Note from the editor: This article was originally published on October 16, 2025 by Rebeca Torres Jara in Spanish and was translated to English by Iñaki Zamarripa on October 17, 2025. 

A month after they released their debut single, “Gózalo,” the local band The Animeros performed for the first time in the Austin City Limits Music Festival on October 3.

Founded in 2024 by percussionist Nick Tozzo, bassist Nicolas Sanchez, and guitarist Mauro Lopez, the band is characterized by their Latin American influences, mixing genres like cumbia and bolero, and capturing the sounds of “the exuberant jungles of Colombia, the palm-bordered streets of the 60s Mexican coastline, and the dusty cantinas of West Texas.”

The band started working on projects like “Gózalo,” launched August 27. After being discovered by seven-time Grammy Award-winning producer, Dan Auderbach, the band was signed to his record label Eye Sound, with whom they plan to launch their debut album by 2026. 

“They liked the danceable sounds that we were bringing–the cumbia and the latin psychedelic that we make, he just loved it,” Tozzo said. 

Lopez, originally from the border city of the Rio Grande Valley, and Sanchez, of Colombian descent, reflected about their Latin American roots and what it means for them to play this musical genre in the U.S. 

“Every time you hear a cumbia rhythm or whenever you hear salsa, or mambo, or cha-cha-cha, you think ‘this is the sound of my people,’ and that is what draws you to it,” Lopez said. 

Tozzo, also from the Rio Grande Valley, who is not Latino, shared his experience exploring musical diversity first by growing up listening to jazz and rock, and now going into the latin genre as a percussionist for the band. 

“I think that as a musician it’s important to diversify your interests. It’s difficult being successful in music in any genre, and you don’t want to close yourself and play just one thing. You’ll have more opportunities if you diversify,” Tozzo said. 

The members of The Animeros reflected about what it means for them to be one of the many artists representing the latin genre that also played at ACL, like the Mexican pop band Latin Mafia, the Argentinian rap duo Ca7riel & Paco Amoros, and the cumbia band originating from Los Angeles, LA LOM, among others. 

“It’s a great honor being musicians that play latin music, but in general, it’s a great honor representing Austin in the ACL scene, the largest festival in the city,” Sanchez said.

Eager to continue to create a musical space for the latino community, the band plans to play soon on November 14 in the local coffee shop Radio East.

“Latin music lives in the culture here, and we’re happy to represent it,” Sanchez said.