Rock en Espan~ol in Demand

With all the excitement surrounding L.A.’s rock en espan~ol scene, executives at major record labels are beginning to woo bands at the core of the movement.

Members of Ozomatli and Yeska were taken out to a late-night dinner by a Geffen exec on Saturday (that’s why duel band percussionist Alfredo Ortiz played with his eyes closed at Dragonfly the following night).

Los Olvidados, who have been asked to record on independent labels in the past but declined because they wouldn’t be able to quit their day jobs--indies often can’t pay nearly as much as bigger labels--are also getting interest.

The biggest news is the quartet Pastilla received three recording offers over the past few three weeks--among those in the running are the labels EMI and BMG. The Pomona-based band plans to make a decision by the end of this week. . . .

Gee, no one from Billboard Live called us with the news, but through a close encounter with a source at the Viper Room we learned the new club on the Sunset Strip recently laid off about a dozen employees. “There’s too many hotel people managing a nightclub,” says the source. “It’s just not run correctly.”

“Oh, no, no, no, what happens in any business is you start off fat, then you weed out,” says Mark Cuddy, the general manager for Billboard Live. “We started off with a huge team and now we’re weeding out the fat. By no means are we in any trouble. We’re moving forward with clubs in New York, and Vegas and we’re looking at Singapore and Indonesia. We’re going forwards, not backwards.”

Cuddy also says there haven’t been as many as a dozen layoffs, “there have been very few, actually” was his quote, but he won’t release the exact figure. . . .

In better news, the Mint--a cool Pico Boulevard nightclub--reopened over the weekend with a Friday night performance by Mazzy Star and upcoming shows include tonight’s Ollywood Swinging (featuring Oliver Lieber). . . . Boardner’s in Hollywood was bought recently, so look for upgrades at the old barfly hang, and Cafe Figaro was purchased by an ex-Living Room owner who’s busy re-swanking the Melrose Avenue coffeehouse.

Last but not least, tweaked night crawlers might want to check out Sin-A-Matic Saturday night for a special performance by London’s Torture Garden & Flesh Fetish (hey, don’t be offended, waddya expect? It’s West Hollywood, not Kansas).