LATEST NEWS
(Updated August 26, 2021)

Armando Nava & Ray Brazen on the set of the forthcoming documentary Brooklyn, New York, June 13, 2021 THE RETURN OF EL MUNDO LOCO! So where do I begin my first Dug Dug's news update in 11 years? Obviously with the news that this site is BACK at long, long last, more than a decade since since my last web host screwed me royally and disappeared into the sunset, taking this site with it. Since then, honest-to-goodness bootleg versions of this and other classic Brazen websites have made the internet rounds, all of very poor quality. So if you're seeing this news post, rest assured you're back on the OFFICIAL, fully authorized version of the legendary El Mundo Loco, one that won't throw potential computer viruses and tons of pop-up windows at you, and I'm making sure all the links work, too! We've come a long, long way since I began this site as a simple inquiry into the band's whereabouts back in 1997. The last decade has seen your humble Dug Dug's webmaster step back from his work and leave it to others to champion the cause... most notably Jose Peña and his truly excellent La Gente group on Facebook which takes the band's online legend to new heights even I could never reach. But very recently I received the call to take up the band's cause again and appear in a forthcoming documentary about the band that's currently in production. In June I flew back to NYC from my current residence in Florida to reunite with Armando Nava in person for the first time since his legendary 1998 visit inspired by this site, and be interviewed about my involvement with the band for this film. You can read all about my amazing new adventures with Armando on my current web project, Brazenblog. In preparation for my work on this documentary I went through my personal archives and, to my delight, found all the original layouts for this website fully intact on an old CD-R. And with so many things happening in the world of Los Dug Dug's right now, I have finally decided the time is right to relaunch my site in its classic form... which will now happily coexist alongside the newly launched LOSDUGDUGS.COM! Yes, that's right, Armando now has his own official website, and I am SUPER proud of him! And thanks to increasing demand for live shows in the US generated by recent appearances at a few west coast psych music festivals, he's also hooked up with Space Agency Booking to set up possible future shows north of the border. Armando says they weren't interested in working with the band at first, thinking no one knew or cared about them, but popular demand quickly proved them wrong and they ultimately changed their minds. Those interested in booking Los Dug Dug's in the future will find their contact info on the official site. Meanwhile, their most recent festival appearances have been recorded and are now being made into a forthcoming live album which will be the band's first new release in well over three decades! Armando played me a few advance tracks and they sound wonderful. He's still got it, folks. And meanwhile, back in Mexico City, the four classic original Dug Dug's albums (the self-titled debut, Smog, Cambia Cambia and El Loco) have been newly reissued in a simple but attractive little boxed set by RCA/BMG. This can be ordered through Amazon, and I think the miniature album cover reproductions look very cute! And as if that weren't enough, the classic first album track "Let's Make It Now" is currently being featured in a series of commercials for UberEats down there! Now if only they'd put that in their US ads, we might REALLY have something. And then there's the 50th anniversary of the legendary Avandaro festival at which the original band played, now set to be marked by a two-day festival organized by Peace And Love's Ricardo Ochoa, and Los Dug Dug's will be playing there as well. Oh, and Avandaro now has an official website too, and I've brought back the original Avandaro tribute site I created for its ill-fated 30th anniversary alongside this one as well. Check them both out in the links below! My latest update on the current whereabouts of former Dugs is a mixed one. On the happy side, original guitarist Gustavo Garayzar and mighty "Smog" drummer Daniel Tello have both recently been found alive and well, and Sr. Tello even rejoined Armando onstage at some recent gigs in Mexico. On the sad side, however, original drummer Alberto Escoto passed away in 2019, and Armando's dear mother and longtime band manager Elena Nava left us the previous year, at the tender age of 97. They join Genaro Garcia, Jorge Torres Aguayo, and Jorge "La Borrega" De La Torre (whose obituary formed the last update I posted to this site way back in 2010) in Dug Dug Heaven, and all are greatly mourned and missed. And that pretty much covers all the recent goings-on at El Mundo Loco as I proudly and humbly bring this site back to life. I've gone over all its classic features carefully, fixing the working links and throwing away the dead links, and even correcting the occasional bit of misinformation along the way. I'm thrilled to be back, and welcome back all you dear fans of the band and this website. Please stay tuned, for there's still more to come! (And while you're at it, check out some classic editions of Dug Dug's News, and other great moments in this site's history, below! There's tons more in this site's newly and greatly expanded ARCHIVES section!) And as if all that weren't enough... Guess who surprised me and my mom for our birthdays! Winter Garden, Florida, August 10, 2021

  CLASSIC DUG DUG'S NEWS EDITIONS!  
Memories from the Mundo Loco archives!

  JORGE DE LA TORRE 1947-2010  
His life and legacy saluted!

  ARMANDO'S FIRST LETTER TO THIS SITE, 1997  
The email that started it all!

  RAY BRAZEN INTERVIEWS ARMANDO, 1997  
Hear our historic first phone conversation!

  AVANDARO'S 50TH ANNIVERSARY  
Official site of this year's celebration!

  AVANDARO (IN ENGLISH & SPANISH)  
From the creator of this site!