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Casually dropping bombs of wisdom is second nature for Roberto Carlos Lange, better known by the moniker Helado Negro. It’s Valentine’s Day when I call him. I ask how he’s celebrating and Lange responds sagely, “It’s Valentine’s Day every day. You’ve got to love the people in your life, all of the time.”
The Brooklyn-based experimental electronic musician originally hails from South Florida, and is a first-generation Ecuadorian American. Lange views life as precious but impermanent, and wholeheartedly believes in the importance of connecting with others, especially through music and performance. He’s played all kinds of concerts and venues, from DIY club shows to one sold-out performance with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra two years ago. Lange says he values “spaces that bring people together from different places. I really do dig accessibility and empowerment of people and things that encourage that.”
Helado Negro’s sound has evolved since Lange’s 2009 debut, Awe Owe, and his surprisingly soft yet booming baritone is one of the only recognizable consistencies throughout his prolific catalog. Mixing English and Spanish lyrics alongside clean, synthy beats, Lange’s tracks exude gauzy dreaminess and intimacy. With 2016’s Private Energy, he brings concepts of race and identity to the forefront for the first time—the 2014 police murder of Michael Brown sparked new urgency for answers to questions he’d often asked before: “What is our significance? What are we doing here?”
