This weekend, Los Angeles will be part of a crazy music and arts experience that will bring L.A.’s finest to the dance floor. That’s right, we are talking about Santa Fe: a 3 night festival featuring various artists from different cultures that will be like nothing you’ve ever experienced before. The festival will host outstanding bands from all over the world like Little Jesus, Uruguayan band Santé Les Amis and Colombian superstars Bomba Estéreo, who will be presenting their new album Amanecer on June 6th at the Fonda Theatre and will be kicking off their tour through the US and Europe.

We got the chance to talk to Simón Mejía, band’s founder, who told us a lot about their new album, their new sound and what we can expect from their show at Santa Fe this weekend. Check out the interview below and make sure to check him out in his performance with Bomba Estereo on June 6th at the Fonda.

Get your tickets for Santa Fe’s biggest night here!

Here is the interview we had with Simon from Bomba Estereo:

LifeBoxset: We have heard three singles from your new album Amanecer: “Fiesta”, “Somos Dos” and “Sólo Tú”. What can you tell us about the album as a whole? How would you describe it?

Simón: I think it’s an evolution, a step forward, an album where we experimented ways of making music and new ways of singing. It is much more electronic that the previous ones and it’s also inspired on emotional aspects and feelings. It talks about love, looking within yourself instead of outside. It is similar to El Alma y el Cuerpo [their previous album] in regards of theme but musically it is much more electronic and less “cumbia style”.

L: Why are you leaning towards electronic music in this album?

S: Because music is about exploring. Each album needs to be a new exploration and we want to avoid repetition; we don’t want to end up in the same place as always. We wanted to experiment and we did it according to the moments we were going through and what we were feeling. When we recorded this album, we were listening to music that has a lot to do with what ended up in the final product. It is simply an expression of what we were going through.

L: What is this music that were you listening to?

S: A little bit of everything. New sounds like moombahton, house music, African house, some reggaeton. Especially electronic music that focuses on dance and very simple rhythms where the beat and the bass are predominant.

L: Why is the album called Amanecer (Breaking Dawn)? Where does the name come from?

S: It’s called that way, because that’s a song from the album and it embodies the idea of being reborn and bringing a new energy. It is an album with a lot of light: very white, very positive, very emotion oriented.

Now culture goes from south to north too.

L: You’ve been travelling a lot. How has this influenced you? Have you seen colors, cultures, sounds? Is this part of your experimentation?

S: Yes, it is the essence of the band. We have always wanted to mix and fuse sounds, to put one rhythm next to the other. Our music has always been eclectic and it will always be like that. It has a lot to do with what we are as a culture: a hybrid culture influenced by many musical genres, from tropical to electronic music.

L: Your lyrics always talk about unity, “Fiesta” is a big carnival. Where does this energy come from? What is a big party for you?

S: It’s something very Colombian, very Latino. I believe it comes in the blood and it’s something that has grown with dance and rhythms and has become a part of the unconscious mindset in Latin America. It is a way of expressing what we have inside, everything we are surrounded by and just combining it with music.

L: Do you mean that that “party factor” is a part of Latino blood?

S: I believe partying is something universal but Latin America tends to be a little hotter because we are more passional. We are closer to the tropic and our Afro-Indian background makes our blood much warmer.

L: Speaking of which… You have been spending a lot of time in L.A., what is your impression of Latino culture there and the acceptance of this new Latin musical wave?

S: I think it is amazing how each day Latin America conquers more and more of the US. It is like a cultural takeover. Nowadays, the second most common language in the US is Spanish and I think that’s an indicator of what is happening culturally and how we are reversing this historical tendency of only consuming North American culture. I think it’s something that needs to continue so Latin America can be heard by the world and so we can share our culture. We need it to be a reciprocal situation and not unilateral. Now culture goes from south to north too.

L: In regards to your show in Santa Fe, where you will be presenting your new album Amanecer, what can we expect?

S: New music, new songs, new staging, new lights, new visuals. The whole show is new. Right now we have those dates set up and later on we will be going to Mexico too. First it’s Europe, then back to the US and Mexico will happen around August or September.

L: If you had to use one word or phrase to describe this album, which one would it be?

S: I would say it is an album “full of love”.

L: Any new collaborations you have in mind?

S: Not right now. We didn’t want to collaborate with anyone in this album because we feel that it is becoming more of a fad than something actually artistic. The songs have no collaborations because of this, but later on it is always a possibility.

L: Finally, besides “Fiesta”, what other song from ‘Amanecer’ can you guarantee will bring everyone to the dancefloor?

S: “Amanecer” and “Somos Dos”.