Radio Free Ozomatli

PD: I hear Ozomatli isn’t popular with Austin [Texas] police?

UB: We always end an Ozo show with a conga line … and we had gone outside with it when we had played in Austin before, so we didn’t know it would be a problem. They said we were violating a noise ordinance … and so we started to go back inside … and then things just got out of hand. [PD note: A scuffle broke out, and police fired pepper spray and arrested three members of the Ozomatli camp. ] We wanted to make an impression [at the South by Southwest Music Festival], but that wasn’t exactly what we had in mind.

Was it just a case of wrong place, wrong time?

I think it was more about judgment. You would think that you might expect people to be playing music in the street at what is supposed to be the premier music festival. It was just a big misunderstanding.

Well, at least you got some good T-shirts out of it [“Free the Ozo 3” T-shirts became a fashion hit at the festival. ]

That would be the case, except the charges haven’t been dropped. One of my guys [percussionist Jiro Yamaguchi] is facing a felony for assaulting an officer. [He allegedly hit the officer with the tom-tom he was using to provide the beat for the conga line. ] That is something that could totally fuck up his whole life.

Does being a politically conscious band help you in this situation?

As a musician and a person who grew up in L.A. and saw this kind of thing growing up all the time, you become familiar with it. You just hope that somebody can put a stop to it.

So what’s the next step?

It’s out of the police’s hands now. It’s up to the district attorney whether or not to press charges.

What kind of an effect has this had on the band?

Everybody has been definitely supportive of us, especially in Austin. Everybody from taxi drivers to city council members have told us how outraged and embarrassed they are.

How have politics changed since Ozomatli played the 2000 Democratic National Convention?

The general population’s day-to-day life is based on a lot more fear. And we’ve seen that fear evolve in how we view each other as neighbors. As a band, we try to use our music to rise above that.

How do you balance your roles as musician and activist?

As a band, we’re never trying to tell people what to say or what to think. We’re not dogmatic. I’d never say vote for Kerry or vote for Nader or vote for Bush. We want people to inform themselves and be educated about what is going on around them.

Is it difficult to balance serious messages with fun, danceable music?

The way I see it, how does talking about these things and singing about these things make you not want to dance? I think Emma Goldman said something once like, “If I can’t dance to your revolution, I don’t want it.”

Does your approach get the message across better than being militant?

There is the harder-edged, superserious stuff like Rage Against the Machine, and that’s a totally valid path. We just take it in a little different direction, along the lines of people like Fela Kuti.

Has the reaction toward Ozomatli changed with the war against terrorism?

I have noticed that people have become a lot more open to our views on Afghanistan and Iraq. Right after September 11, we played in New York, and it was a very emotional, very vulnerable place and time in the world. I remember getting a lot of hate mail from people saying, “How can you say these things?” But all we’ve said is that revenge is not the answer.

Has your view changed at all?

No, it hasn’t changed at all. If anything, it’s just become more clear. The lies and the manipulation that were used to justify the cause for war — it’s really hard to cover up that machine, even from the stupidest of us.

What impact can the minority vote have on the election?

The rate of people who are actually going out to vote is terrible no matter the race. If all the Mexicans or all the blacks in L.A. voted, I don’t know how much of an impact that would have. But for me, I’ve always voted. Of course, sometimes I question what the point is, but I need to vote just to shut up the people who say you can’t complain about the way things are if you don’t vote.

Are you concerned that your politics may alienate fans of your music?

We are the kind of band that plays so many different styles of music — we have such different flavors — that there are a lot of people who come to our shows who hate where we stand on politics. But if they are willing to put aside their differences, we are, too, for the music. I want a world where all kinds of worlds can exist. Ozomatli plays Friday, May 7, at Fiesta in the Heartland at Crown Center.