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Going Disney with Los Lobos Sax Man Steve Berlin
by Troy Rogers
 After
contributing the song "I Wanna Be Like You (The
Monkey Song)" to The Jungle Book soundtrack in
1998, Latin Tex Mex blues rockers Los Lobos have
returned to Disney with "Los Lobos Goes Disney",
the October 27 released album of 13 Disney songs
rearranged Los Lobos style. Three time Grammy
award winners, the music of Los Lobos fits well
with Disney given both the family elements within
the band and also the multicultural aspects of
the Los Lobos sound.
With "Los Lobos Goes Disney" now available on Amazon and iTunes, featuring tracks from The Jungle Book, Toy Story, Robin Hood, The Haunted Mansion, 101 Dalmatians, Snow White, and more, we caught up with Los Lobos producer, saxophonist and keyboardist, Steve Berlin, for an exclusive chat about "Los Lobos Goes Disney", the challenges of rearranging Disney classics to fit the Los Lobos style, what the world looks like through the music of Disney, the evolution of Los Lobos, and the band's recent trip to the White House where Los Lobos met President Obama.
THE DEADBOLT: So how did you guys find your way back to Disney after so many years?
STEVE BERLIN: The short of it was: When we signed with Hollywood Records, Disney's record company, in the deal that we signed, there was a children's record they wanted us to do and through the course of several records over the years we never got around to it. By the time the deal was supposed to be over, we parted amicably. They said, "Oh, by the way, what about the kid's record?" They were also very generous about it because they gave us a separate deal, a separate account, and they said it won't count against your other records. They said we'll do it from scratch and that's what they did. So that's what happened and it created an opportunity to do stuff we probably wouldn't have done otherwise and we hope that kids of all ages will enjoy it.
THE DEADBOLT: Given the rich career you guys have enjoyed, it must feel like coming full circle to a certain degree after The Jungle Book soundtrack?
 BERLIN:
Well, we only did one song on that and it was
also a very long time ago. So it wasn't like
we reached full circle in any way. We really
treated it like a brand new thing and a brand
new idea. And certainly to fill a whole album
with just Disney songs was pretty difficult.
THE DEADBOLT: Given the family dynamics of Los Lobos, musically, how did it help when rearranging Disney songs to your style?
BERLIN: Well, I think to a certain extent when we started this, on a number of occasions we would ask for either guidance or direction from the label on how we should do this, or how kid friendly should this be. They would always say, "Do what you do." As far as how we approached it, there really wasn't much of a difference from the way we did it for our records. Now we could go a little experimental. Obviously there's kid's stuff going on. But I think for the most part it had potential for a bigger demo depending on the promotion.
THE DEADBOLT: With the new instrumental version of "Wish Upon a Star", how did you approach it to make sure it still had the same emotion without the lyrics?
 BERLIN:
Well, it's a song everybody loves and we wanted
to put it on there. You know, one of the things
we had to deal with was, "Who's going to sing
it, and how are they going to do it?" And it
was one we wanted to put on but nobody stepped
forward to try and sing it. So we came up with
the notion of, "Why don't we do an instrumental
version of the song?" You know, it's funny,
everybody in the band has to sing a song and
I can't sing at all. One of the things we did
as a band was to decide that everybody has to
get up and sing one song. So that's why you
have Conrad [Lozano] doing "Grim Grinning Ghosts".
THE DEADBOLT: What are some of the specific challenges of rearranging Disney songs?
BERLIN: The main challenge, really,
is finding one that we can play and there are
tons that we can select. There were a lot of
times that we would hear one and try to learn
it and realize it was beyond our game to pull
off. We tried to get ones that play authoritatively
without sounding like we're bumbling through
it. There are songs that sound really amazingly
well and reflect how they're professionally
composed. So that was a bit of a challenge,
finding ones that we could pull off.
THE DEADBOLT: What's it like to look at the world of music from a Disney perspective?
BERLIN: I guess one of the more remarkable things is how they could be so good. There were very few bad songs. There are a lot of silly ones, too, but there's so many good ones. They really hired the best of the best.
THE DEADBOLT: I was listening to your older song, "That Train Don't Stop Here", this morning and got a mental picture of a bunch of bears playing the blues. Do you think there's a certain sense of blues throughout your music that's timeless like Disney movies?
 BERLIN:
[laughs] Well, yeah, I'd like to think so. But
I don't know. I don't think I can say that.
I mean Disney has been around for awhile and
I would certainly never claim in any way to
be of that. Give me forty years and I can probably
answer that question.
THE DEADBOLT: Are you playing any of the songs live on the road?
BERLIN: Well, we've been playing "I Wanna Be Like You", just because we know it. Oddly enough, we were talking about starting to practice and try to learn about four or five more to play down at Walt Disney World. I can't say they'll be on every set from here on out, but it will be nice to actually get a few more out there.
THE DEADBOLT: You know, it's so bizarre that I'm talking to you. Over the past three weeks we've talked to Lou Diamond Phillips and Esai Morales and now you.
BERLIN: [laughs] That's really funny.
THE DEADBOLT: What's influencing the band today as compared to the days of La Bamba?
 BERLIN:
Well, we're a lot older now. It was an amazing
experience. Especially being played at the top
of the charts. But eventually you start to think
about what we were and who we wanted to be.
Are we going to become the La Bamba band or
go somewhere else and follow a certain path?
Now we have the luxury of doing what we want.
THE DEADBOLT: Given the multicultural aspects of your music, what did it mean to be honored by Obama?
BERLIN: That was amazing. They're like the coolest administration ever. Being in the White House and getting to sort of hang out with them - He is an actual fan. I was talking to his Press Secretary, because the day that we did, they had a major test to the health care bill and he said, "You know, Barack didn't pay any attention to us at all. He was more interested in meeting you guys." [laughs]
THE DEADBOLT: [laughs] So now you're influencing the President?
BERLIN: You know, when we met him, he turned out to genuinely be a fan. He knew what he was talking about, which I can't say is true of past administrations. [laughs] Well, maybe Clinton.
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