Musician and filmmaker Richard Elfman was asked to write and direct a play for the theater company his wife was working with. He wrote a “band” into the piece and had his composer friend Ego Plum wrangle some musician to play along with them on stage.
Fellow filmmaker Darren Lynn Bouseman (“Saw”) attended a show and asked Elfman if he could hire the band for his upcoming event, a month-long, immersive extravaganza. “What band?” asked Elfman. “You mean the group we threw together on stage?”
The group had so much fun they agreed to be the house band in Bouseman’s immersive Theatre Macabre. And the group, now known as “Mambo Diabolico” has remained together the past five years as well as appeared in Elfman’s recent two films, “Aliens, Clowns & Geeks “and “Bloody Bridget” —both of which were scored by Plum and Elfman’s brother Danny Elfman.
“I guess this was a case of Life imitating Art,” says Elfman
Band leader and composer Ego Plum (aka Ernesto Guerrero) also creator of Hollywood’s top cartoon music (“SpongeBob,” “Cuphead Show” and others) says that, “Mambo Diabolico is my attempt to channel the Latin music I grew up with–by way of my absurdist filter. The result is everything from gothic mambo, off-kilter cumbia, experimental salsa, and all sorts of demented re-imaginings of traditional Latin music and rhythms. I take the musical conventions of my heritage and turn them on their head with Dada-esque Spanish lyrics and musical stylings that have more in common with David Lynch, Frank Zappa and Bauhaus than Perez Prada or La Sonora Dinamita.”
The band features five-octave opera singer Lena Marie Cardinale, which allows the group to include some note-soaring classics by legendary five-octave singer Yma Sumac. Says Cardinale, “Besides Ego’s crazy original music, I’m honored to pay homage to Yma Sumac. The Sumac family has said they feel that Yma is ‘channeled’ through me. What an honor!”
Elfman’s wife and frequent collaborator Anastasia Elfman performs with the group and stages colorful burlesque choreography, often with her film and dance partner, Marcos Ochoa. Along with classical ballet, she was trained in classical cello—Plum is currently writing cello parts for upcoming shows. And taking it a step further, he is having her learn the Theremin, an other-worldly instrument mostly heard in science fiction films. As it has no frets, fingers literally hover in the air, there is a similarity to playing cello, which has no frets, the fingers must intuitively find the right spot.
Mambo Diabolico has been performing to sold out crowds in the Los Angeles area. They will soon perform at upcoming film festivals in Mexico City and the 2025 Cannes Film Festival in France.
Band personnel include: Ego Plum (composer, musical director, guitars, vocals) Lena-Marie Cardinale (vocals), Richard Elfman (congas) ,Steven Sarmiento (bass & guitar) Aaron Cohen (organ & percussion) Alen Hansen (drums & percussion) Luis Rojas (tenor saxophone) felix diaz (Trumpet) Max Mineer (trombone) Howard Hardaway (baritone saxophone) Anastasia Elfman (cello, Theremin & choreography).