Los Tremolo Kings Reveal Chicha, Bowie, Ellington in Their "Milky Way" Before Jazz Fest Debut

Los Tremolo Kings, with Phil Vanderyken (right)

If you look long enough and hard enough, there’s someone out there pumping fresh blood into an old genre you didn’t know existed.

Los Tremolo Kings perform that magic for chicha, a psychedelic, Peruvian blend of Latin rhythms that prominently features electric guitars put through wah-wahs and fuzzboxes. The results walk the line between surf and exotica, particularly when slimmed down by Los Tremolo Kings to a three-piece band–guitarist Phil “the Tremolo King” Vanderyken and the rhythm section of Rene Coman and Doug Garrison–with Margie Perez on vocals.

Los Tremolo Kings will make their Jazz Fest debut on Thursday, April 24 at 12:35 p.m. on the Lagniappe Stage.

My Spilt Milk asked Vanderyken for his “Milky Way,” the songs that chart his musical universe. There are chicha tracks as you’d expect, but many that you wouldn’t.

“The Mooche” - Duke Ellington 

I may have inherited my love for music from my dad. He had an amazing collection of 45s that he started buying from when he was a teenager. One of his finds was “Take the A Train” by Duke Ellington. The B-side was “the Mooche.” 

To me, this is one of Duke’s most brilliant compositions and arrangements. The chromatic melody, the far out harmonizations (minor 6 and augmented 7!), the horn swells, the understated, subtly swinging rhythm section, the fantastic solos which sound every bit as elegantly perfect as the arranged parts… Duke at his finest. A hidden gem. This tune started my fascination with jazz and my obsession with Ellington.

 It was clarinetist Evan Christopher who many years later showed me on his baby grand piano in his Mid City apartment how the clarinets were arranged–a fond New Orleans memory.  

“Heroes” - David Bowie

I discovered this tune only a few years later. It was 1977, the year punk rock shook up the music industry. Punk rock shook up my teenage world too, but this, this was something else entirely. 

Recorded at Hansa studios in West Berlin with a view of the infamous Berlin Wall, this incredible tune manages to sound apocalyptic, melancholy and triumphant all at the same time. I still get goose bumps from this. Robert Fripp’s masterful use of feedback, Bowie’s heart wrenching vocals, the strangely claustrophobic sound, it’s all so uniquely perfect.

Bowie was living in West Berlin above a Turkish grocery store when he recorded this, hanging with Iggy Pop, Brian Eno and Tony Visconti. Amazing. Years later I would hitchhike to West Berlin and felt like I already knew the city just from listening to this song.

“Heroin” - the Velvet Underground

This one goes back a long time as well. Growing up in Belgium as a lonely, isolated teenager feeling completely out of place, I would explore hidden frequencies on my parents’ stereo radio. One day, amidst a sea of crackle and hiss, this strange tune came warbling out of the speakers from some far corner of the ether. What was this? 

It sounded like it was recorded in outer space. The hypnotic guitar and drums, the nasal don’t-give-a-fuck vocals, and most of all, John Cale’s otherworldy viola. Starting out with an ominous drone and gradually evolving into a hellish screeching, the tune seemed to implode into pure cacophony at the very end-and yet it didn’t. I was astounded and fascinated.

Few songs manage to combine eerie beauty, ominous droning and pure chaos like this one. Even when I could barely manage a few chords on my guitar, I instinctively realized the fearless virtuosity needed to pull off a song like “Heroin.” It became a musical and artistic benchmark for me.

Thankfully I never got involved with the substance itself.

“Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” - the Beatles

I also discovered the Beatles through my dad, who owned the Let It Be album. Sgt.Pepper was one I bought myself with my meager allowance. I remember so well poring over the cover, the silly uniforms, the collage of faces, the liner notes…. This is my favorite song of the album and possibly my favorite Beatles song.

Hard to say something about this that hasn’t been said before. Suffice it to say, this is another benchmark for me. Every single sound in this recording is unique, including the warbling vocals, the reverse hi-hat, the meandering bass, the ringing tampura, and the shimmering piano chords. This is the gold standard for psychedelia, a shining example to strive for when I mix one of Los Tremolo Kings’ more psychedelic tunes.

“This is Rock ’n Roll” - the Kids

The Kids from Antwerp were Belgium’s answer to the Sex Pistols. Singer, guitarist, punk rocker and main songwriter Ludo Mariman was a dock worker before starting this band. My very first band the Dogz was modeled after them. 

“This is Rock ’n Roll” is the opener to their debut album, and to me is still one of the most rocking tunes anyone has ever recorded. From the energetic opening drum roll, to the pounding guitar and screaming vocals, this song is pure rebellious energy, a heartfelt fuck you to Belgium’s suffocating conformism.

This song first made me realize there was a big world out there for me to explore. A few years later, I would do just that as I boarded a Pakistan Airlines flight to New York City with 300 bucks, a bag pack and a guitar.

“Butterfly Lovers”

 I know nothing about Chinese opera, except that this song is one of the most famous Chinese opera pieces. We played this with my project The New Orleans Eclectic Ensemble. 

I love this piece. It’s very romantic, but in a zen, understated kind of way. Unlike most western music, the harmony in Chinese music does not rely on tension and release; instead, it seems to circle around a few notes that convey a deep sense of peacefulness and balance. At least that's how I hear it.

As I get older, I never want to lose my sense of wonder over the miraculous gift that is music, so exploring music from other cultures seems a natural evolution for me.

“Sonido Amazonico” - Chicha Libre

This song was what started it all for Los Tremolo Kings. Hugo Montero, owner of Casa Borrega, sent me this song. Casa Borrega was a legendary Central City Mexican restaurant and hub of Latin culture. Hugo wanted to know, did I want to start a band like this? He guaranteed me a steady gig till the end of the year if I did. That’s how it began.

“Sonido Amazonico”, originally by Los Mirlos, may well be the most iconic chicha song, combining cumbia and psychedelia with an almost oriental sounding melody. We used to start our gigs at Casa Borrega with this, occasionally jamming on this tune for a full 14 minutes.

“Senderito de Amor” - Los Hermanos Martinez Gil

Another staple of the Los Tremolo Kings repertoire, and our first music video. My first few years in New York, all I could afford to buy for listening to music was a cheap boom box. Luckily, back in the ‘90s there were street vendors everywhere selling used cassettes for one or two bucks. Even a broke musician like me could afford that! I have a whole collection of rare and obscure cassettes from those days.

One of them was a cassette of Los Hermanos Martinez Gil, from Mexico. I had never heard of them and bought it solely on the basis of the cover. I was not disappointed. Their career spanned the ‘30s to the ‘70s, and their sound is deeply rooted in Mexican folk music and based around the stunning interplay of three acoustic guitars and gorgeous vocal harmonies.

“Senderito de Amor” is an old mariachi tune. I love to sing it live and Margie Perez’ beautiful harmonies send me to music heaven every time.