Latinolife: How did the group form? Were you friends from Colombia? Musicians? Students with time on their hands…
Rafa: Well the group started because we were four Colombians together renting a house in Brussels, we played covers of Colombian folklore songs, Toto la Momposina… and what started as a hobby soon turned into hosting big parties in our house! Soon no more people could even fit in the house – they were too big! So people began to talk about us and through word of mouth we started playing in bars and we began writing our own materials. Our percussionist was studying at that time, he stopped, I stopped playing the tambora and started playing guitar so in 2009, 2010, we began playing in big festivals, Esperanza, Bellas Artes… and so we decided to take it seriously. We lost a few members, but the project began to take shape and began to grow. We acquired new members; some French speakers and so step-by-step we started rehearsing. We needed a singer! It was very difficult. The first concert I decided to be the front man and found out where I belong. It was very sporadic.
LL: Lets talk about your ‘Afro Colombian’ influences. Here in the UK we have no idea about Colombian folkloric music, which is obviously very important for the group…
Rafa: Well the group has always used our Colombian roots as an excuse to throw a party. It turned into a magnet and we began getting a steady public. We grew with a bass guitar, clarinet; saxophone… the fact that we are Colombian implies that we are a mix! We want to mix Afro beat, funk, and new rhythms with our music. Our Colombianidad is like a stew! So I don’t want to get lost in the debate about what is folklore and what isn’t, but what I do know is that I can play cumbia, porro, puya, mapale…. I do my own version. When I was little I used to love rock: Metallica, Queen, Nirvana… I listen to them from time to time. Everyone in the band loves their instrument and is equally as mixed and we create our own mix of music! Our own special version, with our own 'color'. It was a very organic process, in which we mix.
LL: How do you find working with French speakers?
Rafa: A big mix! Lots of personalities. It’s a great mix. Well speaking about Colombians in general, as I am one, we love mixing with other people and being around lots of people. We love being with other cultures and other people. We are very open people, in the group we only speak French and we switch languages so that everyone understands without even thinking. It’s great as they are learning Colombian phrases, which is very funny! I mean Brussels is a huge melting pot of cultures.
LL: ‘Vivo’ is your second album, what were the reasons behind its release?
Rafa: Well it was time to return to the studio, we were still alive! Our last album was in 2011 and we had loads of songs in mind, which needed to come to life. Our first album we recorded with Richard Blair, an amazing English man who is an expert in Colombian folklore music. He is a fantastic man! I mean he was irreplaceable; he had so much love and light. He had some more rocky ideas and a different sound in mind for us. For us it was the ideal time to record a new album and mix different elements. So this new disk we recorded in our own house, we soundproofed the house and made our own studio. The house was really in ruins! But in ruins! So we began to work all together and sort it out to create our own studio. It was a very disorganised process, we played at festivals and went to Germany and Holland… but we carried on recording and sorting the album.
So we finished the recording and it was an amazing experience, with modern machines and a very simple process. We wanted a bigger sound! We did a lot of our own editing, via skype… we sent it off to a great guy to help us mix it. It was an amazing experience.
LL: There are lots of groups here in the UK wanting to do there own versions of Colombian music. How do you preserve your sound?
Rafa: We are still very rumbero! I am very very happy with our new CD; it preserves our sound and our own touches… We don’t want to copy people, we want them to copy us! Every trip between Belgium and Colombia teaches me something. When you are away from home you miss home. I miss Colombia! I arrived in 2000 when Brazilian music was in vogue, I arrived with my maracas and tambora and people loved it, it was so different. The most important thing to make it last is to be sure of your roots.
LL: Your lyrics are very subtle but very funny, they refer to stereotypes. How did you decide to write about that subject matter?
Rafa: Well I write the majority of the lyrics, and I have three friends who are my ‘pearls of wisdom’. I love words and sayings that are very traditional or chatty. I learnt in Colombia how to ‘mamar gallo’ and I love it, I’m an addict! So our lyrics talk about lots of sources, they could be from sayings but also about a football match… our song ‘vivo’ is about being alive. It came from when I was studying in Bogota and I made friends with a man who did a lot of street art on roller skates. He was amazing and made his money that way. A true artist, I never saw him walking. I used to give him a hug.
Seven years later I went back to Bogota and he was changed…. But he had lost his right arm and his left hand. He had been in a bomb attack on the Plaza Bolivar. It really hit me hard. He said to me ‘What’s up with you? I’m still alive! I have both my legs and I can still roller skate.’ So this song is about him, about being alive. We are alive and we can carry on.
LL: This year you are touring around Europe, wouldn’t you like to go back to Colombia or Latin America?
Rafa: I want to go back to Colombia every single day. We are open to every opportunity. I can’t wait for the Chiva Gantiva to take me all over the world. I would love to go back to Colombia and see my Gran, my aunties and my family. Let's see where we go next...
LL: How do you find playing for a British public?
Rafa: Well you guys know how to move. From the first song we can see that. You guys love moving and dancing, especially in the north of the UK. We love it, it’s great! We played at Rich Mix and it was ‘wow’! Super full and on fire! I mean in other countries we have played and people don’t dance but they don’t leave at the end of the night… I mean that’s the culture. They are happy but they stay.
Catch the group on the 29th April at the Jazz Cafe in London.
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