Grammy Award winner Lila Downs is making her Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University debut for one night.
This artist continually celebrates her Mixtec heritage by telling stories through song while supporting political change in the process.
Downs latest endeavor Bullets and Chocolate was just released on RCA Records. The new music has her working with Latin music innovators like Juanes, Juan Gabriel, Carlos Vives, and Alejandro Fernandez.
The new music has her launching a tour that brings her to Chicago and Windy City called her up to talk about it.
Windy City Times: Hi, Lila. Where in the world are you?
Lila Down: We are on our way to San Diego on a train.
WCT: Do you travel by train often?
Lila Down: Actually we don't. This time we got lucky because we find it fun.
WCT: I noticed a lot of concerts in California on this tour. You've come to Chicago in the past many times.
Lila Down: I love Chicago. It is a very important area for me because I grew up in the Midwest. It is always meaningful to come there.
WCT: How did it work growing up in Minnesota and Oaxaca at the same time?
Lila Down: I went back in forth. My father was a professor at the University of Minnesota. He taught art there. I would go for a year with him then spend a year in Oaxaca. My mom had a business there of a cardboard store. That helped me compose some of my first songs.
WCT: Your mother was a singer also?
Lila Down: Yes, she was.
WCT: Isn't it wild how your life turned out to be in music and educating people?
Lila Down: My life did turn out similar. I don't think she wanted that for me but supports it now.
WCT: How many albums have you recorded?
Lila Down: This is my ninth album.
WCT: This is being described as your most political album ever.
Lila Down: I think the reason that it feels that way is because it's a scary time in Mexico right now. There have been a few things that have been happening. Not only the federal government but also the local government have been threatened. It is a mystery how everything works. I don't think I am explicitly being political. I am just being who I have been for the past eight albums. I am conscious of our social reality. I am trying to bring it into a positive place even though that may sound crazy. I try to comfort the negativity happening around me. I think music is like magic and a very powerful ally. So I am hopeful.
WCT: What inspired the title of this album, Balas y Chocolate?
Lila Down: Actually, my son who is 4 years old. I was starting to investigate about chocolate and the origin of chocolate. He would run around the house and sing, "Chocolate and Balas." I thought really expressed the offering of the Day of the Dead, which this album is about. I thought that was interesting.
WCT: How did the collaboration with Juanes come together on the song "La Patria Madrina?"
Lila Down: We have ran into each other previous years at the Grammys. We also have mutual friends, and producers that we both know. I mentioned to him about working together. He wasn't able to participate a few years ago but this time he took me up on it. He finally told he was ready and to send the song. I thought "La Patria" would be a good song. It is about uniting a critical situation right now with the drug wars. Colombia is also a country that has gone through a similar history of that and yet we still must not lose our faith. Several of his songs have expressed that in the past so I have admiration for his songwriting.
WCT: He's been a big activist for gay rights.
Lila Down: Yeah. It is interesting that Juan Gabriel, the other collaborator on the album, is one of the most famous songwriters in Mexico. Everyone knows that he's gay. Even in Latin America with a homophobic culture, you have these cowboys at the end of the night having their drinks with Juan Gabriel's songs playing in the background. He has been such a powerful performer with the message of his songs as well. He's amazing.
WCT: He would be a fun interview.
Lila Down: Yes, definitely!
WCT: I saw the video for "Zapata se queda." Do you have a lot of say in the treatments and plots to your videos?
Lila Down: I did. I wanted the video to be in a place that represented Zapata. He's a very important revolutionary as you may well know. He is very well respected in Mexico because of his philosophy about human rights and the land because of ownership in the hands of the few versus the people. I wanted that to be represented. Gustavo Garzon is an Argentinean cinematographer who lives in LA. We hit it off and had the same kind of ideas. He really worked well at figuring out many things that I was concerned about like expressing the folkloric view and approach toward Zapata.
He also did this last video. He even added some things that I was a little bit afraid of doing because it seemed too angry so we did clean up the video a little bit. I didn't feel that I wanted to be violent in the video even though sometimes I feel I want to kill somebody because of frustration and anger. [Laughs] That is how we worked.
WCT: You did music for Like Water For Chocolate: The Musical. Would you ever want to do another musical?
Lila Down: Oh, yeah. It was a wonderful learning experience. With this album we worked it out the way you would a musical. We went into the studio and did some workshops. I don't think I can ever go back to not working that way. It was a wonderful technique to come up with new songs.
WCT: How was the Frida experience, having a part in the movie and soundtrack?
Lila Down: Well, that was quite a while ago but I think that for me it was important that I was somehow related to artists that I respect and admire. Frida Kahlo is now taken seriously in Mexico for her work but at one point she wasn't so it was really bringing her to a larger audience. It was a privilege to be a part of that storytelling. It was wonderful and a great gift.
WCT: Do you sing many songs in English?
Lila Down: I do and have. The album Shake Away was about half in English. The previous album, La Cantina, had some English as well.
WCT: What is tour like this time out? Are there visuals?
Lila Down: Yes, we have visuals because I worked with a graphic artist who did the artwork for the cover of the album named Humberto Valdez. He also did prints for the various characters in the songs. It is on a poster that we included on the album. He's a great guy who does amazing workshops with kids in the city. We will be showing these images at the concert.
WCT: Do you like it when the audience yells out songs for you to sing?
Lila Down: Oh, I love that!
WCT: We will see you when that train heads to Chicago!
Catch Downs at the Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Congress Pkwy., on May 6 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available at AuditoriumTheatre.org or by calling 800-982-ARTS.
Visit www.liladowns.com/us/events for more on this artist and the tour .
