Fans of Ozomatli have long appreciated the Los Angeles-based collective's talent for fusing seemingly disparate musical styles into consistently unique works.

Band members' personal fascinations with Latin, salsa, hip-hop, funk, salsa, rock, reggae, Middle Eastern and other music styles have infused all three of Ozomatli's critically embraced CDs since 1998. So what does the 10-member multiethnic, politically charged, Grammy-winning Ozo go and do for its first studio CD in three years?

Throw some "pop" in the mix, of course. Sort of.

Still a couple of weeks away from another of the longtime Hawai'i favorite's local gigs — Ozo's seventh in as many years — drummer Jiro Yamaguchi explained.

Q. You guys take your time between studio releases. The band's fourth won't be released until early 2007. Is each new Ozomatli release a kind of document of what the band has been through personally and grooving to musically in the years between?

A. Yeah, definitely. Each record has kind of been a chapter that documents where we're at at any given time. ... It's always a mesh of our influences — individually — because we all come from different musical backgrounds. And it also reflects on what we're personally going through as well.

On this new record, we have a song ("Magnolia Soul") about (Hurricane) Katrina and the tragedy on the Gulf Coast as well as (songs addressing) personal issues with substance abuse and personal growth. There's a little bit of everything on this record. The album title is "Don't Mess With the Dragon." ...

It goes back to (what) you asked about personal issues. That's one of the meanings: If you play with fire, you might get burned. (It's about) people dealing with their own personal issues. ...

A lot of this band has always been about looking at yourself and how you interact with life, and the struggles that everybody goes through growing up. We're a 10-piece band that travels a lot, so it's sometimes a challenge to have relationships and maintain families as well as deal with each other on a daily basis.

Q. With regard to the substance-abuse issue, are any of the band members addressing the subject from personal experience?

A. Yeah. But it's all a group effort. I don't want to go into each individual saying who has a problem or not. (The songs are) a group effort. We all agree upon what goes into the record.

Q. I've read rumors about the new CD representing Ozo's usual generous mixing of styles. I've read rumors that it represents a complete change of direction for you guys. Who has it right?

A. There's a lot of variety. There's Spanish. There's English. There's probably a little more English than before. (It's) maybe a little more song-oriented. (It's) maybe a little more commercially focused. It's probably the most 'pop-type' record that we've ever done. But there's still a lot of variety from track to track. ...

I wouldn't say that it's a complete change of direction. It is who we are. And it is the Ozo sound. I would say it's some of our best work."

Q. Why try pop?

A. We want to sell records. I don't think it necessarily means that we lose integrity. We're proud of all the work that we do. Since (the band works) so committee-style, at the end of the day we know we have a good product if everybody likes it. ...

I don't think ("Dragon") is that different from the music that we have done. ... I just think it's probably a little more commercially focused. Something that might be able to be played on the radio."

Q. Eleven years on, is Ozomatli still truly a collective, reflective of everybody's hands in the mix adding a little something to just about every song's creation?

A. Yeah, it is. I mean, some songs are the concept of one person and (there are) songs where everybody has a hand in it. But everybody can have a hand in it at any time. It is a collective and it is a collaboration. ... The good thing is it creates a certain sound that we have. We are a collective. And that's the sound that we create and something that we can be proud of."

Reach Derek Paiva at dpaiva@honoluluadvertiser.com.