Los Aptos Talk With The Garnette Report
A Lollapalooza Interview!
Taylor Hawkins of The Garnette Report sat down (well, more accurately stood huddled in the rain) with Juan Ortega, Johnny Riviera Lopez, and Daniel Vaides of Los Aptos to discuss their music at Lollapalooza.
TH: Can you describe to me and our readers Los Aptos’ overall style of music and how you gravitated towards that style?
JO: “Our music I think it’s, to start off, Mexican music. But it’s a fusion of a lot of things, I would say. Alternative, Rock, Pop, Indie. What else? Jazz even. It’s just a big fusion. But overall, it’s Mexican music. But I feel like everyone can enjoy it even if they don’t speak Spanish”.
TH: Did you guys always know that you wanted to pursue this as a career?
JO: “Well starting with me, I think I did always know that I wanted to do this. Ever since I was a kid I’ve always, like, looked up to stars and stuff like that. I love the music and just that. So, I think I’ve always known that I wanted to do it”.
JRL: “I didn’t think I was gonna do this to the level we are doing it. But, I’ve always wanted to continue playing music since I was little so”.
DV: “I actually took it to college. I just graduated. So that’s what I thought, like, I’m gonna pursue this, and it turned out great”!
TH: Did you study music in school?
DV: “I did! I studied music technology”.
TH: Where did you graduate from?
DV: “The University of St. Francis, it’s a little private school”.
TH: So you graduated just this year?
DV: “This summer actually”!
To JRL – TH: So you mentioned you’ve been doing this a while, how long have you been doing music?
JRL: “I’ve been playing music since elementary school. I started off playing violin, piano in second grade. But all that got cut off by, like, the fifth grade. In middle school, I was a drummer for a jazz band. And then after that, I was in a Mexican band and I played the drums also”.
JO: “Well, for me, I’ve always liked to sing and stuff, so I’ve always loved music, but I recently learned how to play the guitar in 2019. And that’s when, like, I started uploading covers, and I started getting a little bit more serious from there”.
TH: Can you guys tell me the story of how Los Aptos came together as a band?
JO: “So it started back in 2019, ‘cause like I mentioned that when I learned how to play guitar. I wanted to upload covers to, like, Instagram and social media. So, that’s what I did, because I was looking up to other artists. And when I started doing that, I knew Jony had, like, a musical background, and he was in a super Mexican band where, like, they had the big drums and stuff like that. So, I knew he had that musical background, where I was like maybe he could catch on to the bass easily. And I asked him, I was like, ‘Hey bro you think you could learn to play bass?’ And then he went and he bought the bass…”.
TH: So you just threw him into it huh?
JO & JRL: “Yeah”!
JRL: “And then in, like, the next two weeks…”.
JO: “He literally learned how to play a song in two weeks and then we recorded a video the week after. And it got, like, 20k views. So, after that, we just kept uploading and growing the platform. And then later on in, like, 2020, that’s when we started to actually release music. And, around 2021, we met back up with Daniel. I mean we always knew him”.
DV: “‘Cause flashback, I knew him as a kid. I would always cross him the f*** up in soccer as a kid. And then later in life, I started going to school, and I saw him at a party again and I was like, ‘Hey, bro you should come with me I record. I’m learning how to do this. And he was like ‘F*** it let’s go!’ And from then on it kept growing from there”.
TH: Can you tell me a little bit more about the dynamic of the Los Aptos?
JO: “Sure, I mean I think it’s always a super chill environment. I mean we are always pretty goofy, and, like, coming at each other. But, like, it’s all love though you know? It’s all love. And we all kind of share the same taste in music, so we kinda know where we are coming from when we present an idea. I usually write the music, so I’ll kind of have the foundation and an idea, and then I’ll present it to the boys. And then they kinda throw out an idea of theirs. And you know their influence, you know Danny with keys and some production, Jony with bass”.
TH: Where would you say your main musical influences come from?
JO: “I think, like, having both sides as influences. Like being Hispanic, and also being born in America. So you know, like, having hip-hop and pop or whatever, and all these artists. And then also having, like, our influences back home with, you know, Spanish music and you know all that type of stuff. It all created what we make today. You know, we like all different types of music and we all come from different backgrounds”.
DV: “I mean I grew up at church. I feel like that’s what’s up. Like, I like that gospel kind of chords, you know, that Gospel drumming. And, that’s kind of, like, our drummer now, he’s got the Gospel chops. And I feel like all that comes together, and it mixes well. Like, it doesn’t matter what type of background you have but when we bring it together it’s smooth and sexy”.
TH: What is your favorite song that Los Aptos released?
JO: “That we’ve released? I’d say right now, we did a collab recently with Cuco. I think that’s my favorite just because it means a lot”.
JRL: “I was going to say the same thing. But I think to play live, personally, my favorite is a song called “Tu Labial”.
JO: “It translates to ‘Your Lipstick’”.
DV: “I’d say for me, I really like an OG, it’s called “Eres Tu”. I feel like that song to this day, I can listen to it and still get in my feels”.
TH: So, I mean you’re here, you’re at Lollapalooza, congrats! How does it feel?
JO: “It’s super dope, and like, we’re super appreciative about it and, like, blessed. Especially because last year we were here as guests for another artist. And, you know, this is such a big event for many years it’s been so famous and stuff, so to, like, even be considered is a blessing”.
DV: “It’s surreal. Like, 3 years ago I came. I just bought a ticket and I came, and I saw Post-Malone and Tyler the Creator live 3 years ago. And then last year I came to engineer for a guy named DannyLux. He actually played at the same stage that we played today. And I got to minor engineer. And this year I’m getting to play. So it’s crazy”.
JRL: “I feel good. Happy! Excited”!
JO: “Honestly this year has been crazy. ‘Cause first we played at South by Southwest and then we played at Coachella as guests and now we’re here”.
TH: What is the biggest takeaway you’ve learned in your time as rising stars and the music industry?
JO: “Me personally, you know, how hard it actually really is being a musician and pursuing it for a career. When you’re young. Well I mean I guess we’re still pretty young…”.
TH: How old are you guys?
JO: “I’m 20”.
JRL: “I’m 20 as well”.
DV: “21”.
JO: “Yeah we’re all 20, 21, but when you’re a kid, you’re a bit naive and you think ‘Oh that life is amazing’ you know. And, ‘that would be super easy’. But like, you realize how hard it actually is to pursue music, and I think that’s something that I’ve taken away from it. Like, the hard work that we’ve put in, and the hours and the sleepless nights, sometimes we don’t eat good, sleep good, or whatever, but it’s just all dedication”.
TH: Can you tell me what readers can expect from Los Aptos musically in the near future?
JO: “We got some events coming up. We have this big festival in Mexico, it’s called “Arre”. We’re super excited to play there. We got some new music lined up that hasn’t been released yet. We’re super excited for that, and just look out for new music! We’re going to be dropping singles. We just dropped an album in late June. So now we’re going to be focusing on individual projects to give them the love they deserve. Because sometimes songs get lost when you drop a full album”.
TH: Do you have any last thing you wanna say to the fans?
JO: “Thank you to everybody for supporting us. Thank you to everybody who takes the time to press play on one of our songs. Even everybody that came out to our set today at Lolla. Even in the rain!
JRL: The rain!
DV: Oh my God it’s raining!
JO: But no thanks to the fans. Not even just our fans, but like, fans in general even of, like, the other people that came out today. Because the fact that fans are able to go and they are risking it all to see their favorite musicians is just super dope. So just thank you to the fans!
Featured Image Via @_losaptos Instagram