Miami – La Secta AllStar, a group that started 15 years ago practicing in a rented Miami Beach warehouse and performed at bars in the resort city, has become one of the most acclaimed Latin rock acts.
This year alone, the group’s “Consejo” album, which featured the hit song “La locura automatica,” was nominated for Grammy, Lo Nuestro and Billboard awards.
Critics say that La Secta AllStar is one of the most innovative and interesting groups on today’s music scene.
This is due to the fact that the creators of “Dame lo que quieras,” “Hey corazon” and “Bombon de azucar,” a song that was also recorded by Colombia’s Cabas and Puerto Rican star Ricky Martin, are undergoing constant artistic change.
“We make the music that we feel in the heart. If one day we feel folk, then we do it. If there is some reggaeton that we like, we’ll also give it a shot. We really like to experiment and let ourselves be influenced by many styles. That’s why you are always going to hear different things from La Secta,” bassist Mark Kilpatrick said.
Kilpatrick said that despite his Irish surname, he was “pure” Puerto Rican.
Bandmates Gustavo Laureano and Carlos Figueroa, on vocals and guitar, respectively, are Puerto Rican. John Lengel, the drummer, is a Miami native.
For the group, working together is essential. There are no egos or stars in the band, the musicians said, adding that everyone pitched in to write songs.
It helps, then, that even though they have different personalities, the band members share the same musical philosophy.
“We like to always communicate a positive message,” Kilpatrick said.
“Even though we have songs with lyrics that are a little dark, like the subject of Consejo, the idea is to show that something good can come out of even negative things.”
The group is currently at work on several projects, including, for the first time in their history, an acoustical album.
“A short time ago, we did some acoustical shows in Puerto Rico that were successful, and we feel that that should be our next project,” Kilpatrick said. “We’re also writing a new album, but we don’t have a release date yet.”
Another project that the group has taken on with the same passion as their music is the “2 Cooltura eres tu” campaign, which seeks to combat growing gang violence through the mass media.
“Being part of this campaign, our goal is to offer young people a positive alternative, to motive kids to use culture as a form of expression. We want them to understand in a ‘cool’ way that we can all belong to something, but that something does not necessarily have to be negative, like a gang,” Kilpatrick said.
The guys from La Secta, as their fans refer to them, said the high point of their artistic career was the first time they heard one of their songs playing on the radio, and they said their favorite performers were U2, Green Day, Bob Marley and Joaquin Sabina.
The band said, however, that another big day was still to come and they were working day after day to get there.
“We dream of making it to more countries to continue growing. Latin music is very diverse and is in a cycle of constant evolution. But we also believe that learning about other cultures can help us grow musically,” Kilpatrick said.
