Daniel Villarreal

Daniel Villarreal-Carrillo is a Panama-born, U.S.-based drummer, percussionist, and DJ best known for his work as a founding member of Chicago's Dos Santos. Active in the Windy City and Los Angeles, he is also half of the Los Sundowns (with guitarist Beto Martinez), and a member of the traditional son jarocho group Ida y Vuelta. Further, he has backed singer/songwriter Rudy De Anda and Wild Belle live and on recordings. Villarreal-Carrillo's fluid pan-Latin style melds traditional Panamanian sounds with those from the Caribbean, Colombia, Mexico, and Afro-Cuban son and salsa with influences from psychedelic rock, free jazz, post-punk, hip-hop, R&B, and funk. He issued his debut solo album, Panamá 77, for International Anthem in 2022, followed by Lados B a year later. Reflecting the title of his solo album, Villarreal-Carrillo was born in Panama City in 1977. He began playing percussion and drums as a child. He fell deeply under the influence of punk during his adolescence and began drumming in the punk and hardcore scenes in Central America, and in two noteworthy bands in Panama City during the '90s: NOHAYDIA and 2 Huevos 1 Camino. Drummer Freddy Sobers (of Panamanian reggaeton bands El General and Nando Boom) saw his immense potential and took Villarreal-Carillo under his wing. The older musician exposed him to many styles, sounds, and textures, "everything from Rush to reggaeton to Chick Corea to salsa music." He told the younger man if he wanted to be a good drummer, he had to learn all the styles. Villarreal-Carrillo emigrated to the U.S. in the early 2000s. He spent the first decade living on a farm near Woodstock, Illinois, where he made his living as a social worker, connecting migrant laborers with community health clinics. He was also a father who spent the majority of his time raising two daughters. He used the little spare time he had to playing drums. He discovered collaborators on the Internet and also played with local Latin folk musicians. He played more gigs as he embedded himself in his music community and in Chicago's. In 2011 he relocated to the Windy City determined to make his living as a full-time musician. Villarreal-Carrillo spent another decade working as a sideman with musicians from many genres. He also established himself as a DJ extremely well-versed in music from across the globe. In 2013 he joined vocalist/keyboardist/guitarist Alex Chavez, bassist Jaime Garza, guitarist Nathan Karagianis, and conguero Peter Vale in founding the Dos Santos Anti-Beat Orquesta. All of these musicians were well-versed in pan-Latin styles and either had, or were, playing in numerous bands, from traditional outfits to jam bands. Their self-titled debut appeared two years later to critical acclaim from the indie rock press, which celebrated its meld of Mexican and Latin styles, surf, prog, psychedelia, garage rock, jazz, R&B, and more. The following year they released the Fonografic EP on Electric Cowbell Records. It was produced by Beto Martínez of the Grammy Award-winning Grupo Fantasma. In 2017 they teamed with Grupo Fantasma/Brownout offshoot Money Chicha to release a split single titled "Summit Sessions" on Sonorama Discos. Dos Santos had become ubiquitous on the Chicago scene. They took their new American style and toured the U.S. Upon their return to Chicago, they signed to International Anthem and cut their label debut Logos; it was released in June 2018 and followed by a national tour. That same year, they cut a split-cassette single with Money Chicha. Outside his work with Dos Santos, Villarreal-Carrillo joined Elliot and Natalie Bergman's Wild Belle in the studio and on tour. He also became a member of Chicago's Ida y Vuelta. A live ensemble from his Pilsen neighborhood, they specialize in son jarocho, a Mexican traditional music from the Sotavento region that combines African, Spanish-Arabic, and other Indigenous influences with poetry. From the very beginning with Dos Santos, Villarreal-Carrillo sought to create his own studio project to reflect his musical world view. He undertook a handful of studio experiments in 2017 and 2018; they got close to what he was imagining, but it wasn't until he traveled to Los Angeles for a gig in 2019 that he caught the spark of inspiration to see it through. He cut an informal improvised session with friends including Elliot Bergman, Jeff Parker, Kellen Harrison, and Chicano Batman's Bardo Martínez. It was so kinetic that he decided to build an entire album from the roots of the inspiration. When the pandemic hit in 2020, Villarreal-Carrillo was unwilling to put his dream on hold. He drove to Los Angeles with his drum kit in the trunk and arranged four extensive, socially distanced live outdoor sessions with friends, and also recorded in Chicago with his circle of International Anthem labelmates and colleagues. Once completed, he took the mixes and began adding to them in his home studio through most of 2021. That year he also co-founded the psychedelic Latin soul duo the Los Sundowns with Grupo Fantasma/Money Chicha guitarist and producer Beto Martínez. They issued two singles -- "Los Angeles" and "Al Final de la Tarde" -- and a self-tilted six-track EP. Villarreal-Carrillo re-entered the studio with Dos Santos, who released City of Mirrors in October 2021, their most commercially successful album yet. With the cultural hangover from the pandemic, there were still only limited opportunities for the band to tour. Villarreal-Carrillo and producer Dave Vettraino continued to put finishing touches on the solo album. In 2021 they added layers of percussion and atmospheres, editing and piecing the music together at International Anthem in Chicago. Other additions were made in the final stages of production. New York-based jazz trumpeter Aquiles Navarro (Irreversible Entanglements) recorded his contribution at his family’s home in Panama. Los Angeles-based violinist/arranger Marta Sofia Honer wrote string arrangements for two cuts. There was a final overdub session at Bardo Martínez's garage studio, too. As the album took its final form, Villarreal-Carrillo titled it Panamá 77 in homage to his birthplace and the year he was born. International Anthem released it in May 2022. Some of the music on that album was sourced from two days of recording sessions that took place in a Los Angeles studio with Villarreal-Carrillo, guitarist Jeff Parker, and bassist Anna Butterss in October 2020. The lion's share of that music remained in the vault until October 2023, when International Anthem released Lados B. Co-produced by Villareal with Dave Vettraino and Scott McNiece, and mixed by the former two, the nine-track set wed spontaneous improvisation across jazz, psychedelic rock, R&B, and blues to the percussionist's approach to Latin salsa, jazz, and funk.
© Thom Jurek /TiVo