The Latin Playboys’ Love Affair

After 25 years together, the members of Los Lobos are restless. A variety of side projects has led them down divergent--if occasionally intersecting--paths.

Cesar Rosas has released his first solo album, the blues-based “Soul Disguise” and, along with David Hidalgo, is part of the Grammy-winning Tex-Mex supergroup Los Super Seven.

Hidalgo, Los Lobos’ singer and player of multiple instruments, also has recorded an album under the group moniker Houndog and is a principal player in the Latin Playboys, which also features Los Lobos drummer Louie Perez and producers-musicians Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake.

The most experimental of the bunch of side projects is the Playboys, which kicked off its first tour last week in Seattle. Abstract lyrics, unsettling electronic textures and more organic, traditional instrumentation commingle, particularly on the quartet’s sophomore effort, the brand-new “Dose.”

It should come as no surprise that the quartet, which plays Wednesday at the Galaxy Concert Theatre in Santa Ana, has no interest in recycling the past.

According to Blake, the band is a freewheeling vehicle with few preconceived notions. The Playboys, he says, are driven by an impulsive spirit of adventure.

“We don’t really have an idea of exactly what we want to express. . . . None of us consciously sits down and says, ‘This is how we want it to be,’ ” Blake said. “We try to foster an almost-anything-goes atmosphere, where any new idea is worthy of consideration.”

In fact, Blake was pleasantly surprised to discover how far-reaching Hidalgo’s musical tastes are.

“My roots come from the British progressive-rock and avant-garde scene . . . King Crimson, Peter Hamel and stuff like that. When I first sat down with David, he jammed, and I heard a snippet of a Syd Barrett song. Another time, he tuned his guitar and broke into [King Crimson’s] ‘21st Century Schizoid Man.’

“He just looked at me and chuckled, like it was something he’d kept under wraps for a long time. It turns out he was into that music, too. . . . It just hasn’t been something he could express in Los Lobos.”

The Latin Playboys formed in 1994, but the group’s roots stretch further. After the 1992 release of Lobos’ transcendent album “Kiko”--which was co-produced by Froom and Blake--Hidalgo recorded some new tracks in his kitchen one day.

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Perez and Hidalgo agreed the songs weren’t right for Lobos, but the two were still interested in fleshing out the tunes.

Froom’s and Blake’s opinions were sought. Both saw promise in what they heard, and, after a brief period of fine-tuning some of the rawer edges, the Latin Playboys’ self-titled debut was born.

Blake insists that Hidalgo and Perez form the core of the Playboys’ creative force (“Mitch and I are just grateful to be involved,” he says). Still, he and keyboardist Froom do play a significant role in shaping the band’s eclectic musical stew.

“It really is David and Louie’s project,” Blake said. “David writes all the music, a lot of which just isn’t suited to Los Lobos. Louie then adds the lyrics, and Mitchell and I sweeten the music. . . . We try to create an atmosphere that best suits each particular cut.”

On “Dose,” Blake’s “sweetening” meant creating all of the background noises. Birds chirping (“Lemon N’ Ice”), swinging screen doors (“Latin Trip”) and ringing bicycle bells (“Paula Y Fred”) produce a cinematic, almost surreal quality.

Blake, who has produced albums for Sheryl Crow, Soul Coughing, Wendy and Lisa, Cibo Matto, the Finn Brothers and others, said: “I live for that sort of thing. . . . to make field recordings. I walk around with a tape recorder wherever I go, listening for ambient sounds that I might be able to use. I had taped a bunch of sounds for a project, [‘Document Zimbabwe’], I did for Peter Gabriel’s Real World label. There were plenty of leftovers that fit nicely into what the Playboys were doing.”

Bringing even more flavor to the band’s swirling sonic tapestry are violins, drum loops and harmony vocals, courtesy of Wendy and Lisa (a.k.a. the Latin Playgirls). To re- create the band’s sound in concert, Blake plans to incorporate his background noises. In addition, opening act Lisa Germano will play violin during a handful of the headliners’ tunes.

All of the extracurricular activities of the Lobos gang has fueled speculation that the demise of the long-running East L.A. band is imminent.

Not to worry. The forthcoming Lobos album “This Time”--produced by Blake and Froom--is the band’s first for Hollywood Records after 19 years with Warner Brothers. It is due for release June 15.

“When you work closely with others, particularly over long periods of time, you burn out if you don’t break away for awhile,” Blake said. “Before Mitchell and I produced and engineered [Los Lobos’] ‘Kiko,’ we hadn’t worked together for over a year. Frankly, we weren’t doing very good work, and were beginning to wonder if our working relationship had run its course.

“But ‘Kiko’ rejuvenated us, and I think the guys in Lobos are simply recharging their batteries. Having satisfied their individual cravings, they’re once again channeling all of their energy into what makes Los Lobos the great band that it is.”

* The Latin Playboys and Lisa Germano play Wednesday at the Galaxy Concert Theatre, 3503 S. Harbor Blvd., Santa Ana. 8 p.m. $16.50-$18.50. (714) 957-0600.