Los Bitchos tell us about the inspirations behind their debut album (stream it)

UK band Los Bitchos just released Let the Festivities Begin!, their very fun debut album — produced by Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos — that’s full of instrumental party music influenced by Tuareg guitar styles and Highlife rhythms, cumbia, surf-rock, Greek disco, Spaghetti western scores, hard rock, shoegaze and more. You can listen to the whole thing, and watch their new computer animated video for album standout “The Link is About to Die” below.

We asked Los Bitchos to tell us about the inspirations behind the album, and their list includes not just music but fashion, movies and more. Read their list with commentary below.

Los Bitchos will head to Austin for SXSW in March, and will then be back this summer for their first U.S. tour that kicks off at Brooklyn’s Music Hall of Williamsburg on June 6. All dates are listed below.

LOS BITCHOS – 10 INFLUENCES BEHIND ‘LET THE FESTIVITIES BEGIN!’

Lindsay Lohan’s Beach Club
The song ‘Lindsay goes to Mykonos’ is a real tribute to Lohan. We were all going through a massive Lindsay phase and watching this show at the time of writing the song. It’s a chronicle of her life from the start of her career up until her reality TV show and beyond. We salute you Lindsay!

Quentin Tarantino Films
We are all huge Tarantino fans and the soundtracks are a real inspiration, particularly as an instrumental band.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUtIJzR46CM

Sims Video Games
We’ve always felt that our music is very ‘Sims’, particularly our old demos, it just made us feel like we were in a sassy computer game.

Madonna- True Blue
This album embodies so many of our favourite songs such as “La Isla Bonita” and “Papa Don’t Preach,” and we had it on repeat in the early days – along with her hit single “Holiday” from her first album. The songs just make you feel so good and make you want to sing along and dance!

Van Halen – Van Halen
It’s safe to say that Eddie Van Halen’s outrageously creative guitar skills are a huge influence on this band. He was never afraid to push the envelope and did some absolutely mad things on the guitar, he wrote his own rules and that’s been something we will always strive to emulate.

Los Destellos – “A Patricia”
This song changed everything. It was a huge catalyst for starting an instrumental band. The style of production, the layered percussion, emotional guitar lines were just a magical revelation to what was possible musically and as a band.

We love ’60s and ’70s design and logotype.
These were some of the inspos we sent to Raissa Pardini who came up with our logo, and to Olya who did our album logo and type for us.

’60s and ’70s fashion and vintage photography
’60s and ’70s fashion and vintage photography are huge influences for the album cover. Our good friend Tom Mitchell has done nearly all of our photos and videos. This is one of the mood boards we sent to the stylists for our album cover and the video for “Las Panteras.”

Album Cover mood Board
All of these images have something we love, the colour schemes, a busy/sassy nature and of course the members themselves being featured on the cover. It gives a great intro to the vibe of the band and it’s like you get to meet all the members and see what they are all about.

Hetty Mckinnon – Neighbourhood Cookbook
Cooking is one of life’s many joys. My friends from high school gave me this cookbook a few years ago before we recorded the album and it just transports me back to that time when we were getting our demos and such together. I love the eclectic nature of this book, it brings influences from all over the world under one common theme; sitting down with family or friends or strangers and sharing food and recipes. Music is a total mirror to this, I love that it has the power to bring people together regardless of where you are from. Power to this cookbook and to music! (Serra)

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Los Bitchos – 2022 Tour Dates
02.09.22 UK London, Rough Trade East (instore)
02.15.22 UK Southampton, Joiners
02.16.22 UK Manchester, Gorilla
02.17.22 UK Leeds, Brudenell
02.18.22 UK Glasgow, Stereo
02.19.22 UK York, The Crescent
02.20.22 UK Liverpool, District
02.22.22 IRL Dublin, Workman’s Club
02.24.22 UK Birmingham, Hare & Hounds
02.25.22 UK Bristol, Exchange
02.26.22 UK Brighton, Patterns
02.27.22 UK Margate, Elsewhere
03.02.22 UK London, Scala
03.14-20.22 U.S. Austin, TX SXSW (more TBA)
04.07.22 NL Nijmegen, Merleyn
04.08.22 NL Amsterdam, Paradiso
04.09.22 FR Paris, La Maroquinerie
04.11.22 FR Bordeaux, Iboat
04.12.23 ES San Sebastian, Sala Dabadaba
04.13.22 ES Madrid, Moby Dick
04.15.22 ES Barcelona, Laut
04.16.22 FR Toulouse, Le Connexion
04.19.22 IT Milan, Magnolia
04.20.22 CH Zurich, Bogen F
04.21.22 DE Munich, Milla
04.23.22 DE Berlin, Urban Spree
04.24.22 DE Hamburg, Molotow
04.26.22 SE Stockholm, Hus7
04.27.22 NO Ingensteds , Oslo
04.28.22 SE Goteborg, Oceanen
04.29.22 SE Malmo, Plan B
04.30.22 DK Copenhagen, Stengade
05.02.22 DK Cologne, Bumann & Sohn
05.03.22 BE Brussels, Nuits Botanique
05.04.22 FR Lille, Aeronef
05.05.22 FR Rouen, Le 106
05.06.22 FR Rennes, Ubu
05.07.22 FR Amiens, La Lune des Pirates,
05.26.22 DE Berlin, Desertfest
05.27.22 PL Warsaw, Hydrozagadka
05.29.22 CZ Prague, Chapeau Rouge
05.30.22 HU Budapest, Dürer Kert
05.31.22 AT Vienna, Fluc Wanne
06.01.22 DE Augsburg, City Club
06.02.22 DE Schorndorf , Club Manufaktur
06.20.22 U.S. Brooklyn, NY, Music Hall Of Williamsburg
06.22.22 U.S. Chicago, IL, Empty Bottle
06.27.22 U.S. San Francisco, CA, The Chapel
06.29.22 U.S. Portland, OR, Mississippi Studios
06.30.22 U.S. Seattle, WA, Tractor Tavern
07.06.22 ES Barcelona, Primavera Sound
08.26.22 FR Paris, Rock En Seine