After celebrating their 17th anniversary this past November 14th, Inspector will be performing on Saturday December 1st at the Constellation Room in Santa Ana and on December 2nd at the Troubadour in Hollywood. The ska veterans from Monterrey, Mexico will take advantage of their So Cal visit to present their new album Ska a la Carta Vol. 1, a 4-track EP of covers.
From a founder’s perspective, Jesús Arriaga a.k.a. “Padrino” gives us 411 on the releases and on what the LA fans represent to the band.
What keeps Inspector going after so many years?
I think it’s because we all still find joy in what we do. Even when things are not so great, we grow and learn from those moments. I don’t think that anyone who has ever stepped onto a stage can ever get bored of it, and it that ever happens, then it’s time to quit and do something else.
How did the Ska a la Carta Vol 1 album come up?
We have a defined sound after having released five albums. We wanted to make something different, maybe do something refreshing and challenging. When we were with Universal Records, we were not able to participate in any of the tribute albums that came out like the ones for José José or Tín Tán, but now that we are independent again, we were invited by a French record label to be part of a Madness tribute album, for which we did our version of “Our House”. Then we started to play with covers during sound checks and sometimes during our concerts. Luckily the fans reacted very well, so that gave us the confidence to pull off a covers album.
How are the fans digging the EP so far?
The first single is “Me Estoy Enamorando”; that song had over 2 million hits on YouTube, which is very gratifying.
Vol. 1 means there’s more to come?
Yes; this is just a taste of what’s to come. We already have a full album ready to come out digitally in December on iTunes. In January the physical CD will be ready.
Do you have any special guests on the album?
Tony Hernandez from El Gran Silencio, Celso Piña, Voodoo Glow Skulls & Nimrod.
Are you looking forward to playing So Cal again?
The U.S. fans have been very good to us. Every time we play there it’s always fun to see the old fans and the new generation of ska fans, too. It’s because of these loyal fans that we wanted to do the official presentation of the new record in L.A. first.
After all these years in the business and playing all over, do you feel anything different when you play a historic place like the Troubadour?
There’s always great emotions and even butterflies. We have worked very hard all these years, so playing this type of stages are like crowning moments for all that hard work. Without a doubt, it will be a memorable night for us and we hope it will be the same for our fans.
Inspector will be playing on December 1st at the Constellation Room at the Observatory with El Sonido Callejero, Maskatesta and Interrupters. For the December 2nd show at the Troubadour, the band will be joined by Maskatesta, Left Alone and Sandbox Bullys.
