was the least amount of shows we’ve done. I’d say probably as long as we’ve been a band and had a booking agent. So a lot of it was just about recording the record and taking our time with that, finishing up the production and all that. So we had gotten the offer to play the Hollywood Bowl with our friends, Portugal. The Man couldn’t pass it up. So we added a couple of little shows leading into that, to that big gig up and down California. It was just a week of shows and yeah, it was a lot of fun.
Brittany: Last time I saw you guys play, I think it was 2022? It was in Mexico city and you guys played Hypnosis. Mars Volta played too. It was awesome, I’d seen you guys before but I think that was the first time I’d seen you in a festival sitting and I was like “everybody shut up.”
Eduardo: Yeah. Everybody shut up. That’s right.
Brittany: Well had one friend trying to talk to me during one of my favorite songs of yours, “La Jura,” which is not one of your dancey songs, but I fucking love that song, and my friend was trying to talk to me, and I was like, “I’m going to need you to please be quiet.” This is my jam.
Carlos: That’s bold of us that we played that at that festival, damn. I’m glad to resonate with you.
Brittany: I’d seen you guys before, and I want to say that you played it last time I saw you as well, and it was like years before. But in my brain, it’s not a song that you might expect to hear on a setlist because it isn’t upbeat or dancey. The content of the song is very dark but I think it’s so beautiful and it’s my favorite.
Brittany: What’s the last movie you watched?
Carlos: I think it was Saltburn.
Eduardo: I watched The Mauritanian
Brittany: I’m familiar with Saltburn, I saw that one maybe a couple weeks ago but the other one, no.
Carlos: Do you mean The Martian?
Eduardo: (laughs) No, The Mauritanian. It’s a film with Jodi Foster.
Brittany: New film?
Eduardo: It’s a new film.
Brittany: I didn’t realize Jodi Foster was still doing her thing.
Eduardo: She’s in the new season of True Detective.
Brittany: Oh actually I knew that, someone mentioned that to me.
Eduardo: I’m watching that. But I watched this movie and it’s about how after 9 /11, how the US opened Guantanamo Bay and kept hundreds of prisoners there for many years without trial or any charge.
Brittany: Does the movie receive a positive review from you?
Eduardo: Oh, yeah. Yeah, it’s cool. I always love when content like that gets put out into the world.
Brittany: I did see Saltburn though, Carlos. What were your thoughts on that?
Carlos: I thought it was great. I loved movies like that, you know, that are just strange and different and stir the pot. All those actors are amazing. I forget the lead actors name, but I’ve seen them in Banshees of Inisherin and The Killing of a Sacred Deer. He’s an amazing actor and wow, he’s incredible and sober. I mean, that scene at the, I don’t want to give it away… I’m sure a lot of people have seen it, but there’s a scene at a cemetery near a grave. That was improvised, he just told the director, I need a close set, I’m going to go for something.
Brittany: Ok yes, I remember before I saw the movie, everybody on the internet was talking about the bathtub scene. So I was prepared for it as I watched it. I was like, okay. Yeah, that was freaky but, I’ve seen crazier movies and then when that scene (grave) happens I was like, how is this not the scene everybody’s talking about. This is wild!
Carlos: He just ups the ante until the end of the film. I’m just like well, it’s incredible acting and I don’t know if he was being method or what. I admire that, you know? Just going all in on your art
Brittany: I liked it too, I think my one critique and maybe this is a spoiler. I’ll put in a spoiler note for the interview but I think my one critique about it is that I wanted him to just be this obsessive and crazy guy and not have it be about money. I feel like at the end, it was about money and I was like, no. I love the idea that he’s just like a weird fucking guy.
Carlos: Yeah, that was a critique my wife had. She was like, oh, it got kind of like, a nice little package of an ending by throwing that in. That’s a great perspective for sure.
Brittany: When was the last time you cried?
Carlos: I cried… my wife’s pregnant, she’s four months pregnant, and I cried when we went to see the ultrasound and they were like, “Here’s your daughter,” and I saw her little hands doing this, going like this in the ultrasound. We have one son, he’s two and a half, and we’re so ecstatic to be having a baby girl. I saw my baby girl’s arms moving around, stretching in the tummy. That was pretty amazing.
Brittany: Yeah, that’s amazing. Congratulations. Eduardo? Also hi Bardo.
Bardo: Hi, how’s it going?
(proceeds to catch Bardo up)
Eduardo: I cry all the time. It’s a natural thing for me. So it’s like okay, happy, sad or weird days you know, sometimes I just need to cry and I can move on with my day.
Brittany: Do you cry everyday?
Eduardo: No, I know people who do though, it’s a gift. I cried yesterday on my way to this video shoot that we did and it was pouring rain and I was just blasting music and I just cried.
Brittany: Was it the music and the setting that made you feel emotional?
Eduardo: I just felt completely alive and it was just like, I just felt like something was happening. Change was happening and it was very overwhelming. It’s just like my own rain poured out, so I felt in tune. I felt in tune.
Brittany: I love that. Bardo?
Bardo: Yeah, I kind of felt like that yesterday. I feel like crying pretty often, but I feel like I hold myself back because I’m a pretty intense cryer. Really intense with it and once I let it go, it’s like the floodgates open up and I get really loud
Brittany: Okay, yeah, I was gonna ask what do you mean by intense? Is it that you’re loud. I feel like I am a bit of an ugly crier.
Bardo: I’m an ugly ass cryer crier, ugly. Like one of the ugliest criers.
(all laugh)
Eduardo: That shit’s not pretty, man.
Brittany: Okay. Band consensus, Bardo is an ugly crier.
Eduardo: Fuckin’ boogers and shit, everything.
Bardo: Oh man, I mean my mom’s a crier, so like I got that from her, like since I was a little kid. Yesterday I was feeling intense. As I was driving back from the session, I was listening to some really dope music. It sounded like Fela Kuti. You guys ever heard of Public Image LTD?
Carlos: Yeah, PiL. Johnny Rotten’s band after the Sex Pistols.
Bardo: It sounded like Fela Kuti and Can at the same time. It sounded like they ripped a Fela Kuti bassline and added a Can beat to it, it sounded insane. It made me feel like this crazy type of aggression that was inside. Yesterday, we had a video shoot and we had 50 people there. We had five cameras, we did it at a sound stage here in LA and the energy was intense, like really insane. Spiritual and you know, we came off a crazy high and I was still feeling that. I was kind of gritting my teeth and I kind of felt emotional but I didn’t let it out.
Brittany: Well it sounds like you guys all cried recently, so I love that you guys are really leaning into your emotions.
Brittany: What is the last thing that you splurged on?
Carlos: I just bought an amp. A really nice high end amp that I probably normally wouldn’t buy but we have a tour coming up and I wanted something that was going to be amazing.
Brittany: That’s an investment!
Carlos: You know, even my splurges have some kind of practicality.
Bardo: Yeah, I mean, we went to Big Bear… I just kind of splurge as we’re out and about. We went to Big Bear with the kids and you know, on our way, we were like, okay, well, we left super late. The sun’s going to be setting by the time we get there. So we need to get an Airbnb, you know? Okay, get the one with the jacuzzi. Then it’s like minus $1000.
Brittany: Was it worth it though?
Bardo: It was worth it.
Brittany: Well, there you go.
Eduardo: I have a studio. So that’s it, I’m already locked up in that. You know, you buy a compressor for 3,500 bucks and it’s a business expense. I make music, you know what I’m saying? Then you use it like five times a year. But really, we are making music and this is kind of how I choose to spend my money. I don’t really splurge much. I do not, I do not. That’s not my style. You know, extra avocado? Once every two years. But one time, we were on tour and our bus driver, he was from Alabama or some shit. You’d think he’d be just some redneck dude. But he was the most loving guy ever. Great guy, great heart. So we go to McAllen, Texas, and then he’s like, “I’m going to go to the boot store over there.” I was like, “oh, can I join you?” He goes, “yeah, let’s go to the western store.” And so we go into the store and then he’s just the man. He just knows what he’s talking about. He knows the quality. He knows all the shirts. He’s like, “man, good price right there.” Like, “Oh, those are good boots there. Those are really cheap. You should get some of this.” And I was like, “You know what? I’m going to splurge today.” I’m gonna buy something I’ve never bought. I’m gonna buy some boots.” So then I tried on these like these cream boots that were ostrich, and then I tried them on and I was like, oh my god these are the most comfortable boots I’ve ever had and these like real big old boots and he’s like, “you need those, you need to play those tonight” and I was like right? I was like, alright I’m gonna do it. I don’t know how much they cost and then they’re like, “yeah right now, those are more than half off. We’re actually selling them at cost. You know, we’re almost taking a loss because we have the inventory coming.” And then I go to pay for them and they’re $305. And I’m like, oh, what?
Brittany: What was the last thing that you guys obsessed over?
(long pause)
Bardo: Like for fun?
(all laugh)
Carlos: We did a song for the Talking Heads tribute album, Stop Making Sense that A24 is putting out. And I guess the last thing I was stressing over was like getting the mix right. Going back and forth with the mixing engineer to make sure it sounded great. And the band thought it sounded great.
Eduardo: The last thing I obsessed over was a retaining wall that I built in my house. Because my backyard is on a slope. So me and my friend Chip, we got together for four days and brought home 4,000 pounds of material and created a 26 foot wall that was about two to four feet tall in different parts of the house. We had to level it, we had to compact it. We had to do it right because that, you know, it’s a lot of investment, a lot of work. So that was just day in and day out, night times, thinking about it. That’s how I work best. I love obsessing over a project and then it’s finished and I like moving on and I don’t really like looking at that project again. I just don’t even go back. I just like the next project and I just obsess over it and then move on.
Brittany: Are you someone who can’t start a new project until you finish the previous one?
Eduardo: Oh, I’m totally, totally grounded right now because I have to finish these fucking albums. I haven’t completed. I cannot start any new ventures right now. I have to finish the old stuff. I can’t, I cannot do it. I have too many things open. But yeah, you’re right. I cannot start something new. And when I do, I’m like, I feel like I’m cheating I’m like, “hey, hey, what are you doing? Take it easy man. You’re loving this too much. What about all the other compromises?”
Bardo: Yesterday, we did this video shoot. It was a live recording of like five songs. I was pretty much obsessed, obsessing over every detail in terms of just making sure… I just really wanted the whole shoot to feel like it was top of the pops, you know 1984 or something. It was just a lot going into that. We had a small budget, we made it look like a much bigger budget. We got a bargain for the vibes that we got. For the size of the room that we played in, the type of equipment that was used. It took a lot of work to put it together though. It was really understaffed. When I got there the stage was a little bit unaligned so when I got there, I was like, “no, we got to make the stage aligned. We got to move it.” So I was like literally moving the stage myself with everybody. I was just so obsessed with making sure that it looked as good as possible on camera. It was pretty insane yesterday. So we’ll see how it comes out. I have no idea.
Album cover artwork for Notebook Fantasy
Brittany: How about the last note in your notes app?
Eduardo: (laughs) I have the sickest notes app. I have the one I just keep adding to.
Brittany: Wait you have one note that you continuously add to?
(all laugh)
Brittany: That sounds crazy to me.
Eduardo: (laughing) it’s so many years old. My wife makes fun of me all the time. She’s like, “you know, that’s a problem, right? Like, it’s like a thing, like you gotta take care of that. Just open up a new note.”
Bardo: The last one I have is the five songs that we did yesterday.
Carlos: The last one I have is all the bills that I have to pay on the 1st,
Brittany: Oh no, note the bills note. That’s the one that accidentally gets deleted.
Bardo: That is the one I ignore.
Brittany: Last question is, last risk you took?
(long pause)
Eduardo: That’s a great question…
Brittany: And a hard one too…
Bardo: I used a file to brush my teeth?
Brittany: You used a file to brush your teeth?
Eduardo: Mic drop!
Brittany: I can’t tell if you’re joking…
Bardo: My teeth look like I use the file, huh?
Brittany: No… I mean not with this low quality zoom camera.
Bardo: My shitty phone camera. I never jump on the computer for this stuff.
Brittany: Okay, so that’s going to be on the record that Bardo uses a file to brush his teeth.
(all laugh)
Eduardo: You are gonna be famous now! Thank you Bardo, looking out for your people.
Bardo: (laughing) That’s my dad’s humor right there. My dad would say some shit like that. Actually, I didn’t. Actually, I’m just joking but you could put that I’m joking
Brittany: Okay, I’ll add that you said you’re joking, but it’s up to the people to decide if they believe you.
Carlos: Joking? Question mark?
Brittany: Now when they read the interview and they come see you, they’re going to be staring at your teeth. Does it look like he used a file?
(all laugh)
Bardo: That’s why interviews always bite me in the ass. I always say stupid ass shit. I guess that’s my risk. I’m always taking risks by saying dumb shit.
Brittany: Yeah, you take risks by saying stupid ass shit in interviews.
Eduardo: Ay there we go! That’s perfect.
Bardo: Just do the second one, that I say stupid shit in interviews.
Brittany: I don’t know I might have to keep it all in
Eduardo: No I think we gotta keep all of it, we are gonna be famous bro!
Brittany: It’s for journalistic purposes.
Bardo: Oh my God, I thought journalism was out the window?
Brittany: But I’m reviving it by making sure people know that you say some wild shit in interviews. But Carlos? Last risk you took? or Eduardo?
Carlos: Okay, I don’t know if it’s really a risk, but Sunday night, we were rehearsing for that live filming we did yesterday. I started progressively feeling this terrible pain in my stomach and I was pretty much sure that I got food poisoning. So Sunday night, I was in the fetal position and I was going to cancel the taping and my manager was like, “you can’t we have to do this” and I’m like, “I can’t even walk” and I willed myself out of bed and went and did the filming that lasted like eight hours.
Bardo: You felt better though, huh?
Carlos: I didn’t feel better… especially when there were long breaks between the songs, my adrenaline would deplete at that point and I’d feel the pain and I’d just be like, “come on, let’s keep playing the music so we can go”
Bardo: How do you feel now?
Carlos: I feel like I have a hangover, a little headache, a little stomach ache, but I feel much better than I did yesterday and the day before.
Brittany: Do you think the risk was worth it?
Carlos: Yeah. I think the risk was worth it because the show must go on.
Brittany: The show must go on.
Bardo: It was lightning in a bottle yesterday.
Eduardo: I got a cute one… I don’t really like getting my hands dirty and shit. Or like my feet wet, nobody likes wet socks… I think. But anyways, my son changed all that for me.
Brittany: So now you like wet socks?
Eduardo: No fuck that, never never. That’s bad. So we were in Morro bay, which is up in North California and my son wanted to get in the water, in the ocean and it’s freezing. It’s just who he is. So he gets his feet in the water and he’s like “come, dad, come on!” In my head, I am like, “you’re fucking crazy dude. It’s like it’s so cold right now.” And then I just remembered like, aye take a risk and I literally have that voice inside me… when my son wants to do something and I’m reluctant because I don’t do that. So then I was like, take a risk and then I was like, “okay let’s go.” So then I started taking off my shoes and my socks and my wife’s looking at me like, “wow you’re gonna do that?’ and I just went in the water with him and it was freezing cold. And then maybe five minutes later, my world was just completely in the water and it was not cold. So on the other side of risk, I was completely in his world and in the water and it’s a completely different planet. Whereas on the other side of fear, I was just outside looking in.
Brittany: I love that, that’s a cute one. We really got a range over here
Eduardo: Yeah. Between that and fucking diarrhea. (laughing)
Brittany: Bardo, not sure what category your risk falls into…
Bardo: Dental risk
Eduardo: That’s a good one! That is the biggest risk!
