Defying Definition

It’s been said that all philosophy is but a footnote to Plato. Likewise, it could be argued that all L.A. Latin-tinged rock bands are but a footnote to Grammy-winning Los Lobos.

None have approached the level of popular and critical acclaim as Los Lobos, a Mexican American roots rock band that made its way out of East L.A. and onto an international stage in the 1980s.

Until Ozomatli.

The 11-member salsa, funk and hip-hop band, whose ardent fan-base of L.A. club-goers has been growing steadily for almost three years, is poised to challenge Los Lobos’ position as the premier Latin-tinged band to emerge from L.A.

A new, much-anticipated major-label debut album, “Ozomatli,” will be released June 16. The group’s own self-produced four-track EP, “Ya Llego,” has sold more than 10,000 copies without a record label’s marketing support, so expectations for the major-label debut are high.

But there’s one good reason the group is unlikely to languish in Los Lobos’ shadow in the annals of music history: Ozomatli is not a Latino band--not in the way Los Lobos is.

True, half of Ozomatli’s members are Mexican American; a good half of the songs on the forthcoming album are in Spanish, and it features healthy doses of merengue, salsa and ranchera music. Los Lobos’ David Hidalgo plays on two songs.

Still, there are important distinctions between the groups.

“As much as I might want to say we’re a Chicano band, we can’t, because we’re not,” said Ulises Bella, 23, the band’s tenor sax player. “We can’t say that [because we also] have a Japanese dude, a black dude and a Scottish dude. . . . Ozomatli is very L.A. in its racial mix. It’s very universal.”

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Because of its category-defying music and eclectic racial makeup, Ozomatli is navigating uncharted territory. That makes the band a record label’s dream come true--and its marketing department’s worst nightmare.

“What we saw was a band with tremendous local gravity in the L.A. club scene, and the reason had a lot to do with the diverse nature of the music that they play,” said Paul Kremen, general manager of Almo Sounds, the band’s new record label. “We knew at the beginning that this would present marketing challenges. At the retail level, where is it going to get racked? Is it a hip-hop record, a Latin record, a pop record?”

The label plans to address those challenges head on with a multi-pronged marketing strategy that includes working traditional Latin radio, crossover urban radio--which Kremen called “Churban” for Chicano/urban--and hip-hop stations as well as alternative radio.

“When we were looking at the band in the first place, it was clear that there were a multitude of reasons not to sign them,” Kremen said. “If making records is absolutely about filling specific marketing niches, then Ozomatli is something to avoid at a record label. But that’s not what we want to do at Almo.”

Ozomatli will play tonight at the Galaxy in Santa Ana and July 2 on the main stage during the Warped Tour’s Irvine stop, on a bill with bands such as Bad Religion, the Specials and Social Distortion.

Kremen says the label plans to use the tour as an opportunity to promote Ozomatli, which has found its way onto alternative station KROQ-FM (106.7)’s local lineup--to rock audiences.

That’s just the beginning. “We’re going to hit Latin clubs and dance clubs and hip-hop clubs with a 12-inch,” Kremen said.

It’s an experiment in cross-genre and cross-audience promotion that few labels have attempted, but the tactic seems to be working for Ozomatli.

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In the past year, the group has performed at the alternative H.O.R.D.E. Festival and KROQ Weenie Roast & Luau, as well as at Los Lobos and Santana concerts--not to mention numerous Chicano/Latino fund-raising events and performances during a recent trip to Cuba.

“Our lyrics are about social issues,” said Chali 2na, the band’s 27-year-old vocalist, who, in concert, often raps and toasts in English over the horn section and turntable scratching by deejay Cut Chemist.

“People are really open to learning what the songs are all about,” said Wil-Dog, 25, the founder and bass player. He recalled a predominantly white audience at a recent show in Boulder, Colo.

“We were out there in the snow, and there were 500 people around us screaming and playing drums and doing the samba,” he said. “Afterward, people were coming up to us and asking, ‘What did that song say?’ ”

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What they were saying--in songs such as “Coming War” and “Como Vez”--is that there is that the gulf between the haves and have-nots is growing, and people need to make an effort to learn from history.

The band’s infectious, danceable music helps its message go down easier.

“We’re an inclusive band,” said lead singer Raul Pacheco, 29. “We want to include people in our experience. Some of the messages may be hard for people to swallow, but we’re going to try to win people over. If they’re able to enjoy our show, we may be able to open them up to our ideas.”

Pacheco quotes Zapatista leader Subcommander Marcos in coming up with a possible motto for the band: “We want a world where all worlds fit.”

“That means that you’ve got to learn,” he said. “Step out of your own and learn about others.”

* Ozomatli, Holly McNarland, Spigot and Afrodisiac play tonight at the Galaxy Concert Theatre, 3503 S. Harbor Blvd., Santa Ana. 8 p.m. $10-$12. (714) 957-0600. Ozomatli also plays July 2 on the Warped Tour at Safari Field, 8800 Irvine Center Drive. (714) 740-2000 (Ticketmaster).