Biography

Auckland’s finest blues trio was formed in 2006. Founded by lead singer/guitarist Phil Roberts, the early life of the band had more than it’s fair share of ups and downs with hirings, firings, a broken arm, a stuffed knee, a broken foot and a keyboard player who didn’t turn up to a gig and was never seen again. This was dubbed the “Los Diablos curse”, since the name means The Devils in Spanish.

The curse aside, Los Diablos were soon playing blistering performances, helped along by blues promoter Dean Morris who said of their first gig “It was awesome! They had a great sound and I took my hat off to them, it showed that they had spent a lot of time on the detail and getting it just right.”

The band spent late 2007 recording 7 tracks for their first EP, aptly named the “Not Cursed” EP. Released in February 08, the EP was picked up by radio stations both in NZ and Australia. For his NZ Music Month special, Nate from The Blues Room (Community Radio Hamilton 106.7FM) interviewed Phil and featured 5 tracks from the EP. Phil and Steve were also interviewed by Simon and Christie on the Crossroads Blues show, Kfm 106.9FM.

The EP’s buzz won them several corporate gigs including the Regional Newspaper Awards night and the 2008 Oggi tennis tournament. June 08 saw the fellas back British delta blues player Dave Boy Ferry for his New Zealand gigs and in September they were joined by 60s legend: former Procol Harum guitarist Dave Ball for an explosive night of classic tunes and traded licks.

2009 was a year of growth, in August that year Los Diablos played at the Waiheke Mid Winter Blues Festival with a huge response with many claiming their performance was the highlight of the weekend and snapping up bagfuls of CDs.

Playing the Whangarei International Blues and Jazz festival in Dec 2009 helped the boys raise their game further: sharing the bill with the likes of Billy TK Jnr, Mike Garner and Hammond Gamble. Phil was asked by Mike Garner to guest on his last set on the main stage - an honour Phil was not about to pass up.

2010 has been a year of festivals for the band: Mission Bay Blues and Jazz StreetFest, the Paeroa Jazz Festival and a return to Waiheke for its second year.

Winter marked the start of the writing and recording of a new batch of songs: New Orleans Thang, Sweet As, Go Go Go and 16 Wheels. The original plan was to have these as finished recordings by spring but they continue to be studio works in progress - though they feature in the live set.

2011 brings a confirmed appearance at the Mission Bay Blues and Jazz StreetFest once again - perhaps the new CD will be ready by then!