Chicano Batman to cap off Hammer Museum’s summerlong Made in LA concert series

It only took one moment for Eduardo Arenas, bassist of East L.A. band Chicano Batman, to know he wanted to be a musician. He was five years old, surrounded by his tíos, or uncles, and listening to music, when he found the “kick” ““ he isolated the beat by tapping it out with his foot. His tíos erupted in cheers, and when he was old enough, he became the roadie to their band. Now, Arenas has a band of his own.

On Thursday, Chicano Batman will join DJ Anthony Valadez of KCRW to take over the outdoor courtyard of the Hammer Museum. It will be the last show in a series of concerts that KCRW has hosted at the Hammer as part of the exhibition Made in L.A.

To establish the concert series, the Hammer partnered with KCRW to bring in emerging or obscure artists that play music representative of Los Angeles.

“I think when you live in L.A., you really do live in the world. … You’re going to get a taste of China; you’re going to get a taste of Latin America; you’re going to get a taste of so many different wonderful cultures in L.A.,” Valadez said.

Chicano Batman is its own melting pot of musical genres and inspirations, including bossa nova, funk, cumbia and Latin, Valadez said.

Valadez said the band first caught his attention at a show, where members dressed in 1970s prom attire and had a keyboard held up by an ironing board.

The quartet accomplishes a broad range in its sound by incorporating music from the cultural roots of each band member while maintaining a collective interest in ’60s and ’70s Latin American soul, Arenas said.

Drummer Gabriel Villa said his roots are far from Los Angeles; he was born and raised in Colombia and studied in France before moving to Southern California. His background allows him to contribute both a tropical and Cuban salsa sound to the band, he said.

Villa said his musical career began in his mother’s kitchen. He played on her kitchen tools and worked on making beats with a neighbor until he got his first drum set around 15. At 18, he went to France and played many different styles of music there, including rock, metal, blues and folk.

Guitarist and keyboardist Bardo Martinez said he grew up listening to his father play guitar at home, but it took him a while to get serious playing it himself. He tried taking a class but lacked focus at the time.

Later, he became more serious and taught himself to play guitar from a book he bought.

Guitarist Carlos Arévalo bought his first guitar at age 15. When he didn’t have enough money to get the turntables he was originally planning to purchase he bought an electric guitar with the money instead and has been playing it ever since.

Arenas said he became serious about becoming a musician after junior high, when he got his first guitar and ended up playing it for about 17 years.

It wasn’t until Arenas was a part of Chicano Batman that he began playing bass, but now that he has started he said feels that he has found his instrument.

Made in L.A., a biennial art exhibition, opened this summer to celebrate all that is created in and inspired by Los Angeles.

The event featured 60 new or unknown artists from the L.A. area and was housed at three venues, including the Hammer. There were artists from every medium, including drawings, paintings, sculptures, photography, performance and video, said Corrina Peipon, curatorial associate of the Hammer Museum.

Valadez said he plans to make the closing night of the Made in L.A. concert series a big one.

“It’s going to be the night of all nights in (Los Angeles). … We’re going to bring that backyard block party flavor to the Hammer,” he said.