Q&A: LUNA LUNA CREATES COLORFUL CUMBIA FOR THE SOUL
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY KYLEE WIENS ☆
Forged in the flames of the Texas DIY bedroom-pop scene, Luna Luna blends elements of Latin roots, dreamy indie, and alternative rock to create a sound at once nostalgic and refreshing. Known for their bilingual lyrics and genre-bending styles, the now-solo project by Colombian-American artist Kavvi has evolved into a fully-fledged musical force. Luna Luna has just released their second cumbia-style single, “Ven y Ven,” a danceable exploration of sound and color. The Luna Collective recently sat down with Kavvi to discuss the inspirations, recording process, and anticipated impact of the new track. Read below for more, and find “Ven y Ven” on all streaming platforms.
LUNA: First of all, congrats on the new track, the upcoming second single, and the EP release. How are you feeling about it?
KAVVI: Good. I'm excited. I made this track mostly on my own. I did everything except some of the drums. I was in Corpus Christi about a month ago. It was kind of a last-minute thing. This producer and DJ I know, El Dusty, was having a camp down there. He pretty much runs the downtown nightlife scene in Corpus. He’s been defined by cumbia for a long time. So yeah, we had fun there.
I was working on this track, the one that's about to come out, called “Ven y Ven.” I definitely liked it and was excited about it, but the drums weren't really hitting for me. So I asked him to help out with those, and he sent back some sounds I really liked. He helped bring it across the finish line.
Also, you know how when you're working on a project and you're so close to it, you start to question if it's even good anymore, just from hearing it over and over? After I turned the song in, I took a little break from listening to it. Then, a few weeks later, I gave it another listen and thought, "You know what? I'm actually really happy with this track." So yeah, I’m excited for it to come out.
LUNA: Awesome. That’s super exciting. You mentioned you did the song mostly yourself, aside from that Corpus Christi session. What did the process look like for you? Do you usually follow a specific order or just let things come naturally?
KAVVI: This track, I actually made here in my apartment. The drums were the only part that came out of the Corpus session. Last year, we put out a cumbia song called “Una Vez Más.” That was my first time really tapping into the genre, and it kind of made me want to try making another one. It was fun.
I started messing around on my own here at home. Honestly, I don’t even remember how exactly it started. Usually, I’ll get an idea and record it on my phone—whether I’m driving or walking somewhere. Then when I get home, I try to turn it into something. It just started coming together piece by piece. That’s pretty much how the process went.
LUNA: Do you have any favorite cumbia bands or artists that inspire you?
KAVVI: If we’re talking current artists, I think Grupo Frontera has some great songs out. I feel like they’re probably the number one group right now. I saw them live here in Austin at the Bésame Mucho Fest.
What’s really inspired me too is just the general rise of Latin music in the mainstream. There’s been so much great Latin music coming out lately. Before Luna Luna started releasing music, I was mostly listening to English-language stuff. I rarely listened to anything in Spanish. But that’s shifted over the past few years. Now I’m really back into Spanish-language music, and it’s definitely inspired me to create more of it.
LUNA: How do you balance the cultural roots of cumbia with the Luna Luna sound?
KAVVI: The last track, “Una Vez Más,” was produced by someone else in Los Angeles—his name’s Vega. But this new one is fully self-produced, so I had more freedom to blend the Luna Luna sound with cumbia.
I’ve shown it to a few people, and there’s this section after the second chorus that sounds a little more alternative. It gets a bit moody, almost experimental, and you don’t really hear that kind of thing in mainstream cumbia. So I’ve tried to keep the elements you’d expect from a Luna Luna song, but blend them into a cumbión.
LUNA: Do you see this single as more of an exploration into cumbia, or is it a turning point for the band?
KAVVI: I think it’s more of an exploration. These days, I feel like the idea of sticking to one genre is kind of fading. Back in the day, if you were a cumbia artist, you stayed a cumbia artist. If you were rock, you were rock. Now, artists across all genres are experimenting more.
Even Bad Bunny put out a salsa song on his last album. If someone had said that in 2017, people would’ve been like, “What? How?” But now it’s normal. It’s cool to see artists explore new directions. For me, it’s like drawing with a new color. I’ve spent all this time working in yellow, and now I get to try red. It just gives me more creative options and lets me do something new.
LUNA: I love that. What defines success for you? Is it streaming numbers, audience response, or something more personal?
KAVVI: I’m not going to lie, I am a numbers guy. So yeah, I definitely want to see the song do well because that means more people are connecting with it. But getting personal messages from fans also really means a lot. We’ve gotten some messages where people say the music helped them in a specific way, and that always sticks with me.
Still, I want the music to reach as many people as possible. With cumbia especially, it’s meant to be enjoyed with others - at a party, with your partner, at a cookout. Seeing my song played in any of those settings would feel like a win.
LUNA: That’s awesome. You’ve got the single coming out, another single on the way, an EP release, and a tour. Are there any plans for a full album, or is that still a bit far off?
KAVVI: The EP is coming out October 10. It’s called For Siempre—like, not por siempre, but for siempre. I like that bilingual twist. I’m always going to be bilingual in how I think and create, so I wanted that to be part of it.
LUNA: I love that. Is there anything you want fans or listeners to know about you, the band, the new single, anything?
KAVVI: Yeah, so it’s just me now. I’m not sure if that’s been made public, but the other bandmates aren’t part of the project anymore. So now it’s just me pushing the project forward as Luna Luna. Kind of like a Tame Impala situation. I think that’s worth mentioning, just so people know the direction things are going. But yeah, I’m going to keep making music and keep producing. I’m excited for what’s ahead.
