Chili Guys Band - "Building a Movement One Groove, One smile, One Show at a Time"

Summary

Podcast Summary: Stay Tranquilo – Chili Guys Band

Episode Title: Building a Movement One Groove, One Smile, One Show at a Time
Date: June 26, 2026
Host: Stay Tranquilo Network
Guests: Chili Guys Band (Lions, Vaen, AG)

Main Theme / Purpose

This episode dives into the story, philosophy, and creative process behind the Miami-born reggae-fusion band Chili Guys. The Tranquilo crew and the Chili Guys discuss building a musical movement grounded in good vibes, connection, and mindful living. They unpack how reggae inspires community, healing, and balance, and share what’s next for the band.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Origins of the Chili Guys

• Long-Time Friends Turned Bandmates:

  • Lions, Mike, and Cheech have been friends for about 20 years, regularly jamming and freestyling together in their youth.
  • The idea for Chili Guys started roughly 15 years ago, with the dream re-ignited when Mike got a studio space (Flow State) in 2022.
  • “We would just freestyle and kick it. And that’s where it all started. That was the fun, you know?” — Lions (03:06)

• Formation at Flow State:

  • Vaen joins after being magnetized by the group’s creative energy.

  • AG and other members join organically as the group expands, culminating in a full band with skilled instrumentalists (drums, bass, saxophone, keys).

  • “It’s just a unique dude. … Benji was kind of the last piece … and now we have a full AP’s band.” — Lions (09:34)

• Weekly Ritual:

  • The band meets every Tuesday for collaborative sessions—a tradition likened to “church.”
  • “We made it a thing to get together every Tuesday ritually… we still do that to this day.” — Lions (06:10)

2. Creative Process & Band Dynamic

• Collaborative, Organic Songwriting:

  • Songs typically emerge from spontaneous jamming, riff-building, and energy in the studio.
  • Memorable moments and “special sessions” are spontaneous and collaborative, often reflecting the members’ life moments (fatherhood, family).
  • “Often that’s kind of how it happens…if the energy is high for the night and we go in the studio…we kind of just hit it right there.” — Vaen (24:11)

• Message-Driven Music:

  • The band makes “righteous music” — reggae with positive, empowering, and communal messages.

  • Many lyrics act as daily reminders both for themselves and listeners about gratitude, purpose, and staying “tranquilo” amidst adversity.

  • “Music with a message…not only just to stay tranquilo, you know, positive vibrations…” — Vaen (13:19)

3. Reggae as a Genre & Lifestyle

• Power & Purpose of Reggae:

  • Reggae is seen as transformative — uplifting, revolutionary, meditative, unifying.
  • Roots in social consciousness, balance, hope, and “one love” ethos.
  • “Reggae for me…is everything man. I’m not gonna lie. …it’s just good for people and it’s good for the world.” — Lions (12:59)

• Evolution & Fusion:

  • While grounded in traditional reggae, Chili Guys embrace influences from soul, rock, RnB, and hip-hop, making them a “soulful reggae fusion” band.
  • “We take elements from rock or R&B or soul or hip hop even, and fuse those elements together to kind of make our own sound.” — Vaen (15:07)

• Universality & Modern Resonance:

  • Reggae’s appeal and meaning remain relevant worldwide, resonating with contemporary struggles and hopes.
  • The band aspires to help “make reggae great again”—to spread its healing influence further.
  • “It’s a unifying genre, I would say… for sure.” — Vaen (16:49)

4. Album Highlights & Most Memorable Songs (23:41–26:05)

• Favorite Tracks:

  • “Listening to Reggae” – Celebrates the origin and vibe of the band; became their most streamed single.

  • “Sweetest Gift” – A song about counting blessings and remembering life’s purpose.

  • “Seeds” – Written on the night Mike’s child was born, inspired the concept for their first album about fatherhood and love.

  • “Sweetest Gift is one of those records…that talks about purpose and to count our blessings each and every day.” — Lions (25:19)

• Songwriting as Self-Reminders:

  • Lyrics are often intended as self-affirmations, reminders of positivity and gratitude.

5. Impact, Purpose, and Legacy (27:30–37:53)

• Music as Healing & Inspiration:

  • The band views their music as a means to empower themselves and others, with themes of conscious living, joy, and resilience.
  • “A lot of the music we write…are really reminders to ourselves.” — AG (28:21)

• On Authenticity and Persistence:

  • The journey involves self-belief, tuning out naysayers, and focusing on what feels right and authentic, even if only one person is impacted positively.
  • “If you can impact one person every single day, you’re just stacking that momentum…” — Interviewer (36:48)

6. The Chili Guys’ Next Chapter (18:54–21:16, 38:08–39:30)

• Recent and Upcoming Projects:

  • Albums: “Love Papa” (fatherhood-themed), “Chili Island” (beach-vacation vibes).

  • “Power of the Sun” — A forthcoming single described as their “biggest, most dynamic song yet.”

  • Plan to release new music monthly, with more international touring (Costa Rica, Chile, major festivals) in the works.

  • “We have a plan…we’re dropping a record every month. We’re gonna start dropping a record every month. …Just to spicy it up a little bit.” — Lions (20:21)

• Upcoming Events and Content:

  • Launching “Flow Live” monthly showcases with live performances to foster local music community.
  • Music videos out now: “Listening to Reggae”; watch for “Sweet Thing” and “Power of the Sun.”
  • “There’s a live stage in there…we’re gonna start having probably, like, monthly Flow Live showcases…” — Vaen (39:08)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Band’s Origins & Vibe:

  • “That’s where it all started. That was the fun, you know?” — Lions (03:06)
  • “We just started singing, you know, that hook all together…we just kind of built around that hook.” — Vaen (24:11)

• On Reggae’s Message:

  • “It’s the music that enlightens people. It will take you out of any…bullshit you’re going through…and give you inspiration.” — Lions (12:21)
  • “If you want to get a good meditation in your life, this is some good reggae music.” — Lions (15:37)
  • “Reggae music…is music that speaks truths that go from generation to generation, and they always apply.” — AG (26:42)

• On Authenticity & Purpose:

  • “Be yourself and…and just have fun with it. …this is just another reminder … just be yourself.” — Lions (26:05)
  • “It takes guts and a little bit of vulnerability to bring that forth—whatever that gift is, you know, whether it’s music or anything else.” — Vaen (36:48)

• On Their Creative Process:

  • “It’s truly a collaborative process, I would say…most of us have, like, daytime jobs…this is our passion project, which we’re giving it 100.” — AG (32:09)

• On Community and Music’s Ripple Effect:

  • “When the raindrop hits the water…it kind of creates that ripple effect. You help that person, that person now helps the next person.” — Interviewer (36:48)

• On Future Plans:

  • “We’re trying to release…a record every month. …we have almost two or three albums in the works.” — Lions (20:21)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Introductions and Band Origins: 02:18 – 06:10
• Early Jam Sessions & Weekly Ritual: 06:04 – 09:34
• Instrumentation and Member Introductions: 08:08 – 10:04
• Reggae and Genre Discussion: 10:04 – 16:54
• Modern Influence and Originality: 16:54 – 18:22
• Future Plans and Upcoming Releases: 18:54 – 21:16
• Favorite Songs & Creative Process: 23:41 – 26:16
• Band Philosophy & Impact: 27:30 – 37:53
• Upcoming Events & Community: 38:08 – 39:30

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Summary: The Chili Guy Way

The Chili Guys’ story is one of brotherhood, organic creativity, and a commitment to positive, message-driven music. Grounded in the soul of reggae and fused with modern grooves, their songs serve both as self-reminders and unifiers for listeners—encouraging joy, conscious living, and community. Their future is full of new music, live events, and more “spice,” embodying their Miami roots and global reggae ethos.

“If the world is on fire, we’ll be on Chili Island if you want to come hang out.” — Vaen (29:33)

For more:

• Listen to Chili Guys on all platforms
• Watch "Listening to Reggae" (music video) on YouTube
• Look out for “Power of the Sun” and monthly releases
• Follow for Flow State live events and be part of the community

Stay tropical, stay tranquil, stay Chili.

Transcript

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[Vaen]

That started happening and we just started singing, you know, that hook all together, And we just kind of built around that hook.

[Interviewer]

Grand malo is the spark that ignites the party. If you know me, you know I like spicy. And with its spicy tamarind kick, it's the spark of the party. Whether served on ice or a nice chilled shot, Gran malo turns an ordinary night into a night you'll never forget. Whether showing up with a bottle or their 50 milliliter mini apex, the party has started. All right, welcome back. We are here at State Rankilo Studios. We got a special episode today. Joined by a few of the guys from the Chili Guys. I know we got a big band over here, but we are joined by a few of the guys here. Appreciate you guys for taking the time. We're gonn chop it up today. Talk a little bit about the story of the Chili Guys, how we even got connected and what the future of the Chili Guys looks like. But guys want to give you guys the floor. Give me an intro name and a little bit about yourselves.

[Lions]

Yeah, what's up, y'? All? My name is Lions. I'm one of the members of Chili Guys and I'm vocals, one of the vocalists.

[Vaen]

I'm Vaen. I'm a singer as well and play guitar in the band.

[Interviewer]

And yeah, hell yeah. Well, you guys got the studio right here across. Not even the street, literally in the parking lot. Across the parking lot, right? Same spot. I know Mike now for a little bit through the space. Been able to connect with you guys. And it's been great to see what that space looks like there at Flow State and just kind of like the way you guys operate in the magic that's in there. So it's a cool energy. But I want to talk a little bit about how you guys got connected. How did Chili Guys come to be? How did you guys even get into music? Was music something that you guys have been passionate about since you were young? Was it something that happened later on on? But curious to get your guys perspective on that.

[Lions]

Yeah, it's funny because a lot of us have been friends for many years, like me, Mike and Cheech have been friends for almost close to 20 years. And we've known each other for a while. And it all started where we were just young kids trying to have fun. And we would get together and at Mikey's house. And Mikey had a guitar, and he would play guitar, and me and Cheech, once in a while would come over, we would just freestyle and kick it. And that's where it all started. That was the fun, you know? And then slowly but surely, some of us became artists. I've been doing music for a long time at that point. Cheech been doing music for some time as well. Mike Vosin has been doing music for over a decade as well. For a long time. So we're all. We've been artists for many years in our own right. Right. But the whole dream with the Chili guys started almost 15 years ago.

[Renewal by Andersen Advertiser]

Oh, wow.

[Lions]

And it all started where me, Mike and Cheech, once upon a time came together on those freestyle moments. And we would talk about possibly doing a reggae record. And it all started just making some reggae music. And slowly but surely, in 2022, Mike got flow state. And he called us one day and he told us, hey, we got a studio. What are we going to do now? What's up? You know?

[Interviewer]

Yeah, he put the pressure on.

[Lions]

Yeah, pressure on. What's up? Let's make this happen after 15 years. And we got in the studio and I got a reggae beat from. From a. From an artist from Jamaica. Shout out to vessel maker, send us a beat. And we were working on a record called it's not that Serious. And it was me, Mike and Cheech at the moment, just hanging out. Vosin joined us.

[Vaen]

That. That was. That was the first. I had just moved to Miami at this night, like that week, and I was having a session in the. In the control room. They were outside writing on the chairs there. And I just took a break from the studio session, had like a dlsr camera and came over and just like. Was kind of like just magnetized over there, like, oh, what's going on over here? Who are these guys? I mean, I knew Mike already, but I just started filming them. They were writing, trying out ideas, singing, messing around, and it was just a good vibe. And I ended up just staying with them, hanging out, met the guys for the first time. And from there, now, you know, that's when you.

[Lions]

That's when we decided that we want to make a band, right? We knew the firepower that Voswin brought to the. To the group, his charisma, his guitar playing. He's an extremely awesome producer. Amazing producer and engineer as well. He does it all. So he was.

[AG]

He's a.

[Lions]

He's a force to be reckoned with. So we knew that and we spoke to each other. Amongst us three that knew each other for a long time and was family from. From that then.

[Interviewer]

That's incredible.

[Vaen]

They had a session, though I wasn't there. But we had started getting together at the studio in the facility every Tuesday.

[Lions]

Yeah.

[Vaen]

Miami Beat Wave was at most of the sessions early on for the first record. And what was the story of Seeds?

[Lions]

Seeds has an amazing story. So we. We made it a thing to get together every Tuesday ritually, which.

[Interviewer]

You guys still do that?

[Lions]

We still do that to this day. And it's. And it's been three years in. But, yeah, B Wave is.

[AG]

Is a.

[Lions]

Is a huge producer of ours. And. And, yeah, it all started with all the story with Seeds. That's right.

[Vaen]

That was the first session you had after that.

[Lions]

That's right.

[Vaen]

Songwriting, right?

[AG]

Yeah.

[Vaen]

First one.

[Lions]

Yeah, the first one was not that serious. And then when we actually became Chili Guys, the first record was Seeds. And it's an amazing. This is when we knew something special was growing. At the moment we have the session, the song came together real naturally. We're working on it. We're working on it. We stayed to the studio, like, at 2 in the morning. 2, 2, 3 in the morning. And when we get home at 7 in the morning, we receive a message from Mike that he had his first baby. So it was a special moment. He had his son that after recording a song called Seeds.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Lions]

Which was about children. And it was just a special moment from that. So Mikey had his. His kid right after the session.

[Interviewer]

Holy cow.

[Lions]

Like a long night of work.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, I think. I think he did tell me that story, actually, that you guys were in the studio. You guys were recording. The song was about. About kids. Children. About kids. Yeah.

[Lions]

Knowing that our. That his kid was gonna be doing Holy Cow and my wife was. Preg Moment as well. Cheech is already a family man and. And a. A father of two, so it just. It was beautiful moment.

[Vaen]

Well, for us, kind of became the Seed, no pun intended, for the whole. The concept of the album.

[Lions]

That's right.

[Vaen]

Was developed from that point. Love Papa.

[Lions]

That's our first album.

[Interviewer]

Right.

[Vaen]

What you'd say, like a fatherhood reggae concept.

[Lions]

Yeah. You know, we paid respect to that

[Vaen]

and, you know, that whole dynamic and.

[Interviewer]

That's sick.

[Lions]

Yeah. So everything formulated within that Journey, you know, to talk about fatherhood and expressing our love for, you know, for all the children and the youth, for the world.

[Interviewer]

Absolutely. Yeah. Very, very organic. Right? It was exactly what was going on in your life. I mean, even in the way you guys connected. Right. You just happened to be in the studio that day while these guys are here. Like you said, you gravitated to them, and the rest was kind of history after that.

[Vaen]

That's a lot of how the rest of the band formulated too. You know, it was us four. We would get together every Tuesday, and we're, of course, working with, you know, Beat Wave and other producers. But then who's. Who is next? That can't. Everyone kind of came right at the right time. Like, oh, we kind of need. We need drummer. And AG had played and Cheech 2 had played with Adrian, who's our drummer.

[Lions]

Yeah.

[Vaen]

Who also tours internationally with Gloria Stefan. Wow.

[AG]

Yeah.

[Vaen]

He's a pro drummer at this point. Awesome.

[AG]

Yeah.

[Vaen]

But AG Hit him up, I think, and, like, yeah, Adrian.

[Lions]

I've been friends with Adrian for a long time as well, and contacted him, and immediately he said, I'm in.

[Interviewer]

Wow.

[Lions]

And, well, he was. He was the. The key puzzle piece, I'm gonna be honest. He's a master drummer. This guy is very disciplined and professional. And, yeah, at that moment when he said yes, I. I pretty much called Balls and I said, yeah, we got something.

[Interviewer]

That's incredible.

[Lions]

And then everybody else started joining.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Lions]

Frankie, bass player, which is an extremely big producer for us as well, which plays bass, he started joining. Next in line was, I think, what we're talking about. Oh, Cowboys.

[AG]

Cowboys.

[Lions]

Cowboy was one of the first who joined us as well.

[Interviewer]

Oh, sax player, too.

[Lions]

Sax player. Another master man. He's just a unique dude. Crushing it all the time. And then from there, Benji was kind of the last piece.

[Interviewer]

Right.

[Lions]

Benji, which plays keys and a big part of the Chili guys as well, and. And, yeah, now we have a full AP's band.

[Interviewer]

And when. When you guys were thinking, like, instrumentally, right, as. As a reggae band, you knew, hey, these are the kind of, like, the pieces that we need if we want to be able to get every single component of sounds right.

[Vaen]

Absolutely.

[Lions]

Yeah. We knew that was the components we needed, you know, and it wasn't being the brain that he is. He was kind of like, yo, we need these, right? Little intricate pieces.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, no, it's. That's incredible. I mean, damn. I. I knew some of those layers, but I didn't know that, like, that many layers to all pretty sick. I, I, I've been a huge reggae guy my whole life. It's something that, it's like, good for the soul is what I always say that, that I'm a big country guy too. I love country music. There's just something about when you have reggae on windows down in the car, you're at the beach, or I mean, even here in the studio. The only thing we're listening to is either country or reggae here in the studio. And it just, it just puts you like, at, at a level of, of peace and like, connection, I guess, is the best way. And Stilo was very, very inspired by Bob, that Jimmy Buffett, you know, that type of vibe. Like, that was the energy and feel that I wanted to create when I started State Tranquilo. But that whole concept of like, don't worry, be happy, or the lyrics of like, everything's gonna be all right, that was the mantra of what State Tranquilo was built off of, right? Because in this world that we live in, in life, right, you're going to be throwing so many curveballs and all these things that are going to happen in life, right? But we need that reminder that, you know what, it's really not that deep. It may feel deep in that moment, right? But there's always something on the other side of it, right? And there's a purpose behind exactly what it is that you're going through in that moment. And reggae specifically gives me that vibe, right? It's like a sense of hope, it's a sense of purpose, it's a sense of equilibrium. And I think the world needs more of that, right? We're all kind of like, in this, like, hype and all this energy, which is great. I think we need that as part of our life too. But there's that balance and I believe reggae to be that. So I want to get your guys perspective of reggae as a genre, right? Obviously that's what you guys do. That's what you guys represent as a band. But how can more people feel the inclination to listen to reggae? Right? I want like the slogan, like, make reggae great again type thing, right?

[Vaen]

Love that.

[Interviewer]

You know that. Like that. Yeah, exactly. 100, let's go. Yeah, but tell me, tell me, like, why reggae and, and why reggae is so powerful, in your opinion?

[Vaen]

I would default to AG Is.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Vaen]

Knows reggae probably more than, more than any of us at the, at the roots of this. So what's your perspective on that?

[Lions]

Wow, you pretty much said it. Reggae's been a part of my, my life since I was A kid. My sister used to play when I was. When I was pretty much five, six years old. And my sister's a big bomb Marley head, you know. So ever since I was a kid, it was in my family as well. For Cheech. Cheech is a reggae lover from a young kid. So my take on reggae is it's. I call it righteous music. It's the music that enlightens people. It's the music that will take you out of any. Anything that you're going through or any bullshit that you're going through in the world. And it will uplift you and give you some inspiration. Yeah. Reggae for me. Reggae music for me is everything, man. I'm not gonna lie.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Lions]

Whenever I'm down, whenever I'm up, whenever I'm feeling good, whenever I'm going to the beach, anything I'm doing, I'm listening to reggae music all the time. I could be a little boring. That's all I listen to. But, yeah, it's. It's life for me. And it's just good for people and it's good for the world.

[Interviewer]

Absolutely.

[Lions]

Yeah.

[Vaen]

I. I kind of see in. In light of that, like, music. It's like music with a message, you know?

[Lions]

Yes.

[Vaen]

Not only just to stay tranquilo, you know, positive vibrations. But, you know, if I'm not mistaken, it's. It kind of emerged out of. Well, Bob Marley and that crew said they were super inspired by Western R B and Motown at the time. But being oppressed as they were, where they were at, you know, in Kingston, surrounding areas, it was much. It was revolutionary music empowerment for the people, you know, for, you know, living one with nature and, you know, higher

[Lions]

kind of purpose, connecting to the world. Yeah, we could get super deep with reggae.

[Interviewer]

I'm down to get deep in it because I. I think that's. People need to understand why. It's obviously, it's feel good music. It's all this stuff. But there's, to your point, deeper levels. And Bob Marley is, you know, the pioneer of that. Right. All the oppression that was going on in Jamaica. Being a voice, you know, you could put Bob Marley up there with mlk, you know, Gandhi.

[Lions]

Absolutely.

[Interviewer]

Because of the. Exactly.

[Lions]

Almost a profit.

[Interviewer]

100. And there's. And we could go crazy. Right? There's conspiracies that, you know, government didn't love what Bob Marley was preaching. So did they take him out? That's a whole. Maybe a whole other conversation in itself. Right. But. But that's the level of influence that somebody like Bob Marley has And here we are today. Right. He's been gone for a while now, and yet he is still top of the. Top of what people like culturally, in

[Lions]

general, with the red, golden, green. Now it's become a world stamp. People around the world are wearing it. I see more Bob Marley shirts than anyone else.

[Vaen]

Yeah.

[Lions]

As far as an artist, true.

[Interviewer]

He's in the mic. To me, he's in the Michael Jackson category.

[Lions]

Absolutely. So he's took in reggae music, you know, to a muscle world.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Lions]

And now there's rosters from all cultures and reggae lovers from all over the world. And, yeah, it's kicking strong.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Vaen]

And I would say that that's. We pull often from those roots and that core kind of philosophy. And, you know, I think I speak for the bit, like, we all are trying to evolve the sound of reggae in the genre. That's why we kind of call a soulful reggae fusion band. You know, like, we want to take. We take elements from exactly rock or RB or soul or hip hop even, and, you know, fuse those elements together to kind of make our own sound.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Lions]

To make our own sound. But to those who love reggae music, keep loving it, and to those who don't, I. If you want to get a good meditation in your life, this is some good reggae music.

[Interviewer]

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah. No, I. I think it's a. It's a. It's a timely place in the world where. Where we can benefit from listening to more reggae as. As a community, as a culture, as a society. Because, yeah, I mean, there's oppression all over the world, all the time. And, you know, there's disagreements, there's opinions, whatever it is that you want to call it. But when you look back at the core of way reggae represents, right, it's this one love mentality, right, that at the end of the day, we're supposed to be working with each other, not against each other. And to me, that's always, like, the core of. Of how I try to live my life, at least. And I. I believe not only Reagan, but Bob Marley to be that voice, Right. That reminder of why. Why are we trying to kill each other? Why are we trying to fight each other? Why are we trying to disagree with each other? Like, let's figure it out as a collective versus trying to figure out our own ways and doing our own separate lives and have our own separate opinions. Like, one is. Is the way.

[Vaen]

In my opinion, it's a unifying genre, I would say. Absolutely, for sure.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. So for you guys, right, obviously, we talk about Reggae and the inspiration. But there's been a lot of regulars, right? You got revolution out there. You got guys like irration, right? All these different bands, you know, out there. And I know there's a long list of reggae bands, but it was there some of these modern reggae bands that maybe provided inspiration for you or other kind of influential individuals out there in the space that you guys kind of resonated with.

[Lions]

I think for me, it's always an inspiration. Any. Any of these new bands, and there's. There's a lot of great bands out there. They're always an inspiration. Anytime I listen to them, I get inspired in some way.

[Renewal by Andersen Advertiser]

Right?

[Lions]

For me, yeah. The answer would be absolutely, yeah.

[Vaen]

We're always inspired and influenced by what we're hearing from contemporaries and especially people in, you know, similar genre. But I think more than anything, we. We're. We're so focused on just being original and exploring a new frontier of the sound and the. The genre, and not to be, you know, limited or held down by just. We're just a reggae band, you know, so we have. We can't do this. We can't do that, you know?

[Lions]

Yeah, yeah.

[AG]

No.

[Lions]

But I also think there hasn't been a moment in the studio where we get any outside opinion, Right. It's just right at the moment, whatever clicks and whatever is, you know, that specific vibe at the moment. Yeah, we're kicking from that.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Lions]

But, yeah, we're just trying to be original to the max. I love ourselves, and I love that.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. So now, kind of what the future of the Chili Guys looks like, Right? You guys have been at it now for a while, but, you know, three years, really at your core, right. You've come out with a few albums, songs in between. But what. What does the future of the Chili Guys look like?

[Renewal by Andersen Advertiser]

What.

[Interviewer]

What do you guys want to continue to do? I've seen the activity, right. The content's been amazing. The. The lifestyle that you guys represent, not only through your music, but the way that you guys carry yourself as a collective, I think is great. So talk to me a little bit about what this kind of future of Chili Guys looks like.

[Vaen]

Well, well, there was love, Papa. That was like 2023. So to lighten it up, we started, you know, you were alluding to this earlier, like, more sunshine, beach music, like, all right, being a father is great, and, you know, it's a little bit more serious matter. And so we started coming up with more kind of what. What would be, like, the music we'd want to listen to going on vacation, taking a break from, you know, having to take care of the kids and the family and all the things. And that's kind of the. Was the kind of impetus for Chili island, which, you know, most of those songs are very. You know, it's the. It's the music. That's a great album. You want to put on at the beach.

[Interviewer]

You're on a boat on the way here.

[Renewal by Andersen Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Vaen]

At a poolside, whatever. And you can listen all the way through 145 minutes. So we put that album out, and that, you know, got us pretty much.

[Lions]

What Boss is trying to say is we wanted to hit the people with a little bit of spice.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Vaen]

Yeah.

[Lions]

We wanted to hit the people with a little bit of spice. We came out with Chili Island. Chili island brought the vibe out. It showed and expressed who the. Who the Chili guys really are. That Miami Flavin vibe, you know, so it expressed that to its maximum. But I can tell you that right now we're in the planning stages and planning to take it to another level.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Lions]

Hitting bigger festivals, hitting bigger opportunities, bigger tours around the world. Chile guys are on that right now. We're planning it. Costa Rica, here we come again. Things are trying to work out in Chile.

[Home Depot Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Lions]

And we're trying to release. Not trying to. We have a plan, a real solid plan that we're creating. I mean, we're dropping a record every month. We're gonna start dropping a record every month. A single every month. Just to spicy it up a little bit.

[Renewal by Andersen Advertiser]

Keep.

[Lions]

Keep it rolling a little bit.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Lions]

We have so much music in the pocket right now that we have almost two or three albums in the works. But we're trying to really break it down, see what makes sense, releasing a single every month. We have a video out right now called Listening to Reggae, which is really good. So anybody who hasn't seen it, go check it out on YouTube and we're planning to do bigger things, and it's coming really soon. It's in the works.

[Vaen]

Yeah. June 21st. June 21st, we got a single called Power of the sun that we're super excited to put out.

[Lions]

This record is massive.

[Vaen]

Yeah.

[Renewal by Andersen Advertiser]

Damn.

[Lions]

Big record.

[Interviewer]

Actually, we did this. I got a sneak peek on it. So.

[Lions]

Big record, Power of the sun.

[Vaen]

And.

[Lions]

And we're excited. Next one.

[Interviewer]

Hell, yeah. Oh, yeah. I love it. Yeah, that. That album that you guys came out with, the logo came out great. Kind of like that vibe, like you said, you get started on song one and just play it all the way through. I was listening to. To Rum line on the way here. That. That just gets like, the. The energy going. You're just there and you're like. And it's got like the tropical and trunky.

[Vaen]

That's right.

[Interviewer]

So I'm like, hell, yeah, man. Exactly.

[Lions]

Which I don't know if a lot of people pick that one up, but they'll get it.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. Tequila sunri.

[Lions]

That's right.

[Interviewer]

I didn't know what I was getting myself into when I listened to it. I'm like, bro, these guys nailed it from, like, top to bottom.

[Lions]

I'm going to give my shout out to Mikey on that one, because Mikey's the one that be thinking about those little clever things.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, it's. It's subtle, right? It's not like, overbearing, like two in your face. But if you know, you know, right? And it's there. And for the people, like, anybody that comes to Miami, whether you're, you know, born and raised down here, you know, because that's like the drinking culture down here, that's what you do. I remember the first time I took a shot. I think that's exactly how we took the shot, right?

[Lions]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

But when people from out of town come in and they see us doing that, they're like, yo, I want. I want to do that. I want to do that. And then they're probably carrying that with them everywhere they go.

[AG]

Buddies.

[Lions]

He was like, hey, what is it about? It's a thing we do in Miami. He's like, I want to do it again.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. Cuz one thing is just taking the shot, right?

[Lions]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

But if you think about it, right, A shot, if you just grab the cup and you take it, that takes a second, right? But the central puts you in this place of, like, presence of, like, damn. I'm here with a group of people. We're about to have a great time, and we're going through a conscious effort to, like, celebrate the moment, which is sick.

[AG]

It's sick.

[Interviewer]

Now you guys. You guys are crushing in. I love everything, like, I said that you guys represent and do. And I want more people to listen to reggae because personally, it's had such a good effect on my life and such an inspiration for me creatively, visually, feel wise. So I'm excited for you guys, everything that you guys are doing. And I know we're trying to work on a little bit of something now for. For summer, I want to do like a tranquilo takeover, right? That's kind of really bring the good

[Lions]

man to work with, right?

[Interviewer]

Yeah. Summer. Summer. Energy to life. And kind of bring together what you guys do. Right. Like that whole Miami vibe, but make it a good feel to it and a reminder, like, life is good. Yeah.

[Lions]

Just have.

[Interviewer]

Exactly.

[Lions]

And expressing yourself as you want.

[Interviewer]

Absolutely.

[Lions]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Absolutely. It. What for you guys, real quick, is like, been maybe your favorite song to work on as a. As a group. I feel like there's probably not one, but is there one moment, one, like, kind of thing? Like, damn, that. That was cool.

[Vaen]

You know, for me, listening to reggae and Listening to reggae was kind of the. I would say, the most popular or most streamed single from the Chili Island.

[Interviewer]

Okay.

[Vaen]

Of course, that's why also we made the video.

[Interviewer]

Right.

[Vaen]

But it also kind of speaks to how we all came together, our love for reggae music and, you know, the whole vibe around that.

[Interviewer]

Right.

[Vaen]

So I'd say that. And the session we had for that was, I think, after, like, a rehearsal, the whole band. Sometimes after rehearsal, we'll go in the studio and mess around and someone starts playing a chord progression or making a beat, you know, because we make all the music in house. So that started happening and we just started singing, you know, that hook all together, the listening to me, and we just kind of built around that hook. And it all kind of. I mean, most of those vocals, I'm pretty sure, were recorded in that session. So it was just like it all came together. And often that's kind of how it happens. Just if the energy is high for the night and we go in the studio and the right kind of elements and vibe emerge. You know, we. We kind of just hit it right there for sure. So that one. That one sticks in my mind for sure as a. One of the most memorable kind of songs.

[Interviewer]

That's awesome.

[Vaen]

Created.

[Interviewer]

Oh, yeah.

[Lions]

Yeah. For me, too. Listening to reggae and Sweetest Gift.

[Vaen]

Yeah.

[Lions]

Sweetest Gift is one of those records that, when we started working on that record, it just got me.

[Interviewer]

Right.

[Vaen]

It's a.

[Lions]

It's a. You know, it's a record that talks about purpose and to count our blessings each and every day. And that's, for me, and I know the rest of the band is extremely important.

[Renewal by Andersen Advertiser]

So.

[Lions]

Yeah, that.

[AG]

That was.

[Vaen]

Right. Yeah. That's what I'd say. A lot of our songs and the lyrics are messages I want to hear.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Vaen]

You know, to be empowered by and, like, reminded of, like, exactly what you're saying, you know, it's the sweetest gift the one could ever give. Let me show you where to find it.

[Lions]

Yeah.

[Vaen]

You know, it's like. Or what's. What's your how's your.

[Lions]

We're just speaking truth, man. We're just. That's what Chili Guys represents from. From the get. And, you know, we. We inspire each other, and we talk amongst each other about this all the time. And. And this is just another reminder to everyone watching, to everyone listening, just be yourself.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Lions]

Be yourself and. And just have fun with it. And we're just talking truth of our daily struggles in our daily lives and how we want to have fun and how we want people to have fun, and that's it. Chili Guys.

[Interviewer]

Hell, yeah. Hell, yeah. All right, we got a third member of the Chili Guys now here. He made it. He made it. And you were obviously sitting in on that first half of the. Of the conversation, but just want to get your kind of perspective on the. On the Chili Guys. And then, like you mentioned, right, you want to be able to touch on kind of, like, where reggae really kind of came to be, right? The. The basis and the foundation of reggae.

[AG]

But so, like, reggae music for me has been a big influence for me since the get. It just attracted me, you know, the. The message of it. And it's conscious music is music that speaks truths that go from generation to generation, and they always apply. And that's why Bob Marley is still the figure that he is.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, no, absolutely. We mentioned. Right. Kind of like that oppression that was going on and him being able to kind of piggyback off that. And I think that's why it's been able to carry on for so long. Right? Decades and decades and decades. And we'll probably live on till forever. Right? Like we said, Michael Jackson, I think, has that, like, type of influence. And, you know, guys like mlk. Right. Guys that are just revolutionary type people. And. And to me, that's what reggae really kind of represents for you.

[Home Depot Advertiser]

What.

[Renewal by Andersen Advertiser]

What.

[Interviewer]

What is the Chili Guys, right. I heard kind of their perspective on. On what the Chili Guys is. But what's. What is it to you?

[AG]

The. It's a group collective of people just coming together that love music, love empowering people to do things that they want to do, things that they. You know, I think it's. It's difficult to kind of put into

[Vaen]

words what he's trying to say is he loves making music with the Chili Guys. We have a special group. We have tension sometimes. We have disagreements. We're not perfect, but we always find a way to come together and reunite and, you know, harmonize and see the same kind of bigger picture, which is a special thing. And it's created a special bond between all of us, like, I see them all as, like, family and brothers.

[Interviewer]

Right.

[Vaen]

When you form that bond, it's a form of expression.

[AG]

It's a medium for us to come together. And, yes, they were touching upon, like, our daily struggle. A lot of the music that we write and the lyrics that we write are really reminders to ourselves.

[Vaen]

Right.

[AG]

You know what I mean? So that's conscious music. That's what I think. Reggae is so impactful because it applies to everybody. You know what I mean?

[Interviewer]

Absolutely.

[AG]

And I mentioned before that it's wisdom that's handed down generation to generation, but is lost in translation, especially sometimes in the hustle and bustle and in the current life that we live, the, you know, technological life that we live, we forget to tap into the roots.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[AG]

And that's what reggae music does for me. That's what the Chili Guys does for me. It's a way for me to offset some of these feelings that then turn into good music. Because you're in the moment, you know, you're forgetting the distractions, like this podcast

[Lions]

right now, you know?

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[AG]

Being in the moment in the conversation instead of the mind being elsewhere.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[AG]

That's what reggae music. That's what the Chili Guys does for me.

[Vaen]

I love that. Be in the moment, and it's not that serious. You know, life can get deep and intense, and it's funny how that was the first song that they. That they wrote. You know, it's. It's not that serious. It's a reminder, like, let's have some fun. It's also to just have fun.

[Interviewer]

Right.

[Vaen]

And lighten the mood and create, you know, an island for ourselves to go. If the world is on fire. We'll be on Chili island if you want to come hang out. You know, that's.

[Interviewer]

That's the clip right there. I love that.

[Vaen]

That's awesome.

[AG]

On the creation, the creative process, that's what we're able to do every Tuesday. Like, it's church. That's what we call it. We're going to church.

[Interviewer]

And it's awesome.

[Vaen]

You know, we were. We were in a session one time. This was another special session for a song that we made with Miami Beat Wave called what Are We Here For? It's a new one. It'll be coming out sometime soon. Because it's asking, what are we here for? It was one of those days. We're like, what are we really doing? You know, we're making new music, but, like, we put out a couple albums. We played some shows. Like, what are we trying to make money. We trying to get girls. We trying to, you know, what are we here for? And so we just asked the question which became the title of the song, and we answered it with something like, to love and be love. Spreading good vibrations. What are we here for? To give, receive the gifts of creation. And what are we here for? To lift us all and reach a higher destination. What are we here for? To love. I mean, at least we have that as a reminder to ourselves.

[Interviewer]

Yes.

[Vaen]

As we move forward, you know, as musicians and human beings, you know, that's

[AG]

usually how it happens.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, right.

[AG]

And I walked in that day. I just so happened to walk in and they were playing that song, and I was having, like, a deep cut type of day, you know, and it's just like, I heard that, and immediately the response that he's talking about just popped into my head. And I heard it. He heard me say that, and he goes, yo, get your ass in there

[Vaen]

and lay it down.

[AG]

So a lot of the times we don't write lyrics, so we don't sit there with a pad and write. It just pops up at the moment. You know, it's a very organic process for us, which is what we love and what we try to maintain throughout the process of creation is trying not to get too technical with it or overthinking. You know, sitting there with the music, letting something pop up, letting it inspire versus cerebrally trying to think because it's

[Vaen]

challenging with eight guys in a band, you know, collaborating, writing songs. That song again, it was interesting because, you know, it may have been started by a couple of us, but then unplanned, he shows up and like, hey, you got. You got 20 minutes records. That idea AG showed up the next day or that night or something. He heard the song, was inspired immediately. Daily, too. Wrote apart, put it in, like, so often it's very. Just modular and dynamic in that sense, if we're not all there.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Vaen]

For the session.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Vaen]

So it's.

[AG]

It's.

[Vaen]

It's. It's truly collaborative process, I would say,

[AG]

because most of us have, like, daytime jobs.

[Vaen]

Right.

[AG]

You know, so, of course, our.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[AG]

This is our passion project, which we're giving it 100. But we got to make a living as well.

[Interviewer]

Absolutely.

[AG]

We get in there when we can. We plug in things outside of the

[Vaen]

Tuesday, which is every Tuesday.

[Interviewer]

Like you said, it's church.

[Vaen]

There's.

[AG]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. I mean, the. The concept of, like, what are we here for? You know, that. That, like, that sits with me often. Right. And I think we all have to ask ourselves that question regularly, right? Because as we're going through life, right, there's different phases, right? You could be 18 years old, you could be 50 years old, and you should still be asking that yourself, that question at every single part of your life. Because that is what's going to get you up in the morning, right? That is going to get you motivated to keep going. When things don't seem to be making any sense, when things are not going well, you're going to wake up and be like, I see what's happening here. It seems chaotic, but at the end of the day, this is what I'm here for, right? Whatever that reason may be. I was having a conversation this morning with someone, right, And I saw her story, and she was like, I don't really know why I even continue to create content and do these things. And her message is a positive message, right? She's keeping Cuban traditions alive and trying to be like that next gen. And I just. I told her, I'm like, you have to remember the why behind why you're doing it. You're not just doing it to create content, Right. You're not just doing it so people could see your face, right? There's. There's always something deeper as to the reason why you're doing something. Lean into that, because that is going to be your purpose. That's going to carry you forward. And it's going to be that thing that. Exactly. That fire that just gets you up in the morning. Because, yeah, sometimes it's just hard to wake up in the morning and say, I want to do this today. Yeah. 100. We all deal with that. But when you just realize a little bit deeper and say, hey, what am I here for? It's going to shift the whole purpose of your day.

[Vaen]

Well, and that's the power of music and songs and art.

[Interviewer]

Exactly.

[Vaen]

If you're feeling that way and you play a song that really speaks to that, what you're feeling, that song alone can shift you, you know, to a, you know, positive direction for the rest of the day or the rest of your life.

[AG]

I always say, when people ask me, me, like, why we make the music and. And, you know, selfishly, I would say that the reason we make music, we write music, is a reminder to ourselves when. As at least when I write, when I create, because it's like you say, it's things that are in the back of my mind, things that I'm thinking about, that I kind of struggle with, to stay on that positive vibration. I put that into the music for myself, because I listen to the music too.

[Interviewer]

Right.

[AG]

Like I listen to Beautiful Life almost every day. Because it's a song that to me speaks about why.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[AG]

Another song that speaks to the why and to the purpose and to how we can make life beautiful, which is what I think we should do daily. You know, it's an impactful song for me. It's a reminder for me, and it's something that I put out there and hope that somebody else identifies with it. But throughout my musical career, I would say I've learned to detach more from are they right taking it well, or am I feeling it?

[Interviewer]

Right.

[Vaen]

It's actually.

[AG]

And hopefully people like it.

[Vaen]

If not, I love it, but you love it.

[Interviewer]

And at the end of the day, that's got purpose in itself. And there's that. You know, the concept of you don't necessarily need to help a hundred, a thousand, you know, millions of people. Obviously, it's always the intention, Right. Help as many people as possible. But even if you helped one person today, you did your job right? And I think that's what we have to like, shrink our content. We live in this world where it's like, oh, my God, I need to be the Next, you know, LeBron James or I need to be the next this. Right? Those are good goals to strive for. No one's going to tell you, no, you can't do that. But at the end of the day, just shrink it. If you can impact one person every single day, you're just stacking that momentum, right? And then there's that raindrop effect, right? When it hits. When the raindrop hits the water, and it just, it kind of creates that ripple effect. You help that person, that person now helps the next person. So you're actually maybe helping hundreds, thousands of people and you don't even know it. Right? So I think that's what's so important in this process. Right. Your guys form is music. My form is kind of like this podcast medium. But everybody's got a. An avenue as to how they can help people. And it can come in the most simple ways. But it's just the fact of, like, what is that purpose? What is that why that you live with every single day that's deeper than yourself, Right? You said it. Right? You said that this medium is something that helps you. Right? But by helping you, you're actually helping everybody around you. And that's extremely important in the process.

[Vaen]

Yeah, it takes guts and a little bit of vulnerability to bring that forth. Whatever that gift is, you Know, whether it's music or anything else and it's like a feedback loop. If you're. If you get past the fear of talking on the mic and sharing your story and doing a podcast.

[Interviewer]

Right.

[Vaen]

That inspires someone to do the same thing and they're going to come back and say, hey, I really was inspired by what you're talking about on the podc. And that then gives you the encouragement to and motivation to do. Keep doing it. Cuz it's not easy to keep showing yourself, you know, putting things outside like that.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[AG]

And it keeps it authentic too.

[Vaen]

Right.

[AG]

You know, if you stay true to

[Vaen]

what you think is absolutely the best, whether someone likes.

[Interviewer]

People are going to be like, which happened to me. They'll be like, what the. What is this guy doing? He's starting a podcast. Like, why the hell is he starting a podcast? What does he think he is, you

[AG]

know, could have done that?

[Interviewer]

And then here I am years later and people are now coming to me and like, dude, props to you for sticking with it, bro. And people told me straight up, they're like, honestly, I didn't know what the hell you're doing, but now I see it and it's like, okay, I get it. But like, that's what you were saying, right? You got to turn off that noise.

[Vaen]

Exactly.

[Interviewer]

I'm doing this a little bit for me, but I'm. I see the bigger picture at the end of the day, as of the why, you know, what, what are we here for? And that's. I think that's the reminder we need every day for sure. Yeah. But boys, appreciate it. That was a hell of a convo. Appreciate you guys for coming in. I'm excited for you guys and I think there's a lot of good to come for you guys and exciting things to come. So timing is perfect. We're getting in that summertime vibe. Sun, sun.

[Lions]

Well.

[Interviewer]

And rain. We're gonna get in a little rain here in Miami. It's a part of the summer, but the energy is high out here and we just want to kind of leverage off that. So appreciate you guys for coming on.

[Vaen]

Thanks for having us. Absolutely.

[AG]

We appreciate it. And just keep it tropical and tranquil always. Yeah.

[Vaen]

Check out listening to reggae music video on YouTube. All the platforms. I think we're coming up June 17th. Last year we put out Chili island, so the one year anniversary is coming up. Right in time.

[Interviewer]

I like that.

[Vaen]

It's perfect for. For all your summer.

[Lions]

And we got a new song that

[AG]

we released not too long ago called Sweet Thing.

[Interviewer]

Yes, yes, yes.

[Vaen]

Check Valentine's Day.

[AG]

And look out for Power of the Sun. That was going to be our biggest, most dynamic song that we've released so far. So we're really excited about it.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, I got a sneak peek, so I'm excited for it to get out there.

[Vaen]

And I should mention the studio right over here. There's a live stage in there, as you've seen. And we're gonna start having probably, like, monthly flow live showcases where we invite bands and artists to perform with us. Love it. Live on stage and film it and everything and get people out there. So, you know, we're excited to. To kick that off.

[Interviewer]

Love it. Just bring bringing good energy, good vibes. That's what the people need, right? It's the Chili Guy way. Amen to that. All right, guys. Well, as always, thank you so much for tuning in. Thank you, Chili guys, for being here. As I said, go check out their music. Go check out their new music video. Listening to reggae and as always, stay tranquilo.

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[Interviewer]

Look, Daddy.

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