Arizona Daily Star, August 2000

Written by Mac Juarez, from The Arizona Daily Star. This was compiled from interviews with Roy and Gregg.

If Latin-influenced pop and rock music was as hot in the early '90s as it is today, the Tribe of Gypsies would be mainstream. Instead, the California-based group is relatively unknown, coming off the summer release of its third album Tribe of Gypsies III. The Tribe hopes that will all change with an opening-act gig supporting Santana and Everlast on the second leg of their North American tour. "We've been given a shot, and we are going to take it for what it is" said Roy Z, founder and guitarist of the Tribe of Gypsies. The band's sound spreads across the musical spectrum, blending pop, funk and rock with Latin rhythms, as well as African, Cuban and Caribbean beats. "I see us as a rock band with different flavors," Roy Z said in a recent telephone interview from California. "You'll see there is a common thread to our band, not only in instrumentation, but from the emotions we try to play. We are always trying to play more from the heart, less from the head," he said.

The band has enlisted the producing/engineering talent of '70s hit-makers Richard Podolor and Bill Cooper, known for their work with Steppenwolf and Three Dog Night, on three of the new album's tunes. "There is not a lot of people out there that I would let produce the band. But I've very pleased with the work. They will be doing our next record, the entire record," Roy Z said. And if some songs - on the current and past albums - sound a bit Santana-ish, that's because Roy Z, 33, credits Carlos Santana, along with the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Ritchie Valens and Albert King, as musical influences.

The group's name is taken from the Hendrix album Band of Gypsies. "I saw Hendrix' Woodstock footage. I saw Hendrix and congas and all this crazy stuff, and I said I want to do that," Roy Z said. The band came together in 1992. Disenchanted with the stagnating L.A. music scene, Roy Z decided to form a band that would reflect his Hispanic heritage and have a universal appeal. Unfortunately, U.S. record company's weren't ready for the musical message he was trying to get across. "Mercury (Records) never put out our first record because they said "we don't know what kind of music this is. We don't know how to market it," Roy Z said. The Tribe did find an outlet for their music in Japan. "The Japanese are enthusiastic and very open minded. They see the beauty in things that some of us in the states don't. They are not into the whole commercialization of things," Roy Z said.

In 1996, the band released its first full-length album, Tribe of Gypsies on JVC/Victor. A mini-album followed a year later. That was followed by a second full-length album, called Revolucion 13. That, as well as the current album Tribe of Gypsies III, features the vocals of Gregg Analla, a Pueblo Indian from New Mexico. "I wish he would have been with us from the beginning," Roy Z said of Analla. Analla, 35, had been the band's first choice for vocals. But was singing for an Albuquerque band called SeventhSign. "This is a great opportunity for us, to play with someone who is involved in the same style of music," Analla said of the tour with Santana. When he's not recording or playing with the Tribe, Analla explores another passion. "I've always been involved in Indian art. I do paintings, jewelry design, sculptures." Analla's also putting together a solo album that he hopes to release sometime in the distant future.

As for Roy Z, his musical versatility has given him the opportunity to write, record and produce for other bands. His credits include work with Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson on Dickinson's previous solo work, as well the new album Resurrection by former Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford. Roy Z currently is involved in producing European metal band Helloween's next album and the alternative metal band Downset.

As for the Tribe of Gypsies, the band will be headed back to the studio to work on a follow up to its latest album. Tribe of Gypsies III and the band's previous releases are not yet available in record stores. But a deal is in the works to put out TOG III on the Sanctuary Music label, possibly later this year. The band's music, however, can be purchased via its Web site.