Empanadas Ilegales Serve Up Psychedelic Heat Made for the Dance Floor
Empanadas Ilegales by Sebastian Figueroa.
When Empanadas Ilegales' Daniel Ruiz (drums) and Jamie Millan (guitar) start talking about their music, the conversation naturally turns to empanadas – both the literal, edible kind and empanadas as a more philosophical idea.
Since forming in 2017 as a group of university friends jamming between parties, the Vancouver-based collective has evolved into something far more delicious: a psychedelic Cumbia outfit that stuffs Latin rhythms with unexpected sonic flavors. Their approach to music mirrors their approach to those beloved pastry pockets – why choose between sweet or savory when you can have both, plus some experimental fillings nobody expected?
As they prepared to bring their "rotten sounds" to Calgary Folk Fest, I had the opportunity to chat with them. The band reveals how immigrant experiences, Vancouver's moody climate, and a shared love of weird guitar pedals all fold into their distinctive sound.
REVERIE: How did Empanadas Ilegales begin? What’s the story behind the band?
Daniel: The band began around 2017. It was just friends getting together at university to jam, throw parties, hang out, and have fun. We’re all from different parts of Latin America, and we started playing together, realizing we all liked the same music. Let’s play some music that was outside of what we would usually jam, which was rock and roll or pop music. Then, we decided to try out some of our Latin American music, so we began incorporating Cumbia, Salsa, and Latin rhythms into our music. We became an actual band. We played shows, and from there it has gradually been building more. Our main focus is to honour our heritage from Latin America and bring in a fresh new sound. Modern takes that incorporate different instrumentation.
REVERIE: If your band were an empanada, what would be inside? (Literally or metaphorically!)
Daniel: We have this saying that we consider everybody in the world to be an Empanada. Everyone has their own filling, and it just comes down to someone’s personality and your values. If we can say that there’s a filling for the whole band, it would be kind of a multi-textured, multi-flavoured thing.
REVERIE: Sweet or savoury?
Daniel: We are fans of any empanadas. We’re all big foodies in the band. We don’t discriminate, honestly. All empanadas are good.
Jamie: Every festival we go to, we have to try every booth that has an empanada. That extends to other “empanadas” from other cultures, like the Jamaican Patty.
Daniel: Gyozas or Pierogies, they’re all delicious!
REVERIE: Your sound blends traditional Latin rhythms with psychedelic and experimental vibes—what inspired this fusion, and how did you arrive at your signature style?
Jaime: Well, as Daniel was saying, when it evolved from just jamming to “alright, let’s build a project,” I think that was one of the visions from the early stages following the roots, doing more Latin-based music. Specifically, it was psychedelic Cumbia inspired by Los Piranas or Meridian Brothers. Frente Cumbieros was the sound we liked– something we were after. Then, over time, it expanded and evolved into a psychedelic Salsa component. Originally, it was that term that inspired us.
Daniel: Like, we try to make a “rotten” sound. We try to make weird sounds, that’s what we’re after.
Jamie: There’s this quest for finding odd sounds with our instruments, especially with guitar pedals. Creating something different and honoring, especially the rhythms from Latin music that keeps the groove going. We want people to identify that and connect with the feeling of moving, but then it’s having some sort of dissonance and weird sound that makes us go “woah, that’s kind of odd. I’ve never heard that before,” so we have this quest of having a little element of surprise with our music but still honouring where we came from. The main thing is to make people dance, and you know all these weird angular, synthy effects that are more of a ‘cherry on top’ to give more of an impact or a head turn. “Woah! What is that?” The main thing is to keep that groove going.
REVERIE: What did the process of creating your new album Sancocho Trifasico look like?
Daniel: It was a lot of work, but it was super fulfilling. I found it super gratifying because a big part of the album was written in our studio or our own jam space and recorded there. Sometimes when you hire a studio and you go there, you have a time limit. You have the space for 2-3 days and that’s it. You have to work on getting everything down. When you have open time in our own studio, we can have fun for a couple of days with no limits. There’s no “Oh my god! I’m on the clock,” or anything, that helped us develop and explore a lot of things. It allowed us to try these weird “nuggets” of background noise that you can hear if you truly pay attention to it.
Jamie: Part of our experience at a proper studio is that we do live takes. The whole band is performing at the same time, and it’s more about capturing a live performance of the song. Versus what Daniel was saying about our own studio and jam space, we can take the time to do it more layer by layer. It’s two completely different approaches, one take, everyone going all at once, and what was played that’s it, versus taking the time to do more takes, add the layers, or add little sounds, new instruments, and synths. As Danny was saying, you have to pay attention; multiple servings and listening are required to uncover. It’s like a movie you watch many times, and each time you catch a new detail.
REVERIE: How do you know when your song is done?
Daniel: I think a song is done when you have that feeling of completion that matches with everyone else. When you fully try to execute all the ideas that you have, some don’t work, some do, and then find the perfect balance of, “Alright, we’ve tried everything out that would be great for the song.” I also have this rule: you have to put a limit to it because there’s always going to be the feeling of “the grass is greener on the other side.” You’ll always think the song is ready, but you feel like there’s something more. Then the next week, you don’t like it anymore. You keep prolonging and prolonging, so I give myself a deadline on exploring and trying all these things, but we have to eventually stop and make the call. The representation of this feeling that has been captured in the music, so you have to just honour that and try not to redo it and find perfection. Perfection doesn’t exist.
Jamie: It also helps with where we’re just recording a “live off the floor” approach, where we capture whatever is in that moment. Whatever that was in the moment, that’s what it is. It’s a bit trickier when we’re doing the specific layers because the sky is the limit. You can keep infinitely adding more stuff and thinking and rethinking about what the options can be. I think that’s from a recording point of view. When it comes to the composition and writing of the song, that’s a whole different story. I think it’s more about the different elements, the elements being the musicians, members of the band, whose parts are gelled. Everything is cohesive and one piece. I think that’s when a song feels right. Another thing we do is we’ll come up with a song, play it for a while before we actually record it in those live performances, because you get feedback. Feedback not only from the people, but the feeling you're playing it or in the performance. Someone does something to the spot that just happened, and now you have to keep that part, but things like that happen for sure.
REVERIE: Are there any specific Latin American artists, past or present, that heavily influence your sound?
Daniel: Jamie mentioned the Cumbia bands like Los Pirañas, Frente Cumbiero, Meridian Brothers. There’s also Los Pakines and Chicha bands from the ’70s in Peru. For me, a big influence on my entire life has been my grandfather. He sang classic Cumbias for me, and I’ve always had it in the back of my mind. I feel like he is with me whenever I play, and he’s very proud. That’s another big influence for me. We like everything. We love rock music. Danny Hernandez Pinto, who’s our bassist, loves metal. I love punk, we all love jazz, we like keeping things open because… I mean, if you think about it, there’s so much music in the world that in my lifetime, I don’t think I’m going to be able to listen to all of it. I’m trying to expand my palate by finding the most obscure music and like the weirdest things I can enjoy. I take inspiration from that, and it is a big influence on keeping going and keeping the imagination fresh when composing.
REVERIE: How does being based in Vancouver influence your music?
Jamie: With Cumbia and Salsa, each country in South America has its twists to it, and you can feel and sense the environment around you in that music. Some are a lot happier and some are melancholic; there are different elements that you can hear. Sometimes, you could go “Oh! I hear the Caribbean vibes,” then the next song has “Andes vibes.” I don’t know how our sound is tied to Vancouver, but it’s winter time, it’s grey, rainy, and all we’ve got is going to the studio and making music. That bleeds into the creative process; we’re influenced by our environment. On our second album, Creepy Mambo, our musical style became more dark Cumbia from a Halloween movie. Maybe it’s all part of the Vancouver weather bleeding into parts of our music.
Daniel: Immigration also plays a huge part in our music because we all come from different parts of the world. One thing about immigration for me, and I can say this for a lot of other members in the band, but it’s like when you know you’ve been far away from home? A lot of things that you thought you didn’t like or took for granted become more important to you. For me, it’s a lot of popular music in Colombia. Back when I was there, I wasn’t that interested in it. Here? It creates a feeling of longing. I am longing for the feeling of Colombia, and sometimes just hearing something from it, I wouldn’t like it as much as I do now, because I’m feeling it from this outside perspective. Then, when I share that with others who are also immigrants, I kind of create this bond of understanding. The process of moving to a different country is a challenge. A lot of people think it’s easy and fun, but it’s a challenge. You are adapting to a new culture. When we can find a middle point, especially with music, we can connect on things that give us the identity of feeling like home away from home. Vancouver is a bit like that because it’s this cool, modernized city that's diverse, but you’re trying to find your spot in it while trying not to lose your identity. I feel like God led us to being together and connecting in that way. We’re all bringing our little pieces from home and making our unique things.
Jamie: As Danny said, Vancouver is beautiful, clean, and organized. Glass-filled, everything is perfect, and we come from the chaos of South America. I think that’s also part of that long that reflects in our music and maximalist sound. Longing for that home element in the perfection that we found ourselves in, let’s find chaos.
REVERIE: Are there any themes or ideas that you feel are at the forefront of your creative work?
Jamie: Psychedelic music is designed for the dance floor. That’s our founding motto, and we hope to adhere to that. Also, staying true to what sounds right to us and what we want. We have this firm belief of just following our gut and not being swayed by anything that anyone tells us. So many times we’ve been told that we need a lead singer or a vocalist. In this new album, we have a vocalist, but we’re not going to change our vision just because we’re being told to do it.
Daniel: We tend to write songs and name them with a lot of humour. They’re all in Spanish, and we also use a lot of mythical and ghost stories. Our song “Mano Peluda” means “The Hairy Hand,” and it’s a children’s story about behaving because if you don’t, the hairy hand will come after you. We use our folk in a funny way, but also have a mysterious element. A big thing for us is not taking ourselves too seriously. If you understand Spanish, a lot of these songs are like, “These guys are nuts! Why are you naming the songs like this?” The main thing is no matter who you are, you connect with the music and you feel like dancing.
REVERIE: At the heart of it all, what do you hope people take with them after experiencing hearing your music, whether it’s live or on record?
Daniel: For me, it’s all about connecting with your inner musician. Whether it’s dancing our tapping along, singing, or humming, the goal is to make music for the dance floor. To find the primal connection that we all have as humans and like music, is one of those things that connects us no matter what. No matter what language, no matter the musical taste, something about rhythm, sound and melodies connects us. It allows people to get together and bond and especially these days. I find myself very privileged to be able to share that. To be able to channel music for people because it makes everything better, communication better, people feel better and forget about their worries. That’s the main thing, just to bring a bit of joy and happiness in the world, one person at a time, one ear at a time.
Jamie: Just taking them away from wherever they are at mentally, just for like forty-five minutes to an hour of our set. We want to transport them somewhere , but it may not be a show but like an experience for them internally. How they perceive the songs, the emotions they feel inside. Maybe a unique trip for everyone in their own way.
Empanadas Ilegales will play the National Stage 4 at the Calgary Folk Music Festival on Thursday, July 24. They will take part in two collaborative sessions on Friday, July 25 and Saturday, July 26. Tickets for the Calgary Folk Music Festival are available here.
*This interview has been edited for length and clarity.