Besides letting audiences have a good time listening to their music, Los Pinguos love to travel. And they’ve done a lot of it.
“We’ve been traveling around the world for many years,” said lead singer and guitarist Adrian Buono. “We were in Europe, Bali, Indonesia, Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico, South America. Always traveling, that’s what we like to do the most. That’s why we’re excited to keep on traveling and making the people happy with our music.”
They’re coming to Reno on July 11 for the Rollin’ On the River concert series in Wingfield Park from 5:30-9 p.m.
“We’re gonna do a big show for the people that want to dance and have fun,” Buono said. “They’re going to have a great time because our music is up, very happy. They’re going to have a good time for sure.”
Los Pinguos was formed in Buenos Aires, Argentina, back in 1999, but they moved a year later to Los Angeles and are still based there. The band also consists of vocalist, guitarist and songwriter José Agote, bassist Santiago Lee and percussionist Julio Ledezma. They also use six guest musicians periodically: Juan Manzur, Juan Manuel Leguizamón, Arturo Solar, John Roberts, Rocio Marron and Pablo Correa.
The group plays a mix of genres and mostly in Spanish. Buono said that about 95 percent of what they play is in Spanish.
“We do a mix of like kind of rumba flamenca, reggae, rock songs—basically Latin music with different rhythms,” Buono said. “We use Spanish guitars, bass, we do vocals in harmony, and it’s happy music. Normally when we play live, we play happy songs and happy music.”
They’ve been called a South American version of the Beatles by the Los Angeles Times. They often play some Beatles covers in their sets in English partly because of this comparison. On their website they’ve self-described themselves as “a mixture of Manu Chao’s energy and electrical live performance, with the skill and rhythm of the Gipsy Kings.” They also do covers from the Gipsy Kings and the Bee Gees, according to Buono.
Los Pinguos are continuing doing what they love—playing their music and traveling—with their current touring schedule.
“We are recording and playing around always,” Buono said. “We never stop playing. We travel. We have a festival in Mexico. We are going to Utah, Washington, Oregon, Reno. We are playing around always and making new songs, getting it together for the new album also.”
Buono said the group is currently recording their newest album, called Regardel, which should be ready to go in about two months.
“I’m going to the studio because we are working on a new project,” Buono said. “It’s tango reggae, and we’ll probably do a song or so in Reno. So we’re finishing this new album. It’s kind of a Bob Marley style with tango songs, Gardel songs.”
Carlos Gardel was an important tango singer-songwriter who also came from Buenos Aires.
Buono said that “Fumaza” is a favorite because it’s a very high energy tune that audiences love.
Buono also said that the group is excited to come to Reno. They played here once before for the Rollin’ On the River concert series back in 2009 and are thrilled to play the series and see the Reno crowds again.
“We want to go back [to Reno], of course,” Buono said. “We got a great response. It went great. We loved it. The people were very nice to us, dancing, having a good time. And we love to travel always. And hopefully a lot of people show up to the concert and everybody has a great time.”