artist The AK-47s

The AK’47s is a new age blues/rock duet based in Ottawa, Ontario. They were formed in April 2009 and the group consists of 24 year old lead vocalist/guitarist Luis Icaza, and 26 year old drummer/percussionist Raul Alvarado Jr. Currently they are working on an album that has no release date but they have hinted at the summer of 2011. When asked about the long awaited album, they said “We love our music and devote a lot of time to our songs. We want the album to be the best possible expression of our dedication and hard work.” 

Luis who grew up in Nicaragua, and has been living in Ottawa for several years describes his inspiration for his fast paced, high-energy guitar playing as “nothing extraordinary, it’s the feeling I get when I find a new riff or melody that is really rewarding for me.”

Raul was born in Los Angeles, California and moved to Canada with his family when he was three years old. “I grew up in Elmvale Acres and started playing drums when I was like eleven years old. I learned to play the bongos first, then the congas. We had a band at the church I grew up in, and we would play Spanish worship songs with like a merengue back-beat, it was a lot of fun! 

Ottawa’s music scene has experienced an upsurge in fresh talent in the past few years, with social networking sites, blogs, and hand held web browsers allowing artists and bands to easily promote new material and upcoming shows. ” It’s become so easy for us to keep our fans up-to-date on our movement. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for artists in the past.” Says Raul. “And it helps to know people.

With their high energy blues rock, they’ll continue to wow crowds with their entertaining brand of music.” This is the opportunity we’ve been waiting for, and we’ve earned our way by boldly taking the music somewhere not many two piece groups are ready to take their material.

We believe in respecting the history of blues and Rock, awareness of current trends and staying one step ahead. It’s a tough game, but we’re motivated and passionate about what we do. It’s about soul, without soul there’s no life in the music, and we’ve got plenty of soul!”