Gareth Campesinos isn't stupid. The 26-year-old frontman of Welsh indie outfit Los Campesinos! realizes that you're illegally downloading music and there's not a whole lot he can do about it.
However, "there comes a time when people have to accept if they're going to illegally download music," Campesinos tells Pitchfork, "then bands are going to have to make money elsewhere."
For Los Campesinos!, elsewhere was St. Louis, Missouri. Last year, the group licensed its über-catchy track, "You! Me! Dancing!," to American beer giant Budweiser.
"The ad itself has been really successful and has won awards," Gareth says. "They did all these different versions and kept being like, 'We want to run it for another eight months, can we give you more money?'"
On June 30, Los Campesinos! will have you, me, and everyone else at Bardot dancing when they roll through the Midtown lounge on the US leg of the indie-pop septet's current tour.
Since releasing its first record, Hold on Now, Youngster, in 2008, the group has seemingly never stopped touring. Astonishingly, the group's also managed to release three more albums and an EP since then. And just like its predecessors, last year's Hello Sadness was a critical success.
Its appeal? Maybe it's Gareth's Drake-like lyrical prowess.
"It seems like such a ludicrous thing to say, but I think Drake and I write about similar things a lot of the time."
Los Campesinos! Saturday, June 30. Bardot, 3456 N. Miami Ave., Miami. The show starts at 9 p.m. Call 305-576-7750 or visit bardotmiami.com.
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