After a long work week, nothing’s better than dancing the stress away. Para vivir, necesitamos bailar. Bomba Estéreo’s intimate session at Red Bull Studios in Santa Monica last week proved the ideal hype venue to do so. The Latin Grammy nominated group Bomba Estéreo returned to Southern Cali with cuts including the perfect summer song “Fiesta”, off their new fourth album ‘Amanecer’. With assistance from Wallpaper artist and producer Ricky Reed, the album blends the trademark B.E. fusion cumbia, Afro-Caribbean folk sound with a harder electro edge. With plans to play multiple continents the rest of the year, they’ll be seeing sunrises all over the U.S., Europe and Latin America pronto.

I chatted with Bomba Estéreo’s Simón Mejía recently about his musical beginnings in Colombia and Argentina, his prized vinyl collection of Fania artists, the new album, WTF moments with The Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne, odd fan experiences involving cardboard cutouts of Liliana and his Latin Grammy experience. Listen to the interview clips below and visit Bomba Estéreo’s website for more tour and album info!