Bogotá’s Music
Teca, how we call our own Latin American jukebox, plans to bring you the newest, most interesting artists from the region.
Andrés Correa, via Eventtia.
The Festival Estéreo Picnic in Bogota, Colombia, has announced the lineup for its sixth edition. It has been trying to be Colombia’s response to American summer festivals such as Coachella and Lollapalooza, and even if much smaller in scale, it has been growing in audience.
Though the festival costs money to attend (unlike the larger, older and public Rock al Parque festival), its appeal lies mostly in inviting better known international bands and mixing them with rising local acts.
Yet, the festival has been criticized this year for lining up too many Colombian “unknowns”. So we wanted to highlight their effort to showcase some of the most interesting local music. And here are five Bogotano bands attending the 2015 Estéreo Picnic that you should not be afraid to hear.
Planes (Estudios Universales): Lead by Pablo Escallón, Planes is not so much a revival, but a rethinking of new wave and shoegaze, with a distinctive Bogotano accent and vocals that you either love or hate, no middle ground (I’m a fan, of course).
Milmarías: Erick Milmarías, Kike Milmarías and Gregorio Merchán know how to make catchy tunes and they also know how to have fun. Yes, they might be laughing with you, or they might be laughing at you. But it doesn’t really matter for now.
Salt Cathedral: Okay, not all of the band is from Bogotá, and they have been living in Boston and New York City for a while. But their name is a reference to one of the favorite day-trip destinations for Bogotanos: an actual cathedral made from salt in the nearby town of Zipaquirá. And, anyway, you shouldn’t miss their mesmerizing beats with beautiful vocals.
Mitú: Named after a Colombian city in the Amazon. It is the brainchild of Julián Salazar, the guitar player from the Bogotá-based, Caribbean electro-tropical band Bomba Estéreo, and Franklin Tejedor, the son of “Lámpara”, the legendary percussionist from San Basilio de Palenque (the first ever free black town in the American continent!). But their home is definitely Bogotá. And their sound is a sort of tribal, folkloric electronic music that you have never heard before. Or maybe you have. But Mitú is the kind of electronic music you actually want to listen to again.
Andrés Correa: Andrés Correa made his career selling his music in burnt CDs inside plastic bags after his concerts around Bogotá. Now he has made a name as an author with special attention to lyrics and has become a staple of another festival, FICIB (Festival Internacional de la Canción Itinerante de Bogotá). His musical style often changes from song to song, but his quality remains constant.
Bonus: They are not in this year’s festival, but do not miss some of Bogotá’s finest: Meridian Brothers.
