Puro Party: Three Members of Ocho Ojos Reform as Calmala—and Get Ready to Release New Music

Groups often achieve great heights and craft amazing songs—before fizzling out or fading away, for personal reasons, or reasons unknown.

The opposite is also true: The musical connections between some friends and collaborators can never be broken.

After creating a psychedelic cumbia groove that got the whole valley dancing, releasing an album and a handful of singles, and playing at Coachella twice, Ocho Ojos disappeared after releasing single “Pasito” in September 2020. While it was a dormant time for music—there was that whole pandemic thing—even when venues reopened and shows started returning, the group was inactive.

“We were all kind of forced, in a way, to take a break,” said Danny Torres. He and Cesar Flores started Ocho Ojos in 2016; the band grew to include bassist James Gastelum and drummer Rafael “Rafa” Rodriguez. But in 2020, the band decided to call it quits.

“We all mutually decided that we wouldn’t continue Ocho Ojos, because Cesar moved outside of the valley, and it wasn’t going to be the same,” Torres said. “During that break period, I think we all kind of did our own thing. Some of us started a family; some of us went back to school, and we all stayed busy nonetheless.”

But the bond between the three remaining members of the band ran deep.

“Once the opportunity to start playing again came up, we all just kind of naturally, like mold, grew back,” Torres said.

Enter Calmala, While still experimenting with psych and cumbia, Calmala uses the members’ combined music skills and raw energy to craft a shifting dance sound that ranges from upbeat party to deep, heavy, mystical grooves. They are set to release their debut single, “Esta si es Cumbia,” sometime this fall.

During a recent Zoom interview, the trio explained how their long history meant they couldn’t be kept apart.

“The three of us have been playing music since our late teen years, so I think it’s something that we all kind of naturally end up coming back to here and there throughout our lifetime,” Torres said. “Once we became no longer active in Ocho Ojos, a few years passed before all three of us just kind of naturally started jamming out. It wasn’t planned; it wasn’t like, ‘Hey, let’s start another band.’ It just kind of happened. James was having one of his Black Market Jazz gigs and borrowed some equipment for me, and when he came to pick it up, he asked me, ‘Are you down to jam on this gig?’ That’s kind of how it started, and then from that, we called up Rafa again for these jam sessions, and then just naturally started jamming weekly. That turned into, ‘Well, let’s form a new group.’”

Added Gastelum: “It was almost inevitable that we would jam again. I think that we all can agree that we wanted to keep playing. We obviously miss Ocho Ojos a lot, and it’s a similar sound, but we have a different direction.”

Even though three of the four Ocho Ojos members make up Calmala, that doesn’t mean that the groups are the same.

“It’s a different kind of energy,” Rodriguez said. “Everybody took a break during the pandemic, and everybody was forced to reflect on their paths. I’ve had conversations with Danny and James about what we can do differently, and what was good about Ocho Ojos. It’s definitely about growth, and it’s exciting to get the reception that we’ve got thus far. It’s more motivation to keep on playing.”

One of the main differences is that the members of Calmala are working as a complete unit during every step of their musical creation.

“In Ocho Ojos, we would pre-record some backing tracks with percussion and keyboard and other sounds,” Torres said. “Now, as a three piece, we have no backing tracks, and everything is just us live. Also, in Ocho Ojos, we did backing vocals here and there, mainly just for live performances. I would do a lot of ad libs and stuff like that, but now with this new group, we don’t have like a formal lead singer. It’s made us each take a step up to the plate to sing in some of the songs where we’ve decided to have lyrics, so that’s a big change as well.”

Some heavier tones are apparent in the group’s jams, with slower beats and more mysterious effects and song structures.

“Stylistically, I would say that this group is a little more heavy than Ocho Ojos,” Gastelum said. “It’s not necessarily dark, but the riffs are a little heavier. Ocho Ojos, to me, was always a little upbeat. (Calmala) is like a deeper groove.”

Ocho Ojos made songs about dancing, the landscape of the Coachella Valley—and even one about T.J. Maxx. Calmala wants to craft songs that are serious, satirical—and perfect for a party.

“We try not to make the lyrics too heavy, because it’s still like a party band,” Gastelum said. “The lyrics, I would say, are heavy in the sense that they’re symbolic. … On the other side of the coin, it’s also humorous, and everything is almost satirical in the way that we’re singing it. I think the point of music is to crack people up and to relate, so I would say our lyrics are relatable, and not too thought-out. It’s more just what we feel when we’re jamming; we’ll shout a phrase, or just riff off of some lyrics, or we’ll just talk to each other while we’re playing the song, like banter.”

Added Torres: “As far as lyrics, they can be pretty simple, because ultimately, it is still dance music. They can be simple—but that doesn’t mean the lyrical content can’t be meaningful or powerful.”

One meaningful song in particular has yet to be named; the band said it is about crossing the border.

“The past few times we’ve played it, I’ve kind of changed the lyrics,” Rodriguez said. “We have a definite feeling of what we’re trying to evoke or share.”

Added Gastelum: “It’s about all those migrants who recently have been coming to the Mexican border in caravans on the trains, or from South America or Haiti. It’s like an indirect reference to crossing the border. It’s a story, but we also have our own personal perspectives, with our families’ history and all that. It’s kind of like social commentary, but not trying to be super heavy.”

Although the band is fairly new, it was still invited to open up for Tropa Magica at Pappy and Harriet’s.

“We know them from the Ocho Ojos days, and we played several shows with them back in the day,” Torres said. “They’re currently on tour right now. They had that show up at Pappy’s, and they ended up hitting us up to see if we were interested and available. Shout out to them for the invite.”

Calmala has been working with a number of different local producers to record their music.

“Right now, we’re at Sunny Sounds studios in Palm Springs,” Torres said. “We recorded a song here a few weeks ago, and we’re currently here right now to work on the mix with Jayce (Levi), the owner. We also recorded a song with Emanuel Cazares. He is a guitar player for Slipping Into Darkness, and he has a side project called Cafe Canela. We’re still working on that mix. We also recorded a different song with Danny (Duran), who is the vocalist/lead singer for Facelift, which is another band from out here in the valley.”

An ambitious work ethic has helped the band get off to a quick start.

“We needed to get songs recorded. We needed some content up, so we’ve approached it very aggressively, and hit up three different studios, three different locations, three different songs just to track them and see,” Torres said. “Each song kind of has a different feeling, so we used the style of the song or the feeling of the song to go with a different producer.”

For more information, visit instagram.com/calmalacoachella.