If you were wandering around Spanish Harlem in the '60s, you probably walked past many a club with salsa horns and soul voices seeping onto the street. What sound was rocking the 'hood? Boogaloo: the genre that turned classic Cuban music on its head by throwing rock-n-roll and soul into the mix, creating a totally new New York groove. Whether you've never heard of it or sing it in your sleep, we're all lucky to have Mathew Ramirez Warren documenting its history in We Like It Like That: The Story of Latin Boogaloo. We asked Mathew to fill us in on his project and dish the scoop on where to find boogaloo today.

What got you into boogaloo? What was your first brush with the genre and how'd you decide, "This music needs a documentary?"

Though I was always surrounded by Latin music, having a Colombian mother and just growing up in New York City, I did not discover Latin boogaloo till I started collecting records about 10 years ago. I was interested in mambo and salsa, but when I started finding these Latin boogaloo records in flea markets and used record stores around the city, it became so clear to me how much a product of New York all this music was. Latin boogaloo, with its hybrid style and bilingual lyrics, just represents New York in the 1960s so well.

I became curious about the genre and a few years ago I wrote an article for Wax Poetics magazine about Johnny Colon, one of Latin boogaloo's founders. After that I decided to see how many more of the original boogaloo artists I could interview, but I decided to interview them on camera because I felt it was time someone should make a film about this great period in New York and Latin music history. Every other film I had seen on Latin music in New York seemed to either overlook the era or marginalize it and I didn't think that was right.

I hear the same classic Boogaloo songs over and over. Is that just me or are there some standards you'll hear everywhere, like "Girl from Ipanema" with bossa nova? How vast is the repertoire?

There are definitely some big names and songs that are most associated with Latin boogaloo, but there were actually probably hundreds of new bands that sprouted up during the boogaloo craze in New York in the '60s, as well as countless boogaloo records made by Latin music veterans who were jumping onto the trend.

The songs we hear the most, like Joe Cuba's "Bang Bang" and Pete Rodriguez's "I Like It Like That," were songs that crossed over onto mainstream radio and became national hits. But for anyone willing to dig a little deeper there is definitely a vast amount of phenomenal Latin boogaloo music out there, including some contemporary groups making new boogaloo music today.

What was the process like getting in touch with the original musicians behind the music?

The process of finding these artists involved first finding any trace of them on the internet. Occasionally I would get lucky and they might have a website of their own, but usually I would first find an article that mentioned them or, say, the Facebook page of one of their children, or of someone who had worked with them, and then I would contact whomever I thought might be able to put me in touch with that artist. Eventually, after I had made a number of contacts, some of the artists began putting me in touch with other artists.

If you like _________, you'll like boogaloo.

I would say if you like soul music and/or any Latin music, you will definitely like boogaloo.

Where do you turn to hear boogaloo these days, in New York and elsewhere?

There is definitely a boogaloo revival that has been happening for some time now. Spanglish Fly is a group from New York keeping the sound alive. The Boogaloo Assassins are doing it in LA. DJs like Turmix and Bobbito regularly spin boogaloo records across the city. There is also a lot of love internationally for this music and original boogaloo artists like Joe Bataan, Johnny Colon, the Lebron Brothers, and many others are still going strong and performing around the world.

You moved into video after getting an MA in journalism. What was that transition like?

Transitioning from print to video has definitely been a learning process. I had always been interested in visual storytelling, so it was a natural jump for me to make, but it took some time for me to understand the difference in the process as compared to print. Making this film I've really enjoyed being able to incorporate music and archival images into the storytelling process.

Who designed the poster?

Making the poster was a two-step process, the background image of album covers was designed by me and my friend Niko Koppel, a photo editor at the New York Times. The lettering and finishing touches were done by my friend and designer extraordinaire, Kate Trotter.

What are some of your favorite past projects? What's next after this film?

Some of my favorite past projects were my other articles for Wax Poetics magazine on Tyrone Thomas and Patrick Adams, as well as being the magazine's videographer at SXSW in 2010. Also, my videos for NYTimes.com on the friars of the South Bronx and circus performers at underground raves in Brooklyn. My next documentary after this one will be a shorter film about Freedom, an artist famous for painting massive murals spanning 10 city blocks in a tunnel under Riverside park.

Any closing thoughts?

I just want to thank everyone who has supported me throughout this project and helped make it possible, including my girlfriend Neshani Jani, my co-producer Elena Martinez, my editor Andrew Romero, all my interview subjects and many others. As well, I would like to thank everyone who has donated to our Kickstarter campaign and helped to spread the word, with your help the dream of releasing this film to the world will become a reality. Viva boogaloo!