Sonic the Hedgehog, Sabrina Carpenter and the Second Album: Talkie Talkie-ing with Los Bitchos
We had the pleasure of speaking to the band ahead of their album release.
Photo: Tom Mitchell
They’ve opened for the likes of Belle and Sebastian, Pavement, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard and Franz Ferdinand. They’ve played Glastonbury, Coachella, Levitation and End of the Road. In 2022 they released their debut, Let the Festivities Begin!, to critical acclaim, and their fusion of South American cumbia and pop-rock has made them up-and-coming indie superstars. Their follow-up record, Talke Talkie, drops later this month and they’re rehearsing for an international headliner tour.
They are Los Bitchos, and recently I got the chance to talk to them about the new album, music, and obscure ‘90s video games.
Not long until the release of Talkie Talkie! How are you guys feeling?
Agustina: Super excited!
Serra: I’m feeling excited, but I’m kind of like… I don’t know. Sometimes I feel excited, and then other times I’m like, ‘what’s gonna happen?’. Maybe — what’s the step before anxious? No, it’s exciting. It’s been a long time since we put out our first album, so it’s just raring to get the new songs out and do the whole cycle of fun again.
Is it any less anxiety-inducing this time around?
Serra: Different nerves. Different. I think with the first one, we had no expectations. We didn’t know anything, how it was gonna be received – we were a fairly new band. With that first release, it just kind of came out and we were like [shrugs] ‘I don’t know’.
But, I think with the second album, you’ve already got a little following. Your expectations end up being a bit different. But that’s not a bad thing.
Is there a particular track you guys are most excited about?
Agustina: I like Let Me Cook You. We’ve played it like, two times already, and… I don’t know, it’s good for festivals, and to play live. And Tango and Twirl, because it’s so nostalgic, and I’m curious how people are going to react to that live. Are they gonna cry? Gonna be happy?
Serra: I hope they cry. [Laughs]. For me, it’s It’s About Time because it’s really different, and really jazzy. I love that song. It’s probably my favourite from the album. But it’s usually my favourites that get the least streams.
A: Same.
S: Yeah? Like our favourites, we think ‘these are bound to be great’, and then it ends up being another one that’s [popular]. [Laughs].
What were your favourites from the first album?
Agustina: I love Lindsay [Goes to Mykonos], which, like, had nothing.
Serra: Yeah! Like, compared to Pista (Fresh Start), Link…
A: Good to Go!
S: Good to Go! – Like, how? I’m with you man, I’m with you. I love Lindsay, and Try the Circle! for me, from the first album. I thought that was a god damn masterpiece! And I think it’s one of the least popular ones from the album. But it goes down very well live. Very, very well.
How long has Talkie Talkie been in the works for?
Agustina: One of the songs you wrote when we started the band. Don’t Change – that was like the second song you ever teach [sic] me.
Serra: Yeah. It’s such an old song. I think it’s because I’ve just been writing consistently. Like, even when the first album came out, you just keep on writing and writing. The way we’ve been working is maybe different to other bands – or maybe not, I don’t know – but I’ve just been writing the whole time. So, it’s been in the works, I guess, for many, many years.
I mean really, I guess, I started the biggest batch of songs in 2020. But it’s been little bits over the last few years.
Sum up the new album in three words.
Agustina: Very eighties, honey.
Serra: [Laughs]. I love ‘very’, I love that that’s a word in there.
A: It’s not even that eighties, but whatever.
S: I’m gonna go with ‘slick Miami evening’. I keep going back to Miami. It’s very Miami.
Let’s talk song names. You have some odd ones — the opener of your first album, for instance, is called ‘The Link Is About to Die’.
Serra: It’s just something Agustina said to me in an e-mail. That’s where that came from.
Agustina: You sent me a link, and I had just woken up, so my English was terrible. So, I was like, ‘the link is about to die’, and that was it.
Is that where most of your song titles come from? There’s one on the new album called ‘Open the Bunny, Wasting My Time’.
Serra: That was when we were recording our first album. Agustina gets like, really angsty and impatient with me sometimes, especially when she’s feeling a bit annoying. And I had purchased this chocolate Lindt bunny – for myself, by the way! It was my chocolate bunny. And then she wanted a bit of it, I was like, ‘okay, I’ll give you a small section of this bunny’. And she was like, ‘open it, open it! Wasting my time! Open the bunny, wasting my time!’ She kept repeating it.
And it went past the point of annoying, to actually quite endearing. And it’s on the album. [Laughs]
That’s so wholesome! It’s really interesting that some of the names are just nonsensical.
Agustina: We spend a lot of time together, so we keep making these jokes that we get obsessed with for two weeks. And then we jump to the next joke, but some of them stick around. So, we stick them on the songs.
Serra: It’s mainly just that. And then, if I don’t have anything at the time, something I’ll just type in when I’m saving the demo file.
Do you think we’ll ever see a Los Bitchos track with full vocals/lyrics?
Agustina: I think it would be a good thing for one song in the future. I’m up for that.
Serra: And maybe sung by someone else. Like I don’t want to sing it. Well, some of the new demos I’ve been writing have like, [vocalises]. But sung by someone else. But one of them does – Tequila – you sing it.
What was the biggest inspiration in the making of Talkie Talkie?
Serra: Video games.
Interesting! Which ones?
Serra: Grand Theft Auto: Miami Vice, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom as well – very, very good soundtracks – Daytona Racing USA, Sonic the Hedgehog – love that – there’s this other one that’s called [King’s Quest:] Mask of Eternity: The Hero’s Quest. That was on PC, back in like 1998, when I played that. That’s always been a big one.
Is there a particular gig or venue you’ve played that stands out for you?
Serra: I enjoyed New Century Hall, when it just opened up in Manchester. 2022? That was great.
Agustina: I really enjoyed playing Alexandra Palace with Franz Ferdinand and King Gizzard [& the Lizard Wizard]. It was such a dream to play there. It was fun.
S: Yes, it was.
What’s your dream venue?
Agustina: Probably Scala? And we played there like four years ago! When I moved to London, I saw some bands in Scala and thought, ‘Oh my god, it would be so cool to play here!’. And it always stuck with me, that venue. And we did it.
Serra: Yeah, we did it!
A: And Glastonbury as well, obviously. I feel like doing Glastonbury again.
S: We’ll just keep going back. And like, different stages. Bigger — to be honest, actually no, I like the Park Stage. I’d be happy just to do that again, to be honest. Rinse and repeat.
Your songs have such a party vibe! Is your time in the studio just as fun?
Serra: I think it’s usually a pretty gay old time. I think everyone’s got their moments, though. Like you can’t always be like, [grins and waves arms]. Sometimes you’re really upset, or you might be in a bad mood. Or you’re trying to do a bit, and you keep fucking that bit up, and that’s really frustrating. But generally fun.
Agustina: In general, yeah. It is a job, and it’s quite 24/7 a lot of the time, because we’re on tour and stuff. It’s a non-stop job as well, as much as we love doing it. We can’t always be like, ‘ah, it’s perfect’.
S: God, that would be insufferable. I think you need to let those emotions run, sometimes. Sometimes you just want to cry in the corner. Which we do.
It must be tough going out onstage when you don’t have energy.
Serra: Yeah, definitely. A thousand percent. I’ve been crying five minutes before stage time. And then ten minutes later, you have to be like, ‘get those hands in the air!’. You have to. People don’t want to go there to see you [sad]. You have to try. Like Agustina said, that is your job: to entertain. And to play your music.
Which of the new songs will be the most fun live?
Serra: I think Let Me Cook You and La Bomba will be going off.
Agustina: La Bomba’s been going off. Because they’re really pumpy as well. I don’t know, we’re always wrong, though. It might be, like, a jazzy number.
S: It’s probably gonna be Open the Bunny, the one that I was like, ‘yeah, it’s okay’. People will be like ‘Yeah, Open the Bunny! Great track!’.
Who are some of the best artists out there right now?
Serra: I’m gonna be very commercial and say I’m loving how much Charli xcx is killing it. Great pop album, huge pop renaissance going for her, and Sabrina Carpenter as well. There was like a holy trinity I was going to mention, but obviously I can’t remember. Me? [Laughs]
Agustina: Fontaines D.C.. Yeah, I love their music. And Sabrina Carpenter, she’s so — agh, I wanna marry her.
S: Sabrina Carpenter’s been wicked. It took me a little bit to warm up, but I’m warm now.
A: She seems so nice as well. But yeah, Fontaines and her — such a weird combination.
S: Let’s do a collab with her. I mean we couldn’t, but let’s try and be friends. Something.
A: Something. At least acquaintances.
S: Yeah! Just walk past us, something. There’s so much great stuff out there at the minute. It’s a good time for it.
And obviously King Gizzard!
Serra: Yes, obviously! They’re releasing like album number 26 this Friday.
Those guys are crazy. They’re always on tour! How do they find time to record music?
Agustina: They record on tour. Like we’ll be backstage, eating hummus, and they’ll be doing a new song.
Serra: They’re just constantly pumping it out. It’s incredible.
What is, overall, the best part of your job?
Serra: I just love being able to write music and put it out, and for people to hear it, and respond to it. I love that.
Agustina: I love the art bit of it. Doing all the music videos, and organising everything about the album covers, and the merch. I’m a big fan of that side of it.
What would you to say to someone who’s considering coming to one of your upcoming shows, but isn’t sure?
Agustina: Our merch is great.
Serra: [Laughs]
A: It is!
S: Fantastic merch. I’d say, ‘Just burn into the gig. It’s new. It’s fun. It’s different. It’s gonna be sassy. And you’re just gonna have a fucking wicked time’. And, like, the merch as well.
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Talkie Talkie is out August 30th via City Slang. Get your hands on Los Bitchos’ merch and pre-order the album here.