Imagine if you will a band so bizarre they sound like The Surfaris swallowed some mushrooms, loaded a party into a dinghy and headed south – way south – arriving in the land of swingin’ Latin dance sounds on Day of the Dead. Empanadas Ilegales create playful songs that put a smile on your lips and hips even as their music is infused with occasional eerie touches of ghostly guitar and discordant horns. The band was fated to be, for the future members kept running into each other at house party jams where they found themselves drawn to each other over and over. Before coalescing in Vancouver, the musicians traced their roots to Spain, Argentina, Brazil, Columbia, Peru and Ecuador, meaning their leanings towards layering jazzy textures and sounds punctuated by psychedelic surf over chicha and salsa come naturally, just as finding yourself drawn to the dance floor to swing along comes naturally, too.
Biography by Mary-Lynn Wardle