After a four-year vacation, the Colombian hip-hop group returns to the stage for ESCENARIO, a concert featuring Astro, La Santa Cecilia, Que Bajo?! and Carla Morrison. Produced by Red Bull Music Academy Panamérika, the show will be the first for the band after having taken a rest from promoting their previous releases.
Since Blow Up (2009), from which the hit single “Fuego” spun, Bomba Estéreo traveled the world promoting their electronic Cumbia. The extensive promotion led them to take a break from the stages, but not necessarily from writing music. Now, the band returns with a compilation of tracks packaged as Elegancia Tropical, a release that, according to Liliana Saumet, the band’s lead force, shows a more mature side of Bomba Estéreo.
Liliana Saumet: We’re very excited to wake up from a long vacation. We have all the energy to present our new show and what better way than with bands we like and admire. It’s our first performance back to the stages, so as you can imagine, we’re very excited to show our new material.
Collabs
We have a few collaborations in this album. Mostly, we wanted to do them to add a different variable to our music. The interesting thing about collaborations, I think, is that you have to do it with people that come from, more or less, the same place as you, but that are offering something fresh to the project. That’s the key.
Elegance
After touring and traveling so much, you can’t help but feel bigger, more mature and more lived. I think the newfound elegance in our music comes from that. We’ve experienced so many things together and have spent so much time together that time has made us evolve into a more elegant stage in our career.
On the evolution of Latin Alt
Latin alternative music has grown so much in the past 6-8 years. Now, it’s everywhere and it’s flourished into a sound that embraces all genres of music. Before, we would have never been played anywhere or supported by mainstream media, but now our type of music, Latin alternative music, is promoted through various outlets.
I don’t think we’ve reached our height as far as sound because you never truly stop learning. Every experience teaches you something new, and that’s heard in your music. Much like the band, the music of Latin America in general has evolved as well. We first had folklore music, then rock en español was all over the place, now you have Latin alternative music, which derives from that same folklore of years ago but that is made new by today’s artists. A huge change in that is that as an artist, you make music that you’re surrounded by. That’s where traditional rhythms come in. But then you’re also influenced by music from all over the world, so that’s where you have the fusion of sounds. Latin America needed that new language, and it got it thanks to Latin alternative music.
Room for electronica
Electronica is an art form just as any other form of music making. I don’t think it should be taken less serious than other genres. I also don’t think electronica is the latest trend or a phase. I feel it’s a genre good enough to stay.
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Red Bull Music Academy Radio Panamérika presenta ESCENARIO: Los Angeles will take place on Thursday, March 7, 2013 at The Fonda Theatre. Tickets to the all ages event are $15 presale, $18 at the door.
