Vikingo

With its in-your-face attitude, primal rock'n'roll chords and sophisticated sonics, VIKINGO! is very much a band of the moment. The Los Angeles-based quartet's debut EP - Set It On Fire - boasts the raw immediacy of a brand new collective getting ready to take the world by storm.

In reality, the genesis of VIKINGO! harks back to the '90s, when singer/guitarist Daniel Jiménez Afanador and lead guitarist Sejo Navajas were Colombian teen rebels growing up in their native Bogotá.

"We were 14 when we first met - both of us heavily into rock," enthuses Afanador. "We dressed in black and favored a brand of boots worn by Colombian workingmen. They were called GRULLA and had metal wedges on the tips so that if a brick happened to fall on your foot, you'd emerge unscathed. There was something macho about those shoes, and they mirrored the music of our first bands: a trash metal combo called Anima, and a progressive rock collective named Azul Profundo."

Even though both musicians ended up moving to LA, their careers followed separate paths. Afanador became a singer/songwriter with Latin rock sensation Roxing Kafé, touring the U.S. and releasing a critically acclaimed major label album before launching a solo career. Navajas became a partner and chief engineer at the Santa Monica-based boutique studio 4th Street Recordings, working with artists such as Muse, Weezer and members of the Black Crowes.

From time to time, both musicians would express the desire to form a back-to-the-roots, no-frills rock'n'roll combo. Last year, they invited Norwegian bassist Andreas Kvinge Sandnes and 4th Street's first-call session drummer Christopher Roberts for a couple of recording sessions that made it clear how prolific and self-assured the VIKINGO! way of doing things could be. Sandnes' propulsive bass chops and Robert's hard-hitting drumming were just what the band needed.

"My main influences are Queens of the Stone Age, the ever changing genius of Bowie, the energy of the Rolling Stones and the punk aesthetic of The Clash," says Navajas. "We wanted to cherish the irreverent spirit of rock, its dogged determination to rebel against the status quo."

"Sejo and I know each other so well, it almost feels as if I'm writing songs with my alter ego," adds Afanador. "After years of living in the U.S., there is a development and synchronicity in our political visions. Our taste for rock'n'roll is the threadline that remains unchanged."

VIKINGO! will release a full-length album early next year, and then prepare to perform at both small clubs and festivals across the country.

"For a couple of years, we kept talking about forming VIKINGO! and celebrating the very essence of rock'n'roll," concludes Navajas. "It would have been stupid not to do it.