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Sept. 21, 2026

Ladrones at Louder Than Life: Mexican Metal, Cultural Fusion, and an American Dream

Ladrones at Louder Than Life: Mexican Metal, Cultural Fusion, and an American Dream

In this episode of The Adventures of Pipeman on W4CY Radio, Pipeman sits down for an energetic and heartfelt conversation with Diego (drummer) and Jose Macario (guitarist) of Ladrones. The discussion takes the listener behind the scenes of their first experience at the Louder Than Life festival, their journey from Mexico to the US music scene, and their mission to unite people through music. The band shares insights about their new album and upcoming tour, as well as stories of cultural fusion, hurdles for Mexican artists, and the emotional experience of performing with Deftones.Main Topics Covered

  • Experience at Louder Than Life and Welcome to Rockville festivals
  • Origins of Ladrones and their musical collaboration
  • Challenges and passion differences performing in México vs. USA
  • The support from their hometown and Mexican music scene difficulties
  • The dream of sharing a stage with Deftones
  • Release of their new album and first headlining US tour
  • The message of unity and breaking down borders through music
  • How to follow Ladrones online
Key Discussions & StoriesLouder Than Life Festival
  • Pipeman expresses excitement at meeting the band at the festival and asks about their impressions (00:37).
  • Jose Macario shares that it’s their first time at the festival, impressed by the crowd and strong Latin support (01:03).
The Roots of Ladrones
  • Both guests explain that Ladrones began when they were working as producers at Alzada, a Mexican label known for regional music and rap, before experimenting together musically (02:33).
  • Diego credits Manjin for giving critical career support and guiding their journey (03:15).
Performing Across Borders
  • The conversation explores the differences between Mexican and American audiences’ passion for metal and the unique cultural fusion that Ladrones brings (04:40, 05:11).
  • Jose Macario highlights the challenges Mexican bands face traveling internationally, such as visas and migration, and the importance of support from people like Jose and Rise Records (07:09).
Playing with Deftones
  • The band expresses excitement and nerves about sharing the stage with Deftones, an act they grew up idolizing (09:20).
New Album & Upcoming Tour
  • Jose Macario announces their new, third album (released August 28), their first on Rise Records, and their first headliner tour in the US covering California, Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico starting in November (10:33).
Unity Through Music
  • Discussion about music as a unifying force, transcending political and cultural barriers between México and the U.S. (13:02).
  • Diego and Jose Macario reinforce that Ladrones’ shows are inclusive parties open to all, regardless of genre preference or nationality (15:03).
Notable Quotes"We are so happy to see a lot of Latin people and American people watching us, supporting us, jumping, singing the songs." — Diego 01:38"It's a dream that we are living with all the people that love the project, and we are working, working hard with all the people that love Ladrones." — Jose Macario 06:03"There's no frontiers. We're trying to be honest from our hearts, and we want to say thank you to all the American people that is receiving us." — Diego 14:13"The Ladrones show is like a party donde todo el mundo está invitado. All the people is invited… It doesn't matter if you like a genre, if you are from a nationality." — Jose Macario 15:03Resources & Links Mentioned
  • Ladrones on social media: Find them as Ladrones MX on all platforms and streaming services (15:33)
  • New Album: Released August 28 — available on all platforms
  • Upcoming First Headliner Tour: November, with shows in California, Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico (11:04)
  • Rise Records: The label releasing their latest album


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WEBVTT

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Hi, you're listening to Adventure on W4CY Radio. This is

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the Pipe Man here on the Adventure's Pipe Man W4CY Radio,

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and I'm here with.

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Hello, I'm Diego, Ladrones Roomer. Thank you so much for

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the space.

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Oh, thank you for being here and who we have here.

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Jose Macario here. I'm the guitar player from Ladrones.

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Nice. I want to start off right now that I

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got an email and I.

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Instantly wanted to interview you because you're Jose's band. And

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you guys are badass. And if Jose likes you, you

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must be good. But I've seen you and I know

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you're good. So here you are at Louder Than Life.

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Have you been to Louder Than Life before? Have you

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been to this festival before?

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No, it's our first time. And we're very excited.

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To be here.

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What do you think of it? What's your first impression

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of it? And you can say in English or Spanish,

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either or.

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Okay, it was crazy. It was crazy. A lot of

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really big crowd. A lot of Latin people. It was

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so crazy.

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What's crazy to me? is, like, I live in Florida,

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lots of Latin people. L.A., lots of Latin people. I

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don't think of a lot of Latin people in Kentucky,

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so that's cool as shit.

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Yeah, we are so happy to see a lot of

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Latin people and American people watching us, supporting us, jumping,

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singing the songs. That was the most insane thing to

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be playing here. Being the first time for Ladrones playing here,

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that's crazy. We are so happy and grateful.

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With the people.

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I'm happy for you because I saw you guys even

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do the acoustic set at Welcome to Rockville.

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I remember.

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And I was just like, oh my God, I think

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I came up to you or something. I was like,

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you guys are so good. Even the acoustic was so good.

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Like that was so much fun. Has it been like

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a crazy ride, you know, this whole doing this band

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and music? So tell me about the start in Mexico. Like,

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tell me how it started there. Tell me how Jose

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and you guys got together.

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Okay.

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We were working in a record label called Alzada.

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Hacemos nosotros más que nada.

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Música regional mexicana and rap and trap.

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And something like that.

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Empezamos trabajando juntos como productores y nos juntamos a.

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Hacer música para nosotros.

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This is the first time that we cook something together.

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We're mixed, I know, but muy sincero. O sea, muy, muy,

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muy sincero.

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And what do you want to add to it?

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We are very grateful with Manjin. He literally is changing

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our life. Day by day, with all the festivals, the tours,

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we are growing up thanks to him.

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That's it. The fact that he.

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Gave us his hand to work together, is something that

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we forever will be grateful for that.

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So, happy, happy every day.

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And one thing I know is, okay, so, basically, Jose

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is very helpful.

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Muy simpatico. Fuck that up. And, but, pero....

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He wouldn't take you on unless you... Muy bueno. So,

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Tu Musica is.

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I can't even describe how good it is, and that's

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why he's taken you to here, you know, and these festivals.

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What do you find the difference playing in Mexico opposed

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to Estados Unidos?

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I think the difference is.

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The way the people showed the passion when we started

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to play. I mean, both are passionate, but American people,

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we have to be honest, the metal music, you say,

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is the place where.

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The people consume it.

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Yes, yes, yes. That's correct.

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Here the people is.

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Like more love metal so every time we play here

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we can feel that and in Mexico the Mexican people

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loves metal music too but I think in a different

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way because Jose made a perfect fusion with the original

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music so that's what the Mexican people is loving in

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this moment with Ladrones and But it's a perfect balance

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between the both crowds. And we can feel it every

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time we play in USA and Mexico.

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How do your hometown, local people that knew you first

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feel about how you are blowing up now?

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I think that... They support us very hard.

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There's a lot of people that work with us, that

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loves metal, loves Mexican music.

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And I think for everything, it's a dream.

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It's a dream that we are living with all the

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people that love the project. And we are working so

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hard with all the people that love Slatronix.

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And how is your music in Mexico different from the

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United States when it comes to metal? I hope you

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understood me because I butchered that shit. I was saying, basically,

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how is the metal music in Mexico different from here?

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I think there's a lot of talent in Mexico. There's

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a lot of things, a lot of bands, a lot

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of things happening apart from us. But it's very difficult

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for the Mexican.

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Bands to go out.

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Y tocar en diferentes países, salir de México, de visas,

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de migrations. Sí.

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Yeah, yeah.

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Especialmente ahora.

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Ajá.

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Especialmente ahora. Yo creo que es difícil.

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Nosotros justo tuvimos también el apoyo de José para poder venir,

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conseguir las visas, de la gente de Rice Records también.

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De alguna manera, todo sucedió.

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In a perfect time. Yo creo que.

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It's a perfect moment to bring our music outside of Mexico.

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See, what you'll find out about me is I understand

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you better than I can say it. Like, I understood you,

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but me trying to say it sometimes is not fun.

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Me too.

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Right? Exactly.

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Because I think in English... And then try to translate it.

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It's too slow. And for you, you think in Spanish,

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translate in English.

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The switch, yeah.

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It's too slow. You know, like, it's too slow trying

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to keep up. So I pick certain words out sometimes.

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I know.

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Especially when we talk fast. I'm originally from Nueva York.

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Okay.

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So I.

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Muy rapido.

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Okay. Pero.

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We are learning together.

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Sí. Sí. Todo en mente.

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Sí.

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Deftones. Oh my God.

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I know.

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Oh my... That's all I can say is oh my God.

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What is that feeling like?

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We all grew up listening to Deftones and.

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For us, it's a dream coming true. We love Deftones.

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It was part of our influence.

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That we are about to play in the show is unbelievable.

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We are just like dreaming. We can't believe it. So

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we are nervous. Really nervous.

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I don't blame you. But once you get up there...

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That'll go away.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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In that moment, the rush, the energy just go inside

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and takes you to the top and you just do it.

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But we are realizing step by step about that big

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moment is about to come to us.

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It's big, big.

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Yeah.

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Dígame música nueva.

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Whatever kind of music.

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Tell me about your new music. The new album coming out.

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El álbum salió el 28 de agosto.

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28 de agosto.

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It's the third album, but we think this one is

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the strongest, the one that is the clearest.

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We've also been doing a lot of concerts.

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It's like our fifth time in the US. We're going

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to start our first headliner tour now in November.

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And we are so very excited.

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We are going to play in California, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico.

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And we are very excited. We are releasing this album.

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It's the first Rice Records album as well. So we

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are very excited with everything that is happening.

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Congratulations, man.

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Thank you. You guys earned it because, like, you've been

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working really hard lately. I've been watching you and muy bueno.

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También mucho trabajas.

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Sí, estamos trabajando muy duro.

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Sí.

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What else would you like the listeners to know about

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you guys and your music?

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I think that we are musicians that we are making

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the music that we are. Truly we are regional music.

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We are Mexicans, real Mexicans, making the music of our culture,

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mixed with the metal that is the music with which

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we grew up, the music that we admire. Les queremos

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decir también que cuando ellos quieran hacer algo en su vida,

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que lo hagan de manera sincera. If you are honest

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with yourself, the people can see it. And then you

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can connect with all the crowd and all the public.

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And I want to say one of the best things

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I think about you guys doing a headline tour, doing

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a tour with Deftones, producing your first album with Rise Records,

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is that maybe we could teach all Americans how we

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should be together instead of the politicians trying to make

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up bullshit to separate us.

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Because.

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Personally, I've been to Mexico multiple times. In fact, when

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I was a teenager, when you didn't need a passport,

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I would drive down to the border and go to

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Tijuana and party.

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But I've been a lot of times. I surf in Mexico.

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Oh, really?

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You see? It's bueno. But what I find when.

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I go there is whatever bullshit our news is talking

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about your country is bullshit. Some of the nicest people

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I ever met are in Mexico.

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Thanks so much.

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What you're saying is.

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Completely the truth. We are trying to show the people

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that there's no frontiers. We are trying to be honest

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from our hearts and We want to say thank you

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to all the American people that is receiving us every

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time we are here. We just can't believe every time

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we play here. We take that moment in our hearts

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to our homes.

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And thanks for that.

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Well, thank you.

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Because your music, to me, music is the ultimate uniter.

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So your music is the... To me, the.

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Key of uniting Mexico y Estados Unidos. Todos la gente.

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Yeah, the Ladrones show is like a party. Donde todo

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el mundo está invitado. All the people is invited. It's

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a party for everything. No importa si te gusta un género,

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si eres de una nacionalidad, It doesn't matter.

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Si.

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Is there anything else you guys want to tell us

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about the band or anything you have coming up that

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we haven't discussed yet?

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Yeah, we are Ladrones from Mexico, Arriba La L. And

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you can find us on every social media like Ladrones

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MX and all the platforms like Ladrones.

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And thank you for all the support.

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And I say, Viva Mexico, Viva La Dorones, and muchas

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gracias para The Adventures of Pipe Man.

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Muchas gracias. Arriba La L, Puro Flow, Pesado, Viva Mexico.

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Thank you for listening to The Adventures of Pipe Man.

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On W4CY Radio.