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LATIN DANCE MUSIC typically gets bodies moving, but few have moved audiences like the Texas-based ensemble Grupo Fantasma. After serving as Prince's backing band and playing a two-month residency at his 3121 nightclub in Las Vegas, Grupo Fantasma has become high profile. Hot off a performance at the North Sea Jazz Fest in the Netherlands last weekend, the band's first show back in the U.S. will be at the EARL this weekend. Vocalist Jose Galeano took a few moments to talk about the band's success and upcoming Atlanta show.

You already had a loyal grass-roots following, but Prince definitely helped expose Grupo Fantasma to a larger audience. How did that relationship come about?

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Prince heard the band's live album, "Comes Alive," and invited us up to his club in Vegas. There was an already-established Thursday Latin night at that spot and they wanted to continue it, but with live music instead of just DJs. After the first show the band was soon invited back to do a weekly residency for a couple months. The relationship pretty much blossomed from there.

Plenty of pop and rock artists incorporate Latin sounds into their music, but traditional Latin funk is rarely so widely embraced. Why do you think Grupo Fantasma has been able to draw so much attention to this style of music?

I think we've been able to genuinely reinvent some of these traditional styles with our own unique feel and sound, and people really respect that. The fans who come to our shows walk away with the feeling that they just spent time in the past, but not in the sense that they were just listening to a retro band go through the timeline. They can also relate to the music in a very current and even futuristic kind of sense. And besides the shows, the new record, "Sonidos Gold," is a great representation of the timelessness of the band's music.

You've collaborated with the likes of Marc Anthony, Mary J. Blige and Spoon and performed at festivals such as Coachella and Bonnaroo. How do you expect a venue as intimate as the EARL to handle the wave of energy you're likely to bring to it?

We've been to the EARL a handful of times and it's one of our favorite places to play in the country. There was one show where the room itself was sweating after the performance. We thought the walls were going to melt down! We hope to bring even more energy this time.

> THE 411: Grupo Fantasma. With Batata Doce. $10. 9:30 p.m. July 18. The EARL, 488 Flat Shoals Ave., East Atlanta. 404-522-3950, www.grupofantasma.com, www.badearl.com.