Los Amparito Interview: SXSW 2010

Carlos Pesina is a modern renaissance man; he's an artist, sandwich aficionado and staple in the Mexican indie electronic scene. Pesina has made a name for himself south of the border under a whole mess of pseudonyms (Pepepe, Pesina Siller and Los Amparito) and has won rave reviews for his remixes of American indie acts Panda Bear and Animal Collective. With Los Amparito, he takes traditional Mexican music and adds an electronic sabor -- that is to say, flavor -- to it. The prolific artist spoke with Spinner before his upcoming performance at SXSW.

Describe your sound in your own words.

I would say either Huarache-gaze (shoe gaze) or Mariachi-wave.

What are your musical influences?

Amparo Ochoa [a '60s Mexican folk singer] and Los Xochimilcas [a 60's freaked out comedy rock group].

How did you come up with your band name?

We stole the name from the best sandwiches in town: los Lonches Amparito.

What's your biggest vice?

Candies and Strawberry Boing [a Mexican juice-like drink].

What's in your festival survival kit?

Toothbrush and my laptop. What else would I need apart from clean teeth and Wi-Fi?

Who was your first celeb crush?

Karla from the '90s-Mexican-girly-pop band Jeans.

What's your musical guilty pleasure?

Los Horoscopos de Durango. I'm starting to like pasito duranguense [a genre of Mexican music that resembles banda and norteno].

Coke or Pepsi?

Big Cola is cheaper and way better than both.

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