For years there has been talk with surprise and admiration about the success of Enanitos Verdes in Latin America, an inland band that has maintained its popularity overseas for decades. Similarly, there is another phenomenon that has multiplied and has continued to grow relentlessly for 32 years: Vilma Palma and the Vampire.
To quickly check this, just check the number of listeners of your hits on Spotify: Bye bye Y The party has crossed the 100 million barrier, while red car They are already about 70 million e Wet close to 41 million.
To understand the phenomenon that will now come the 7 December at the Opera Housesinger Mario “Bird” Gomez He chatted on the phone from Rosario, a few hours before catching a bus to Ezeiza, where he will board a plane to Spain.
“This year – he said – started badly, with a lot of work. Now we have five shows in Spain: Malaga, Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Mallorca”.
“These are new challenges”
-When they started going to Spain; How did it happen?
-Look, this is a little seed that was planted. In 2018 we did Madrid and Barcelona, but then the pandemic reached us and only now has this tour consolidated, which will be beautiful. We are enthusiastic and eager. These are new challenges. It sets us up very well to go to Europe, and from what I know the sales in 1000-person rooms are very good.
-Is the secret of success in Spain that there are many Latin Americans who have known them for a long time?
-Yup. Vilma’s crossover is legendary. What is happening is adding all the Latinos who live there and who come from all the countries of Latin America. I know there are a lot of Argentines, but I think the majority will be Ecuadorians and Colombians. We have that handicap: everyone from the United States down knows us.
32 years have passed without interruption
-How was the band’s pace of work? It seems they have never stopped in 32 years!
-It has been 32 years without interruption. There were fights, of course, and in 2002, when the country exploded, I went to live in the United States with the bass player, Largo. We live in Miami and Los Angeles, but it has always been Vilma Palma. Later we returned and in 2004 we rearmed the band in Argentina, with Carina and Oveja, so there are four of us from the original line-up. There have been some changes of musicians but we already have a solid and established band many years ago.
-In Argentina there was a stage where it seemed that the group’s new albums weren’t successful, but suddenly there was an almost retro reassessment of the early hits. And today they are classics. Did the same thing happen outside?
-Yes, as it is, it is as you say. I don’t know how to define it, but it certainly depends a lot on the Internet, with Spotify and YouTube, because the songs of the group are very accessible. Young people like me listen to them, but also 20-30 year olds. And live all that strength is enhanced and it is a party.
The band plays great, the performances are flawless and the people leave happy. What one experiences is very beautiful. Vilma is the droplet that always filters. We will now release a new song and shoot a video when we return. With how hard it is to get things done, it makes us want to record and continue. The work is guaranteed because there are those first three emblematic albums. The reality is that there are 15 songs that we can’t stop playing live because if we don’t they kill us.
-Buenos Aires has always been a bit more gruff, right?
I think it has been demystified in recent years. I don’t know if we could do an Obras, but all the shows we’ve done have been sold out. We don’t do much work. When I was dumbest, I worried if people would go or not, but that’s about it. The fact that you are not in Buenos Aires will always pay for it, but over time it has been demystified and it is not something that worries me at 61 years old. Before, yes, it made me sick and I went crazy.
A rare name and a lightning-fast start
The name of the group was taken from a graffiti that had been written by the employees of a furniture shop that had just closed, on the metal shutters, against the manager of the company and where it read: “Vilma Palma and Hijos, Vampires of the workers” . but over time it was canceled and at the beginning of 1991 only the words remained: Vilma Palma and Vampiros.
In 1991 they recorded their first album which includes the hits Bye bye Y The party. Two years later they record their second album, which contains memorable hits Red car, wet Y I love you so much.
mfb
Source: Clarin
