La otra Banda's Page

La otra banda (the other band) is a project is originally formed by Venezuelans living outside their country (USA, Spain) and it comes to life as a need to share our music that portrays the idiosyncrasy of our vibrant country in a very fresh and optimistic way.

We grew up in a part of the world where there are two things that keep you from sleeping until late in the mornings: the roosters and the omnipresent melodies usually coming from all directions, even in the early morning hours. It’s this music that provides some relief from the tough and unpleasant routine of poverty. Music provides respite: at least everyone has the power to choose the radio station they hear during lunch, even when for some people their plate of food looks the same every day.

Music makes up a fundamental part of daily life in Venezuela, and, in our experience, throughout Latin America. When we say “music,” we don’t mean just salsa, merengue and local folk music. we mean all the music that the process of globalization and the strong influence of the so-called “first world” have brought to us: rock, pop, jazz, etc.

It is unfortunate that we often label all the music made in the Caribbean and South America as therefore in Venezuela as “Latin,” because this rich range of sounds cannot be forced into one single genre. Even more unfortunate is that the most well known “representatives” of this genre are artists that far from represent the thought and culture of Venezuela, South American and the Caribbean. Much of the music from these artists is a product created to fit the existing North American conception of Latin America.

There is a consequence of globalization and “cultural colonization” that to us feels somewhat like a sweet revenge. In the same way that huge, transnational companies have taken our local riches and transformed them for their own interests, we took their music, transformed it to also make it our own. This serves as the basis for new, exciting musical experimentation.