Sony Music Rick Trevino of Los Super
Seven works in his studio. The group performs Thursday at the Conga
Room.
By Antero Garcia
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
When Rick Trevino recorded for the new Los Super Seven album, he
wasn’t too nervous about his performance. Then again,
it’s pretty difficult to get nervous when laying down a track
in the early hours of the morning.
“We cut my song at about 2:30 in the morning and I
didn’t finish until about four or five in the morning,”
Trevino said in an interview from his home in Austin Texas.
“Steve (Berlin) is pretty crazy like that, he likes to
record all night long.”
Trevino, a respected country musician, has rediscovered his
Latin roots ““ albeit when he should have been sleeping
““ and is receiving critical acclaim for his involvement with
Los Super Seven.
Trevino will be performing with a slew of special guests
Thursday at The Conga Room.
Trevino is known for singing several songs for Los Super Seven,
a group that is basically an all-star list of some of the most
notable Latin American musicians performing today.
The official Los Super Seven lineup is David Hidalgo, Cesar
Rosas, Ruben Ramos, Raul Malo, Caetano Veloso, Susan Baca and
Trevino, with both albums produced by Steve Berlin.
The seven members have individually won a total of eight Grammy
awards for other musical endeavors.
With so much fame squeezed into one group, it seems almost
inevitable that arrogance and conceit would be a problem in the
recording studio.
“We didn’t have to worry about egos getting in the
way,” Trevino said. “Everyone was just happy to be
there, and the only time an ego gets in the way is when you have
something to prove. Since no one had anything to prove, it was just
about having a good time and making some great music.”
“We all looked at this as a no pressure gig,”
Trevino continued. “Everyone was just looking at having a
good time.”
Having a good time is exactly why the group formed in the first
place. With no recording contract and little likelihood of
extensive touring, Los Super Seven was formed primarily to perform
a few concerts at a small restaurant during the annual South by
Southwest conference.
“At first Los Super Seven was just something we did once a
year at Las Manitas. We would all just sit down with our acoustic
guitars and I would sing something that had a Latin flavor or Latin
roots theme. It was more Norteno or Tex-Mex music then.”
The group’s albums consist of renditions of traditional
Latin songs. However, with so many different styles of Latin music,
the process of selecting which songs Los Super Seven would record
was daunting.
“Dan and Steve went to Guadalajara. There’s a
gentleman there named Nacho and he’s got like 40,000 records
at his house ““ old records. They went through his collection
and pulled a bunch of salsa and Cuban stuff,” Trevino
said.
The group’s debut self-titled album was simplistic and
relied on a minimalist approach to recording.
“The first record was just a baja sexto and an accordion
and that was it. That’s how it all started,” Trevino
said.
For the group’s next album, Los Super Seven decided to
fill out its sound, and also experiment with other styles of Latin
playing. Ultimately, this is the sound that Trevino most
admires.
“I’m partial to “˜Canto,’ it has a lot of
piano and a lot of Latin percussion. I’m really into that
kind of style and being able to listen to Albert Salas play is
incredible ““ he’s great,” he said.
In addition to changing to a more salsa driven sound, Los Super
Seven decided on something else it hadn’t previously done on
its first album ““ record original compositions. Despite the
additions of these new songs, the album still retains an archaic
and classic feeling.
“Dave wrote “˜Teresa’ and Cesar wrote
“˜Campesino,’ but it still all flows pretty well,”
Trevino said.
With its tight instrumentation and complex arrangements, Trevino
claims that “Canto” is an album that isn’t going
to be easily forgotten.
“Music lovers love Los Super Seven. If you love music,
then you’re gonna love whatever Los Super Seven does because
it’s not really about the seven members. It’s really
about Latin roots,” Trevino said.
Besides the seven main members, “Canto” included
performances by many other notable musicians including Ozomatli
front man Will Dog, and David Hidalgo’s son, David Hidalgo
Jr.
“I hadn’t worked with Will Dog, David Jr. Cougar or
Alberto,” Trevino said.
“They were great ““ fast! They would just look at a
chart and play it and they’re done. It wasn’t about
practicing, it was about “˜here’s a chart, play it,
boom, we’re finished.'”
With his experience in Latin music, Trevino returned to the
studio to record his own solo album, “Mi Son.”
Because of his exposure to Los Super Seven, Trevino did not
approach the album as a usual country album, and many of the Super
Seven musicians appear on “Mi Son.”
“Since Super Seven, I’ve always tried to incorporate
a Latin element to my songs. It made me more aware of my Latin
roots when I go to record or anything like that. It’s
definitely made me more aware of where I come from,” Trevino
said.
MUSIC: Rick Trevino will be performing at The
Conga Room this Thursday. For tickets call The Conga Room box
office at (323) 938-1696.