Ozomatli, a Grammy-winning band from Los Angeles, performed live at the MPR booth at the Minnesota State Fair as part of The Current’s Morning Show … in the Afternoon. Celebrating their 30th anniversary as a band, Ozomatli were in the Twin Cities to play a couple of shows at the Dakota in Minneapolis — and they brought a legion of loyal fans to the MPR booth at the State Fair for a performance by what percussionist Jiro Yamaguchi calls “the campire version” of the band.

Use the audio player above to listen to the session, and find interview highlights below.

Interview Highlights

On the formation of Ozomatli

“The beginning was actually because all of us grew up in L.A., so we kind of each knew each other from different musical circles. But the real genesis of what started Ozomatli was a labor dispute, and a bunch of workers at the time who worked for this organization called the L.A. Conservation Corps tried to form a union, and in trying to form a union, they all got fired, so as a form of protest, they did a sit in at the building that they were in. [They] regained the rights to the building, lost their jobs, but they renamed this building the Peace and Justice Center, and turned it into kind of like a very vibrant art center for inner-city youth. There was a band that came out of there, poets, artists, all kinds of skateboarding, graffiti, art, you name it. It was all coming out of there. And every weekend they would do shows to help maintain the center and raise funds for it. So people who showed up on the weekends were people who ended up being in Ozomatli.”

On the origin of the band’s name

“Our original drummer, Anton Morales, suggested Ozomatli. And of course, we were like, ‘What is that?’ It represents a little monkey on the Aztec calendar, it's a horoscope symbol. And he's kind of like the god of dance, and he's orchestrator of the jungle. And we just felt the spirit of Ozomatli fit the collective.”

On favorite memories of touring in Minnesota

“One of the coolest memories I have is that when we were on tour with Carlos Santana, we came into town, and every night, he would have different people just show up to sit in, and I remember walking to the backstage, and I see these two dudes just both dressed all in white. And I'm like, 'Who are these characters?' And it turned out to be Larry Graham Jr and Prince, and they showed up to jam out, so we got to jam out with them, too! And I'll never forget walking up to Prince and being like, 'Oh man, thank you.' And he was like, 'I like you guys.' And that was enough for me to just walk away. 'OK, thank you sir.' But it was awesome. It was a wonderful memory.”

On what has helped the longevity of the band

“I would say, from the jump, from the beginning of the band, we realized a couple things, things that break up bands, the money, the egos. So we're like, 'We gotta think about this.' So we, from the very beginning, we split up everything evenly. We set up a health care fund. We took care of ourselves. And also we figured out a way to resolve our conflicts in a healthy way, because, when ywe were in our 20s, we were just wild, so we didn't know how to figure anything out. But through the years, we've been able — I mean, the joke is, is that [our] 30-year anniversary, the band is the longest relationship any of us has ever been in. It's real, man. You know, people have been divorced, people have died, you name it in this band. So it's a life and a family. We're brothers.”

Songs Performed

“After Party”
”Red Line”

Credits

Guests – Ozomatli
Host – Jill Riley
Producers – Nilufer Arsala, Derrick Stevens
Digital Producer – Luke Taylor

External Link

Ozomatli – official site