SXSW Music Interview: La Vida Boheme
“If we didn’t move out of Caracas, we wouldn’t be a band anymore”
By Alejandra Ramirez, Fri., March 17, 2017
La Vida Boheme shouldn't be together anymore. For the past three years, the band has done a lot of self-reflection while writing their most revelatory album, La Lucha, due March 24. Facing political and violent turmoil, their hometown of Caracas, Venezuela, proved unsafe to stay under President Nicolás Maduro.
"If we didn't move out of Caracas we wouldn't be a band anymore," says guitarist Daniel de Sousa. "You cannot have anything like a band in Venezuela and expect to support yourself."
Spiraling crime hit home when the band's booking agent was abducted and murdered.
"It was hell," chokes up de Sousa. "We needed to leave."
During that time, the quartet released its sophomore album, 2013's Será. A somber snapshot of economic crisis due to Venezuela's overdependence on oil, the LP encapsulates the "blessing and curse of being a former rich country." Influenced by their immigration to Mexico, La Lucha is a sensory epic, lacing in an environmental soundtrack that includes crashing waves and subway rails.
"The past years, we've traveled to Argentina, Colombia, and Spain," reflects de Sousa. "We've soaked up all the music from cumbias and bachatas like a sponge."
