Grupo Fantasma – “Roto El Corazon”
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Adrian Quesada seems to have his finger in a whole bunch of Austin music pies. Along with Martín Perna, he fronts the afro-beat-meets-Latin-soul group Ocote Soul Sounds. But it doesn’t stop there. Over the past decade, he also started the bands Brownout as well as Echocentrics. But for Quesada, it all started in 2000 when he founded Grupo Fantasma.
Over the band’s ten-plus years, the ten-piece has become not only a Central Texas favorite, but they also garnered attention from rock and roll royalty: Prince. In fact, in 2008, Grupo had a stint as the house band at the-artist-formally-known-as’s nightclub in Las Vegas. In that same year, the band earned their first Grammy nomination for Sonidos Gold. Their Grammy wishes came true this year, when the band took home the Best Latin Rock, Alternative or Urban Album for El Existential. In true DIY form, the band didn’t celebrate onstage at the award ceremony – but rather with some cold beers at a gas station while in route to yet another gig.
Grupo is back out on the road right now but will be back in Austin at the beginning of next month with a show at The Nutty Brown Cafe. And before they left on this road trip, the band recorded some exclusive live tracks in KUT’s Studio 1A. “Roto El Corazon” is a song that the band has yet to put down on record. It’s classic Grupo, though, with a driving groove and wonderful subtle inflections from the different members of this muiti-talented orchestra.
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