Scroll to the bottom to hear samples from Los Abandoned.

David Green is spending the day relaxing and eating chicken soup. The lead guitarist for Los Abandoned is taking a break from the band’s fall tour, that consists of more than 20 gigs that began in October and will end next month. Green is happy to recover from the long drive from Boston to his home in Los Angeles. “It was about 50 hours or so just being in a van ?” everyone was really out of their minds,” Green said during a telephone interview. “After a certain number of hours on Route 66, time ceases to exist.”

Listening to Peter Gabriel and Faith No More while under the influence of a “Nyquil/Dayquil combo” may have taken its toll on the band while on the road, but Green is anxious for their fall tour to continue. One of the stops will be on campus when Los Abandoned plays a free show at noon on Wednesday, Nov. 22, in the University Union Redwood Room.

While on its current fall tour, Los Abandoned performed in New York on the show “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” ?” an opportunity the members were excited about. “We’ve done a lot of local TV stuff like Spanish-language morning shows, but this was our first English-language television anything,” Green said. “It was totally surreal.”

The band members have all adopted their own monikers; Green goes by the name Don Verde. Lady P is the lead singer who plays guitar and keyboard. She also plays the ukulele, adding a unique and delicate ingredient to the band’s sonic melting pot. The rhythm section consists of Vira Lata on bass and Dulce on drums.

Influenced by bands like Cafe Tacuba, Blondie, Elvis Costello and Aterciopelados, Los Abandoned has managed to merge new-wave, Latin, hip-hop, dance and folk music. At times, the band evokes a bilingual Blondie, with the song “Stalk U” resembling the subject matter of Blondie’s “One Way or Another.”

Many of the songs cross different genres and styles, a principle that Los Abandoned thrives on. “We just decided that we wanted every song to be its own island, to have its own sound,” Green said. This is evident in the band’s recent full-length album, “Mix Tape,” released this year in September. Each song has a different flavor, from the catchy, pop-rock of “A La Mode,” to the ’80s metal guitar style of “Stalk U.” “It’s like the soundtrack of L.A. ?” all the different sounds and musical styles we hear. It sounds mosaic,” Green said.

The songs tell tales of immigration, crushes and L.A. life, with lyrics that are laden with infectious pop hooks. Green said that “Mix Tape” features “songs about heartbreak (but) they’re not really ‘slit your wrist’ songs ?” there’s an element of being self-aware.”

While the band’s songs are not all about heartbreak, Los Abandoned seems to have a penchant for the broken heart symbol. The band has applied it on album covers, on its drum kit and it has embellished Lady P’s outfits. The broken heart symbol has also found a place amidst the band’s merchandise, the most popular being shirts and stickers that are a play on the classic “I Love NY” phrase. Green recalled an incident where a lot of people bought their merchandise, thinking it stated “I Hate Los Angeles.”

Green and Lady P began Los Abandoned as a duo in 2001. Both had been in bands that broke up, so the two decided to collaborate. “I made a joke one time that we should be called ‘Los Abandoned’ because of our abandonment issues,” Green said. The name stuck. “It sounds heavy, but it’s got a bit of a tongue-in-cheek feeling of not taking yourself seriously.”

As a duo, Los Abandoned put out the extended-play album “Demotape” in 2002. Green and Lady P then sought out a rhythm section, working with Vira Lata on bass and finally finding Dulce for drums. “Dulce was our fourth drummer,” Green said. “It’s kind of like ‘Spinal Tap.'”

Except for Green, all of the members are of Mexican or Latin American descent. “I’m the token Jewish guy,” Green said.

The band’s occasional use of Spanish lyrics garnered a wide following of Mexican and Latino fans. “Kids totally relate to it. They think bilingually,” Green said. “In a way, we’re kind of finding our own community as opposed to standard band worshiping.”

The band’s fan community expanded during last year’s Vive Latino Festival, an annual rock music festival held in Mexico City. Featuring a huge lineup of Mexican and Latino musicians, the festival earned Los Abandoned global recognition with over 60,000 people who attended. “35,000 people all knew the words to our songs,” Green said. He was amazed by the crowd’s reaction. “I’m pretty sure I cried after that.”

But while the use of bilingualism has received great fanfare, Green said that it was viewed negatively by music executives who thought the mix of Spanish and English would create confusion, and even animosity among listeners.

“It was a major pain in the ass when we tried to get a record deal,” Green said. “All the companies wanted us to be only English or Spanish.” The band soon signed withVapor Records, an independent label that Green said allowed them the artistic freedom to do what they wanted – in any language.

Click on the song name to hear a sample of this band’s music.

Stalk You

Van Nuys

Karen Balmes can be reached at [email protected]