By José Gandue @Gandour
Photo by Noe Tobalo
After the disappearance of the band Sismo, an interesting project that left its mark on the Bogota scene, for his experimental spirit and his search for unconventional sounds, Its musicians, without losing contact with each other, took different artistic paths and established themselves, each in their own way, in the local music scene. One of them, Álvaro Buendía, began to develop a striking solo career, initially releasing an album in 2013 called Walking slowly, whose themes immediately remind us of international alt-folk references, with a good portion of the compositions written in English. As he himself recounts in the interview that follows, He then discovered the folklore of African roots and its repercussions on the Colombian Atlantic coast, and managed to fuse everything into a contagious result, which will be published in a few days under the name of This also happens in the Caribbean. This album will be promoted at the Estéreo Picnic festival, to be held at the end of March. The lead single, From Within, It premiered a few weeks ago. For all these reasons, and because we really like their work, We have spoken with Buendía, to learn more about it:
How can we define the sound of Buendia?
I define it as tropical folk, because it's a mix between alt-folk (Jose Gonzalez, Bon Iver) and tropical music, like soukous, champeta, and cumbia.
How did you come up with the idea of mixing those two influences?
It was something completely natural. I never thought about doing it; it just happened. My first album, Walking slowly, It's totally within the alt-folk genre. After releasing it, I started working with the looper, and from there, and from having obsessively listened to a lot of African music, the genres began to blend.
What is the live format of your show?
Up until now I've been playing solo. With a looper, an acoustic guitar, and an electric guitar. But for Estéreo Picnic I'm going to debut with a band. We'll have drums, bass, two guitars, and vocals.
I also noticed that he worked with other musicians in the studio, right?
Yes, we did some collaborations that I was really happy with. Charles King, Mario Galeano, María Mónica Gutiérrez, Franklim Montaño, and my brothers from Sismo, Juan Andrés Rodríguez and Molo Díaz, all participated in the new album. Molo Díaz also produced the album.
What are their songs about?
These are thoughts about things that happen to me in life. They don't usually tell stories, but rather are reflections on what's happening to me or what I want to happen; often they're changes I want to make in my way of thinking.
Are you still working on this new album in a bilingual format?
Yes, but less and less. I haven't written in English for a long time.
How has your music been received? What notable achievements have you had in your career?
One of the goals I set for myself when I started this solo project was to play as much as possible, and that's exactly what I've done. When you play concerts, you get immediate feedback from the audience, and it's been fantastic. You could say it's been one of the driving forces that has kept me going. Seeing people cry, smile, dance, or tell me that a line touched them deeply fills me with joy. I think one of my greatest achievements is that I've played so many concerts in so many cities, of course. Now, being able to play at Estéreo Picnic makes me incredibly happy.
