Bambarabanda Interview: SXSW 2010

Say "Colombian rock" and many people think Shakira. Bambarabanda is here to change that perception. With a combination of traditional Andean music, Afro-Latin rhythms, and rock licks--a sound they call Rock Fusion de los Andes-they were awarded "Best Alternative Band" at the SHOCK09 awards and voted "Best Live Band" by Subterranica Colombia. Camilo Moreno, the English spokesperson for the band, met with us to discuss their unique stage show and the excitement of performing for the first time, ever, in the United States.

Bambarabanda makes their US debut at SXSW on Wednesday, March 17.

You've never toured the US before?

This is the very first time. We've traveled to Quito and Bogota, Colombia and Ecuador. This past year we just went to the Rock al Parque Festival, one of the biggest alternative festivals in Latin Amearica. It was our first year there, as well. We've been doing some pretty interesting things this year.

How long have you been together?

The band has been together for about ten years. A lot of the band members are actors and writers and kind of all-around artists. We started out as a musical and then little-by-little things just started to turn into a band. But we still kept all those theatre elements throughout the whole evolution of the band.
Is your lineup the same as when you started out?

In the beginning it was a very percussion-based band and then we added some strings. At one point we brought in a piano, but it didn't work. We've had this line up for about six years now. There are ten people total. We have a percussionist, a drum set, electric and acoustic guitars, and someone else that does accordion and charango. A charango is a small string instrument, almost like a ukelele. The sound that it brings is very cool.

How did you get the name Bambarabanda?

It's a word that we've always used for generations in our home town (Pasto, Colombia). It's a word that describes a very dear friend, someone that you really trust. It's a word that came from indigenous people. If something is funny you also call it "bambara". Bambara is also an ethnic group in Africa that has helped their community in many ways and that's what our band tries to do in Pasto. We do a lot of projects with the youth. We try to involve the youth more into music, you know, because sometimes it's tough in Colombia. We try to bring something positive to the community through our music.

What are some of your musical influences?

There are so many. In Colombia we have Afro-Colombian music which is similar to Afro-Cuban or Afro-Brazilian. The string people were classic guitarists and one was a rock guitarist. We have influences like Gogol Bordello, they are amazing musicians and that's one of our inspirations as well as Carlinhos Brown, Gustavo Cerati, a little bit of everything. Pasto is remote but we are exposed to great music over there.

What can SXSW audiences expect at your show?

When you go see one of our shows, you're not just listening to music; you are actually watching almost a whole play. It's not a musical, it's an actual rock show but we also express ourselves physically. We dance and do the whole makeup and costume thing. Throughout the whole show we act--it's a whole crazy show, you have to see it.

How would you describe your sound?

We bring a lot of folk from our region. Pasto is on the border with Ecuador so you have the mix of both cultures. It has a crazy impact on our music. We have a rock sound and ska. That's why we call it Rock Fusion de los Andes. That's the name of the style that we came up with.

What do you expect from SXSW?

We've been working really hard to be here and we hope to show our project to the people and hopefully they'll like it. We have so many expectations and, hopefully, this is the beginning. We want to keep coming back to bring the music not just to Texas, but to other states. We're all going to try to be very involved in the whole music conference. We want to learn from it and that's kind of our attitude right now. We're in that position where we came here with open minds and just ready to learn and enjoy the beautiful experience.

Do you have an album?

This is the first official album that we put out and it's called El Baile de los Obligaditos/Erupcion de Colores. We will have copies at the show; you're not going to be able to find it anywhere else.

How is the Colombian music scene different from the US?

On the alternative tip, it's so hard, sometimes, to get the support--especially the style that we do. But it's changing a lot. I think in the next 5 to 10 years you're going to see a lot of music coming out of Colombia. Facebook has been a big help for us artists. It's almost like a revolution. You had no access to that before. How were you able to make somebody like your music or somewhere remote? That was just impossible. Now it is, and it's been possible for us to get our music out there so it has been a very important tool for us.

Jill Jackson is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.