Says Xavi Turull, the group's percussionist: ?We live in Barcelona and we live strong - always out in the streets, so we?ve always lived rumba catalana and flamenco puro really strongly. But when Marina came into the group, we became even more focused on the flamenco. Our roots got stronger and we became more confident when we experimented with other styles. We became more solid - more of a band.?

The album Bar? (read the CD review, The Eyes Have It) takes its name from a word in Cal? - the Gypsy (Roma) dialect of Spain - that means, roughly, ?finding the groove in life? - the same way you do in music. Xavi Turull explains: ?Bar? is a word that Ram?n, who?s Gypsy, picked up from his grandmother. It?s kind of like the feeling that everything in life is working right. That everything feels good.? Techar? came out in 2006 and was released in North America on February 2007 on Six Degrees Records. It is an ambitious, self-produced journey, recorded both abroad in Cuba and New York as well as in a studio at the foot of the Pyrenees mountains, close to the birthplace of Salvador Dal?.  ?One of the pressures of success is to look for ways to stay true," says percussionist Xavi Turull. "And we are really trying to find a way to be free. That's why the new album's called Techar?, because it means 'free' in the gypsy language.?

Work on Techar? started at the end of March 2005 and was completed at the end of October. In between the band did two international tours, which stop-started the recording process. ?Recording and touring at the same time was a little crazy, but the result is amazing,? says Xavi. ?We are finally at a point where the sound is exactly the way we want.?

Keeping the creative process free remains the heart and soul of the collective. ?We don't ever really know what we're going to do,? Xavi laughs. ?We all come with fresh ideas, and it's down to all of us if we decide to use them or not. It makes the process really slow and complicated, but the end result is so rich. It's the result of eight people putting all their feelings, knowledge, and wisdom together.?

Special guests include Faada Freddy from Senegalese hip hop collective Daara J, Asian Dub Foundation's Prithpal Rajput, and Nitin Sawhney, South Indian fusion artist and British TV star (who returned the favor after ODB collaborated on two tracks for his album Philtre).

Cuban pianist Roberto Carcass?s also makes an appearance alongside respected flamenco guitarist Pepe Habichuela, and Cuban tres/flamenco guitar player Ra?l Rodr?guez from Son de la Frontera.

Cuban drums are used in buler?as, funk is layered onto rumba catalana, and dhol drums add an Eastern flavor to the mix. However the band are quick to point out that these collaborations are the result of new friendships, and not any cynical marketing strategy. For Ojos de Brujo, the process is always organic and from the heart, and they have succeeded in conjuring their very own genre out of disparate elements.

The Techar? bonus CD-ROM features work from fourteen illustrators from around the world, each represent the individual nature of the fourteen tracks, fifteen translations of lead singer Marina?s startling, emotionally-charged lyrics, and three full-length videos. Much more than just an album, it is the band reaching out to the world with the images and sounds of creative freedom, collective spirit and musical adventure.

?It's one of our biggest problems that we're always spend too much money. It's a sacrifice for art, because we want things to happen in the way that we imagine it. To make money from a concert, perhaps ten people should travel, but we always go out with the whole troop. And we're always bringing new people in, the latest being Carlos Sarduy, an incredible trumpet and flugelhorn player from Cuba. It's always been like this; If you see only a few of us on stage, it?s because someone held us at gunpoint!?

Official Web Site: www.ojosdebrujo.com

Vengue

Bar? (USA: World Village 468024, 2004)

Remezclas de la casa [ Remixes from Bar? (USA: World Village 468037, 2005)

Techar? (Diquela Records, 2006)

• Ojos de Brujo Releases Smoking DVD, Touring Bari
• Ojos de Brujo Bari Remixes
• The Eyes Have It
• Onstage Wizardry: Ojos de Brujo at Grand Performances in Los Angeles