Los Bitchos, an all-female instrumental band formed in 2017 currently residing in London, has emerged as a vibrant force in contemporary music, captivating multi-generational audiences with a unique blend of genres and cultural influences. Their sound has been described as instrumental psychedelic sunshine Cumbia, fuses elements of cumbia, surf rock, psychedelic music, and playstation pop tech, creating a lively and festive atmosphere that defies easy categorization.
Since their inception, Los Bitchos has undergone significant artistic growth, evolving from Serra Petale's early instrumental demos to the polished and intricate compositions featured in their debut album, Let the Festivities Begin! released in 2022 and produced by Franz Ferdinand's Alex Kapranos, the album showcases the band's ability to capture the energy of their renowned live performances. Los Bitchos has gained recognition for their electrifying shows at major festivals like Glastonbury and Coachella, as well as through their engaging live sessions, such as their notable performance on KEXP. Their playful approach to music, reflected in whimsical song titles and their catchy band name, has endeared them to a diverse fan base and established them as a must-see live act.
With the August 30th release of their newest album, Talkie Talkie, all-female instrumental band, Los Bitchos, adds another record to their already genre-bending discography. It’s difficult to label their music under one genre as their music influences are drawn from various corners of the world; the band’s guitarist and primary songwriter, Serra Petale, uses her Western Australian roots and Turkish heritage, while also drawing inspiration from 70’s Anatolian rock and surf guitar styles. From South London, drummer Nic Crawshaw adds a punk edge to the mix and Swedish bassist, Josefine Jonsson, injects a pop-ish flare that results in an upbeat and tantalizing sound. What brings the sound to a truly unique whole is Agustina Ruiz’s application of her Latin American influences, derived from her time spent living in Uruguay.
That being said, their music does not only rest on the shoulders of their home countries. Los Bitchos' compositions are woven into the girl band tapestry which dates back to the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s with bands such as The Shaggs, The Runaways, The Bangles and Vixen, all made up of women; however, the idea of a girl band gained more notice as a popular genre in the late 90’s to early 2000’s, when bands such as Girls Aloud, a British-Irish girl pop group, and others like Sugababes, Little Mix, All Saints, and the Spice Girls exploded in popularity. In an interview with Music&Riots magazine, Los Bitchos describes how the Spice Girls played a key role in their creative process. Guitarist Serra states, "For Las Panteras (video) I remember referencing the Wannabee video clip by the Spice Girls. It was such an iconic video, where the camera follows the girls and intertwines little dance routines here and there.” The legacy of these bands enabled an increase in women to not only participate in music culture, but also pursue their own new and experimental endeavors within the music industry. Such is the case with Los Bitchos given the nature of the band’s identity as one that is playful and ever-evolving.
It was a great opportunity to have been able to sit down over zoom from my college dorm in the US with the two members of the band in London, Josefine Jonnson and Augustina Ruiz, and chat about their new album Talkie Talkie, their inspirations and journey. They are simply the coolest, most down to Earth women and it was a pleasure to learn about their experiences not only as rising musicians, but also as a great group of friends.
Thank you so much for doing this interview with Withitgirl! I just want to jump right in and start with what your experience has been just being an all female band?
Josefine
It's such a tricky question. I'd say in general, music industry aside, I absolutely love being in a girl band. I've been in bands with just boys and that is also very nice. I went from being in a band with just boys and we did a lot of touring. I remember after I got asked to join Los Bitchos, I was like, "Yes, bring it on. I'm so ready to just hang out with girls.” I just love it. We look after each other, we take care of each other in a different way. I think we're better at checking in with each other and delegating work.
How has your relationship with each other changed since starting the band?
Josefine
We connect more. We're a family. Two years working so intensely with each other, it goes further than just being mates. I feel like we're sisters, you know. Sometimes you butt heads, but you ultimately just love each other a lot. We're with each other twenty-four seven extended periods of time. It's quite special.
Both of you were raised in different countries. Can you share your experiences of growing up in those countries, especially in terms of being a girl within those cultural contexts?
Augustina
I grew up in Uruguay, South America, and it was just very quiet. Uruguay has only 3 million people. So it's a tiny country. Everything is very slow and I really enjoyed growing up there. It was very nice. I spent a lot of time in the countryside as well as in the city, so I had two very different sides of my life that I really enjoyed.
Josefine
I grew up in Sweden, in Norrköping, which is like a city south of Stockholm. It's not very big. I've grown up very much in the countryside and didn't discover music at all until I was fifteen when some of my friends started to get interested in it and dragged me to some gigs and was like, this is cool.
I was such a late bloomer to actually get into music. I didn't really used to listen to music growing up, I'm not from a very musical family. But having lived in Sweden and got to do a band there, then moved to the UK, I realized how insanely privileged we were in terms of support for the arts in Sweden.
Sweden is a very good place to grow up in. I think we were allowed to do what we wanted. And there were a lot of opportunities to get rehearsal space for free. If you wanted to do it, you know, everyone technically would be able to do it, whatever the background.
What are your influences and interests outside of music?
Augustina
Josephine and I love reading books, so we try to read the same books so we can talk about it afterwards.
Josefine
We have quite similar tastes, which I love! Every book you recommended to me I love. Like, it's perfect.
What's your book of choice right now?
Augustina
I just finished Frozen Oranges (By Violet Paley). It's a book from a girl in LA, and it was very good.
Josefine
I've not read that one. I need to read that one. Should I read it?
Augustina
Yes.
Josefine
What was the other one we were reading at the same time? Which you've finished, but I haven't. The Japanese one? That was good. [Laughs] I haven't finished it yet, sorry. I'm working on that one.
What is so alluring about 70’s culture and why is it an aesthetic theme in your videos and in your music? What is it about the 70's that you take inspiration from?
Augustina
We all consume a lot of music and fashion from that time so it ends up being part of anything you create.
Josefine
We like to dip into different eras as well. Which I enjoy, like the last Pantera video is quite 70s, we went for a kind of, 70s like Scooby Doo vibes for that video, which was quite fun.
We also did a very eighties music video for our Christmas song, and then now the latest one we've done for "Talkie Talkie, Charlie Charlie,” it's quite nineties. It's just something we really enjoyed doing.
Do you have go-to dance moves? What does creating choreography look like for you guys?
Josefine
We have some dance moves. A couple just sort of ended up becoming choreo over time. We've never been like, "Right, what should we do here? Let's practice.” It's just sort of happened and then everyone's joined and then it becomes a thing.
Do you prefer touring or music production more?
Augustina
I prefer the touring part to be honest, because it's just, I love touring. And we get to know different places and we have met so many friends touring and so many people that we care about and it's just, it's good. Like sometimes obviously after months you're tired and you want to go home and sleep, but it's actually a great experience. I really enjoy it.
Josefine
Me too. . . I prefer that. I love recording as well, but touring is just like what makes me tick in terms of being in the band. I think it's just so fun. I know like Sarah, our guitarist, she really loves going into the studio and really working on that. I think it's good to have a balance.
What does your fanbase look like? What type of people tend to lean into your music?
Augustina
It's so different. Every age, gender, everything. It's very diverse.
Josefine
Yeah, it's really balanced actually, between all genders and ages, which is quite amazing. It creates a nice atmosphere in the room, I think.
Have you ever seen kids at your shows?
Josefine
Yeah, yeah. It's amazing. It's really, really, really popular among kids, or at least the parents.
Augustina
I think also being instrumental, we don't have lyrics, so people can think our songs are different. They can interpret them in a different way because there's no lyrics. So that opens up the audience.
Josefine
I think we’re quite inclusive. We're trying not to be too cool or too high brow about anything. We're kind of just like, "let's have a good time!" Everyone's invited. We don't try to be like, "Oh, we're just a niche group that only certain people can like or discover" – it's for everyone. I think people feel that. I think people feel comfortable and invited to come and enjoy it.
What is the process for having an idea for a music video, to showing up on set and then having a finished video put together?
Augustina
Oh, it's so deranged. We just like, have a lot of ideas randomly. Yeah. And then we have Tom, who does all of our music videos and the photos for us. He's very talented. He's been with us since the beginning. So we tell Tom and he does an amazing job. The way he can make our ideas come true and make them look good is insane.
Josefine
Yeah, I should clarify this is Tom Mitchell, but then we had a Tom Brewins doing the Kiki video, so it's two different Toms. Tom Mitchell has done all of the other ones. He's incredible. We usually don't come with a lot of things to work with for him. We're like “We want this! We want that!” and he's like “Okay.” He just managed to film it and make sense of it and always come out with something that looks amazing. I don't know how he does it.
[To Josefine] Was the bass the first instrument you were drawn to?
Josefine
I actually didn't pick bass, and I love that because it was when we [Josefine’s first band] started a band, the reason we started a band was because we were like, "Oh, all the cool boys are in bands… we don't want to be fangirls, we want to be equals, so we can be friends."
So we were like, "If we want to be in this scene, we need to be in a band ourselves.” That's kind of where we started. I remember going around the room, and then they came to me last and we needed a bassist.
I was like, "What's a bass?" I had no idea, but yeah, fine. I'll play bass. I went home from school, told my parents I was starting a band and was going to play bass. They were so shocked. They were really shocked because I didn’t really show any interest in music.
But two days later I came home from school and my parents had bought me a bass and set up lessons with my neighbor. So it just sort of started that way and I loved it. I absolutely loved it. I haven't really wanted to play anything else. I just started playing the bass.
As Los Bitchos continues to tour and expand their creative horizons, they are poised to become an increasingly influential presence in the music world. Their ability to seamlessly blend different cultures and musical styles into a cohesive and joyful sound sets them apart in the contemporary music landscape. Through initiatives like their radio show "Planet Bitchos," where they explore global music styles, the band continues to push the boundaries of what an instrumental group can achieve outside of just playing music. In an era where music often transcends borders and genres, Los Bitchos stands as a testament to the power of cultural exchange, artistic collaboration, and the universal language of music, embodying the joy and creativity that can emerge when diverse influences come together in harmony
Music Selections from Planet Bitchos
Joleen is a Senior English major at the University of Connecticut, currently pursuing the creative writing track. This semester, she is interning with Withitgirl, with a focus on music, art, culture and environment . She enjoys writing poetry and other creative non-fiction stories as well as indulging her artistic side through various crafts, especially collage, which she does both digitally and physically. Outside of her studies and creative pursuits, she has a passion for the culinary arts, particularly baking. She also has a deep appreciation for wildlife and spending time in the woods. She’s recently gotten into yoga and is a mediocre rock climber and bassist.
Additional Information
Agustina Ruiz - Keyboards:@agustina.ruiiiz
Josefine Jonsson- Bass: @josefinevjonsson
Nic Crawshaw - Drums: @longarmofthecraw
Serra Petale- Guitar/Songwriter: @serrapetale1at
Animations by Carmen Christensen: @carmen.illustration, website
Tom Brewins: Music Videos: @tom_brewins
Tom Mitchell: Photographer: @tommitchellphoto
Other Articles & Interviews:
We talked with Los Bitchos about how they got together, their musical background and what it was like to write this game changing debut album, Let The Festivities Begin! By Staff at Music & Riots Magazine (2022)
Meet Los Bitchos, the Party Band Ready to Set Your Heart Ablaze by Maxamillion Polo for OTW (October 6, 2021)
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