Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the course of its six year history, you’ve likely come across a number of posts on JOVM mainstay act Grupo Fantasma, an Austin, TX-based act that throughout its 15 year history has developed a reputation for being one of the country’s preeminent, most commercially successful Latin funk-bands; in fact, the band has been nominated for several Grammys and in 2011 they won a Grammy for that year’s El Existential. And as a result of the critical and commercial success they’ve attained the members of the band have collaborated with an impressive and diverse array of renowned artists including The GZA, Prince, Maceo Parker, Sheila E, Spoon, Daniel Johnston and others, and they’ve had their music appear in several popular TV series including Showtime‘s Weeds and AMC’s Breaking Bad.
With the state of the contemporary music industry being what it is and being in a large band — initially Grupo Fantasma featured 10 full-time members — each individual member frequently pursues other creative pursuits, including side projects, production, film scores and what have you, including the critically applauded, relentlessly touring side project featuring 9 members of Grupo Fantasma, Brownout, a relentlessly touring, Latin funk and rock act that has become something of an independent act of its own since the 2014 release of Brownout Presents Brown Sabbath, which featured Latin funk interpretations of beloved Black Sabbath songs such as “Iron Man,” “Planet Caravan,” “N.I.B” and others.
October 28, 2016 will mark the release of Brownout Presents Brown Sabbath‘s highly-anticipated follow up, Brownout Presents Brown Sabbath, Vol II through Ubiquity Records. And the second collection will feature the band putting their unique spin on deeper Sabbath catalog cuts including “Fairies Wear Boots,” “Snowblind,” “Supernaught,” and “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath,” featuring Ghostland Observatory‘s Aaron Behrens. Just in time for the announcement of their forthcoming sophomore effort, the band (through their publicist) put folks on to this 2014 live segment they did for KEXP, which features the band’s impressive and funky takes on “Iron Man,” “Planet Caravan,” “The Wizard,” and “N.I.B” and members of the band talking about touring life, the response they’ve received from Latin funk fans and Sabbath fans alike and more.
