Viaje Nahual
Fresh off the release of their new album, AHUICYAHUI, Viaje Nahual was nice enough to answer some of our questions, tell us a little bit about their beginnings and what they’re looking forward to as a band.
MB: How did you all meet?
VN: (Mikelo, guitarist and vocals) I met Cindy in High school during a mariachi concert her HS did at mine. She was the violinist and singer. We became friends and started a band later on called "The Koroks". We then met Ricky playing in another local band called Petra Ice. During this period of time both of those bands disbanded and we started Kurumpaw where Ricky joined Cindy and I. When the pandemic hit, I had been jamming with Jon (guitarist) in another band called Lunero and Kurumpaw and Lunero disbanded. So I pitched Jon to Cindy and Ricky to join a new project and that’s how Viaje Nahual started. About 8 months into the birth of Viaje Nahual, Cindy met Fernando (percussionist) at Naked City Audio. He joined us for a jam and about a month later joined the band.
MB: What influenced the name of your band?
VN: We didn't know what to call our new project and went through so many options. We knew we wanted a name that highlighted our roots and who we were/are as people. At the time I was listening to a podcast called "La Verdadera Historia de Mexico" where one of the hosts is a Mexican history professor and in an episode he talked about Nahuales (prehispanic shamans). I immediately was intrigued by what he was saying and brought it up to the band. I knew I wanted a name that had the word Nahual in it and Cindy then complemented it with Viaje because she wanted a word in the band that meant movement. Viaje Nahual was then born. It means the Shaman's trip or journey!
MB: What do you want your listeners to experience?
VN: We want to send out a message of love and strength to our listeners. We would like them to know that there is magic out there and to believe in it; a message of movement and inspiration through the songs.
MB: Who or what are some of your influences?
VN: We love Latin music of course, but we all have different influences. I personally like classic rock bands like Santana, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and The Beatles. But I also enjoy tropical electronic music like Bomba Estereo, Sotomayor, Montoya, YoSoymatt etc. I also like new psychedelic bands like Crumb, Khruangbin and Chicano Batman. Oh, I also love the new wave of soul music like Thee Sacred Souls, Durand Jones & The Indications and Thee Sinseers.
MB: Can you tell us one thing about each member of the band (ie. hobbies, something interesting, etc.)?
VN: Along with being a great guitar player, Miguel is also a really good DJ. Ricky is the heartbeat of the band and enjoys downhill mountain biking. Foggy is also a great guitar player who makes sushi. Cindy is a a very talented writer/musician and multi instrumentalist. Jon plays in another band called The Red Seduction.
MB: What’s next for Viaje Nahual?
VN: At the moment we are focusing on shows coming up which include our participation in the Life is Beautiful Rising Stars Contest to perform in the festival. We are also going to start recording our next album. And last but not least, we plan to finish writing pending songs we've been working on that we haven’t been able to finish since we have been so busy lately.
We’d like to thank the members of Viaje Nahual for taking the time to tell us about themselves and their music. Listen to their latest album below and if you want see them live, check them out this Saturday, July 29th at First Street Pool and Billiard Parlor in LA and Saturday, August 5th at the Life is Beautiful Rising Stars Semifinals at The Space in Las Vegas.