As a Latin music lover, I have long been a fan of Michael Crockett's Horizontes radio program which airs every Friday from 1-3pm, so it was a huge thrill to be invited to perform live in Studio 1A on June 27th.  Listeners from all over the state of Texas tuned in and our site traffic reached an all-time high proving people love National Public Radio (and we hope they like us too!).

Los Bad Apples is a proud member of the Hispanic Heritage Society of Texas which is an organization comprised of young men and women of Hispanic background as well as students with an interest in Hispanic cultures. Our mission is to serve as a support group for students of Latin American or Spanish descent, as well as educate communities in Texas about Hispanic cultures and issues, in both Latino countries and in the United States. It is our hope that by sharing our cultures and issues with the community, our efforts will break old stereotypes of the Hispanic world and contribute to a greater understanding between the members of our growing multi-cultural state.

PRIDE Fest was a blast, and yes, it was warm - but nothing us Texans can't handle!  The weather even served as musical inspiration for a rap freestyle by Zeale.  When the crowd was asked for words to rhyme with "hot & sticky" won the popular vote.  Anita was dressed for the high temperatures wearing little more than a red rhinestone bras and cap, and together Los Bad Apples turned up the heat!    Of course, opening for Meshell Ndegeocello was a huge honor for everyone in the group, especially bassist Aldo who thinks female bass players are HOT.  Thanks to Patrick George for giving us our 2nd Austin American Satesman shout-out!  To see pictures from the event visit Austin 360.

We knew Duffy was going to be huge when we opened for her at this year's SXSW party held by DMX (the sensory branding company, not the angry rapper).  Well...we were right!  Not only has her hit single "Mercy" been featured on commercials and the season finale of Gray's Anatomy, but now Bon Jovi is covering it too!  You know you've made it when everyone's favorite hair band covers your single in a sold out arena.  Not too shabby.

Anita visited the KOOP radio studios for the first time on Sunday, June 8th to chat with Heath Riddles, host of the program OutCast.  The show is geared towards the LGBT community and we were invited to promote PRIDE Festival which we'll be performing at on Saturday, June 14th at 3pm in Auditorium Shores park.  Headlining the show is the amazing grammy-winner, Me'Shell Ndegeocello. We had an inspiring talk about the struggles that all minorities encounter - whether latino, black or gay - and the importance of speaking on behalf of others who face challenges.  Since we were asked, Anita clarified that although none of the Bad Apples are gay, you don't have to be gay to believe in celebrating diversity and promoting equality.  We hope to see all of you - gay, straight, latino, black, white, other - at PRIDE Festival on Saturday, June 14th at 3pm.  

Listen to the interview here (if you're in a hurry, FastForward to 13:00 to hear LBA)!

Pachanga Fest was HOT - and I'm not just talking about the sexy latin ladies or the spicy chips & salsa.  It was about 100+ degrees without a cloud in the sky, but we got our groove on for an audience that wasn't afraid to sweat.  We had a great time playing on that beautiful stage, and our picture even made it into the Austin American Statesman (there's a camera on the left side under MORE ON THIS ARTICLE...).  We even made the evening news on KXAN - click here to view!  We look forward to next year being even bigger and better...and hopefully not quite as hot!  

I can't believe how good our video looks considering that we pulled it all together finding a Director, a club, dancers and extras in about 2 weeks....and after it's all said and done, we spent about a total of $200!  WOW!  Of course, none of this would be possible without the generous support of our friends at Beso Cantina who opened their gorgeous club for us for FREE.  The super sexy dancers from Fuerza Latina who made our video smoking hot...for FREE.  The extras who stood around for hours for those few seconds of fame...for FREE.  And finally, our incredibly talented Director, Travis Benn, who is destined for greatness (and we hope he takes us with him!).  It's time to win ME Television's Video of the Year award for 2008! 

On May 19th I visited my first tattoo parlour.  Not to get a tattoo, of course, but for our first media interview with Rock y Roll Radio.  Click on May 19th - Part I to listen as host Paul Saucido (ME Television) makes Anita blush while co-host Dacia Saenz and Joseph debate which one has slept with more hot Venezuelan women!  Preceeding our interview you'll hear Paul rip into the Viva Hollywood casting director for promoting negative latino stereotypes on the hit reality show.  Paul takes no prisoners!  Fortunately he was very nice to us .

March 15th, 2008 - WHAT A DAY!  Los Bad Apples had the honor of opening for Ludacris at a private SXSW party hosted by DMX, a local sensory branding company. Our performance garnered great interest from several industry peeps, and we got offers to play for the troops in Southwest Asia (all we have to do is say when & where!) as well as an offer from the Flaming Lips’ manager to perform at Tulsa’s D Fest in July.

Zeale MC’d the event and it was a thrill to see him warming up the mics for Ludacris with his freestyle rhymes. We got a great picture with Luda in front of the ice machine that was in the parking lot behind our tent - total ghetto style!

I got to chat with Ludacris backstage and he was incredibly down to earth, friendly & unpretentious. His performance was worthy of all the hype he’s earned over the years, and despite some technical difficulties he maintained his cool and was a great sport...and just like that he was off on his private plane back to Toronto where he’s filming a movie with Mark Walburg. Meeting celebrities you admire is always a little scary because you never know what they’re going to be like in person, but Ludacris exceeded all expectations - I hope our paths cross again some day! 

Maybe you haven’t heard of these names yet, but before the end of 2008 I bet you will. We had the pleasure of opening for them during SXSW, and here’s what we learned: 

Duffy has had the 1 single in the UK for the past 5 weeks and the fastest selling album of 2008 (in the UK). Universal Records is investing a lot of resources into introducing her to America, so I wouldn’t be surprised if she ends up being this year’s Amy Winehouse (incidentally, she has a similar sound sans all the blow & puff).

British Sea Power has been called "The best band in Britain" by The Sunday Times, while Blender magazine claims that "British Sea Power’s vision makes most independent rock seem callow and weak-minded."

Back Door Slam’s debut album, ’Roll Away’ which was released in 2007 has recently risen to number 7 in the Billboard Blues charts and they show no sign of slowing down.