Aterciopelados is Spanish for Awesome!
Posted on September 15, 2009 by by mrmadrid
- Andrea Echeverri performing at Celebrate Brooklyn
Colombian music icons Aterciopelados (pronounced Ah-tair-see-oh-pel-ah-dos, meaning The Velvets), is a collaboration between bassist/arranger Héctor Buitrago and vocalist/guitarist Andrea Echeverri that started in the early 1990s. They went from being the heroes of Bogota’s rock music scene into, eight albums later, an emblematic representative of music in the globalised 21st century. To anyone who has followed closely this transformation, getting direct access to them would not only feel like a privilege but it can also totally freak you out. In preparation for their first ever visit to Australia, I travelled to New York to see them live in concert at the Latin Alternative Music Conference. Their concert was part of Celebrate Brooklyn and even though I arrived very early, Prospect Park was already packed with flags from all over the Americas, particularly the yellow, blue and red colours of Colombia.
I have been lucky enough to see Andrea Echeverri and Hector Buitrago in concert in front of thirty thousand screaming Mexicans at the Cervantino Festival in Guanajuato, twenty thousand more in Rock al Parque in Bogota and in a much more intimate environment in the lovely city of Vic, in Northern Spain, with “only” five thousand people, but watching them play to New Yorkers, people spoiled for choice, was a different matter altogether. This is a city that is home to hundreds of thousands of Latinos and a melting pot of nationalities that get to see some of the best acts in the world on a regular basis. So, I can only wonder, how easy it is to make it everywhere if you have made it in New York? And, thinking of the tour to Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Canberra, how will Australians react to the organic rock with a social conscience of Aterciopelados?
The concert takes the audience on a journey through Aterciopelados’ career, a catalogue that has got rave reviews by all the leading voices in the music industry, accolades from critics around the world and a number of prizes including the Latin Grammy. The velvety sounds of Baracutana, Rio, Caribe Atomico, El Estuche, Maligno, El Album and the very political sounds of Cancion Protesta and the anti war anthem Hijos de Tigre whip the audience into a frenzy. Their rock is edgy, guitar driven. Their sound is grooving and uplifting with very strong Colombian elements. The crowd wants more but their set has to end and Andrea explains that they can’t push the limit imposed by the New York City Park authorities. Time to reflect on the many messages of Aterciopelados’ songs, if you understand Spanish, or let their melodies remain in your head as long as possible if you are not one of the many bilinguals living in New York.
Without much delay I am invited to join Andrea and Hector backstage for a chat. Even though I feel like I know them, having seen them many times before, I still feel a buzz about meeting them in person and am pleasantly surprised with how down to earth and spontaneous they both are. I tell Andrea about the Mexican concert and she tells me that it was on her birthday. She is right; it was September 13 which means she shares her birthday with my sister. What a coincidence, we both say. For someone who could be called a big fan, I am not star struck and find her extremely “normal”, not at all a diva. What a relief.
It is just Andrea and I talking and, getting into the business of the upcoming Australian tour, I mentioned that many of the issues that she feels passionate about, including human rights, women rights, peace and the environment resonate with many Australians and she says that she has heard many good things about the place.
“I have met a few people who have been to Australia and others that have lived there. The feeling I get is that it is a cool place, bien chevere (Spanish for very cool)… the thing is…it is a big deal to go to a place that is so far away. I have done a few interviews and what I find the most complex is the accent, I have trouble getting it at first but I understand that it is a peaceful place and that Australians are very relaxed”, explains Andrea, sounding almost apologetic about the vague response. The band’s itinerary is a very busy one so the visit to remote Australia a few months away didn’t seem to be on her immediate radar.
The subject of sharing ideas comes up and Andrea explains that she is passionate about connecting with her audience and establishing a dialogue. “Music is essentially about communication. It all starts when you delve into yourself and start finding out who you are, it’s an exercise in building an identity, understanding who you are and then grow as a person… as you start to find these things out you look for opportunities to share them with others and, as an artist, to establish a dialogue, particularly on stage, looking for something to really happen between those of us standing on stage and the ones on the other side”, describes Andrea with a very distinct and rather sweet Colombian accent.
The conversation moves into the mechanics of their partnership. It is a well known fact that they are former lovers that have now formed their families separately while keeping a long-time and very effective creative relationship, which has been described as the source for Aterciopelados’ musical genius.
“We have had quite a musical career, which has evolved over the years through our own identity search and experimentation, finding our own sound,” Andrea says. “We really complement each other musically in a way that works. And more important than anything, we have love and respect for each other”, adding that “through music we have been able to build that identity…a language of our own. I think that Aterciopelados sounds like…Aterciopelados…being us, expressing ourselves and sounding like Aterciopelados.”
The band’s career has had the blessing of the international press and followers all over the world. Their press kit includes quotes from music critics from major newspapers and magazines, many of them referring to the universality of their sound, agreeing that their musical language embraces their local heritage and, in a strange way, it speaks to volumes of people. However, the way they deal with very strong issues is what has defined them. War, peace, motherhood, the plight of the planet and human rights are all subject matters. One reviewer describes the way Aterciopelados backs up its message songs with beautiful, infectious music as a miracle.
When talking about the topics that move Aterciopelados, inevitably their motherland comes up repeatedly, particularly the change in the way Colombia is now perceived. “Maybe at the beginning of our career we were one of the first bands that played outside Colombia… Every time we travelled all the interviews referred to drugs… there was always the joke about what we had brought in our suitcases. But that has changed a lot. Colombia now is very well known for its music, people like Juanes, Shakira and us made it clear that Colombia is a lot more than drugs and violence. I am glad that it doesn’t happen anymore as Colombia has a place in the cultural and musical world so it is not such a challenge to show our work. We do talk about Colombia critically, but also with a lot of sense of humour…and rhythm… and harmonies”.
I mentioned that they also do it with persuasive, dry-eyed optimism, not shying away from the issues that affect Colombia but telling the world that this complex land of contrasts is ready to move along a positive path into the future, very reassuring. Andrea nods positively and says “Yes, that sounds…very nice… I could not have say it better myself!” So we finished on a very positive note this privileged inside into the world of poetry and music of Aterciopelados’ Andrea Echeverri. She leaves the room after giving me a hug and I start my journey back across the park to the subway. On the way back to my hotel I look at my research notes and compare them to the experience of talking to her. There is one quote by Andrea saying “If we are invited to a worthy cause, we are there. Only by respecting Mother Earth and the rights of everyone can the world truly live in harmony.” After our chat it rings very true.
Aterciopelados plays The Metro on Thursday October 1st with Watussi Typeboard readers should mention the code word RIO when calling the box office
