Tourista is a Peruvian band that mixes pop, electronica, rock and afro-peruvian sounds and earlier this year; they made an appearance at the SXSW festival in Austin, TX where they impressed the music faithful and are now looking to explore and conquer the rest of the U.S.
Tourista formed in 2012 and in their short three year history, the band has shared stages with international acts like Boom Boom Kid from Argentina, The Killers, Japandroids, and Capital Cities and this year they will be sharing the stage with Ed Sheeran.
With their first album, Deficit de Atencion, Tourista was part of one of the showcases of Pulsar in Chile and some of their songs were featured in the soundtracks of MTV series like “Algo Mas” and “Niñas Mal”, as well as commercials for Burger King, Movistar, Cyzone and others.
We spoke with lead singer Rui Pereira about the band and their music and here’s an excerpt of our conversation:
Al Borde (AB) Tell us about your experience at SXSW?
Rui Pereira (RP) It was an incredible and unique experience, it has definitely inspired us being around so many new artists who are doing such interesting things and we also got to network and meet people in the industry who may help us open some doors to allow the band to grow more.
AB: With this being your first time playing in the U.S., what did you think about the American audiences?
RP: Austin is an incredible place, this was our first time in the U.S. and we were pleasantly surprised by the people and how loving and friendly they were. Austin really lives its art and music and we loved the whole atmosphere.
AB: Tell us about the beginnings of the band.
RP: Tourista began about 3 or 4 years ago, I started the band. I had moved to Punta Hermosa, a beach to the south of Lima where I was working on some demos, and I thought about moving to Mexico since the musical scene in Mexico was very active, but that never materialized. Later I met Sandro Labenita, a drummer, who without knowing me that well yet told me he had had a dream that he had a band with me, so I took that as a sign and I showed him the songs I had worked on and he liked what I had and we began to work together. Later, Ricardo Guitierrez, saw us perform a show and afterwards approached us and told us that he liked what he heard and would like to work with us and he now handles the electronic sounds, arrangements and production.
AB: With such an eclectic sound, what would you say are your musical influences?
RP: When we first started the band we wanted to go towards an indie, global sound so we were known as indie-pop or dance pop and now for our new songs, we are starting to mix a lot of Latin American sounds like afro-Peruvian sounds and also from other countries like Colombia, Mexico and Chile, so I guess now we would be more of a “Latin American independent-pop band”.
AB: Lately there seems to be a lot movement coming out of the music scene in Peru, tell us about Peruvian music scene?
RP: I think Peru is going through a time where the young people, through the internet, are able to reach out to the global musical movement as well as the local music and that has also helped people in other countries to look at Peru for a creative focus point. There is definitely a scene with great musicians, band with different styles and with a new and fresh sound that could easily be exported.
AB: After your positive experience at SXSW, do you have plans of coming back to the U.S.?
RP: Yes, we want to finish the new album and want to go back to SXSW and next time we would also like to play in other places in the U.S.
Tourista is currently promoting their new album, Gato Por Liebre, which was produced by Chilean producer Cristián Heyne, who has worked with other important Latin American artists like Javier Mena and Gepe.
Tourista can be followed on their official website: Tourista.Pe and their Facebook page. Tourista’s music can be found on iTunes and Spotify.
