Colombian Rock is
rock music
Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...
from
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
. The most common styles of Colombian rock are based on
Rock en Español
Rock en español () is a term used widely in the English-speaking world to refer to any kind of rock music featuring Spanish vocals. Compared to English-speaking bands, very few acts reached worldwide success or between Spanish-speaking countrie ...
,
indie rock
Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...
, as well as the traditional focus of
hard rock
Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...
Colombian bands.
History
In the 1960s a boom in rock music happened in Colombia, as a result of
globalization
Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term ''globalization'' first appeared in the early 20t ...
, the influence of the foreign music of that decade, and opposition to the
Vietnam war
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
. From that moment in time came the first rock bands in the country. The most famous band in those years where
Los Speakers
Los Speakers (the Speakers) from Bogotá, Colombia, were a beat and garage rock band active the 1960s. Their particular style was characterized by the influence of early Beatles and the Byrds, as well as other popular music of the era. Later, they ...
from Bogotá. Their last and most famous album was ''The Speakers en el maravilloso mundo de Ingeson'' edited in 1968.
Some bands of the sixties: Los Speakers (1963 - 1968), Los Flippers (1965 - 1973), Los Yetis (1965 - 1969), Los Ampex (1965 - 1967), Los Young Beats (1966), Los Streaks (1967), Time Machine (1967), The Walflower Complextion (founded by North-Americans 1966 - 1967).
After founding
Los Speakers
Los Speakers (the Speakers) from Bogotá, Colombia, were a beat and garage rock band active the 1960s. Their particular style was characterized by the influence of early Beatles and the Byrds, as well as other popular music of the era. Later, they ...
, Humberto Monroy also founded Siglo Cero (1969 - 1970) and the legendary band
Géne-sis (1972 - 1992), that produced works through the 1970s and 1980s.
In the 1980s,
Kraken
The kraken () is a legendary sea monster of enormous size said to appear off the coasts of Norway.
Kraken, the subject of sailors' superstitions and mythos, was first described in the modern age at the turn of the 18th century, in a travelogu ...
became the first known
heavy metal band in Colombia, as well as the oldest still active band of the country, becoming the progenitors of many rising bands until today. Those included
Ekhymosis
Ekhymosis are a Colombian rock band formed by Juan Esteban "Juanes" Aristizábal Vásquez, along with friends Andrés García, Fernando "Toby" Tobón and José David Lopera from Medellín. The band was created in 1988 with heavy influences from ...
, from which
Juanes
file:Juanes ZMF 2015 jm49108.jpg, Juanes at the Zelt Musik Festival 2015 in Freiburg, Germany
file:Juanes ZMF 2015 jm49211.jpg, Juanes at the Zelt Musik Festival 2015 in Freiburg, Germany
Juan Esteban Aristizábal Vásquez (born 9 August 19 ...
split for a solo career.
Bogotá
Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...
,
Medellín
Medellín ( or ), officially the Municipality of Medellín ( es, Municipio de Medellín), is the second-largest city in Colombia, after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Aburrá Valley, a central re ...
and
Cali
Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,227,642 residents according to the 2018 census. The city spans with of urban area, making Cali the second ...
were the cities where this movement started to grow, and they remain today as the main cradles for new groups and styles. Colombian rock is grouped with all ''
Rock en español
Rock en español () is a term used widely in the English-speaking world to refer to any kind of rock music featuring Spanish vocals. Compared to English-speaking bands, very few acts reached worldwide success or between Spanish-speaking countrie ...
'', a movement led by
Argentinian rock
Argentine rock (known locally as ''rock nacional'' , "national rock" in the sense of "local", "not international") is rock music composed or performed by Argentine bands or artists mostly in Spanish.
Argentine rock began by recycling hits of Engl ...
and
Mexican rock
Mexican rock music, often referred to in Mexico as ''rock nacional'' ("national rock"), originated in the 1950s. Standards by The Beatles, Elvis Presley, The Everly Brothers, Nancy Sinatra, and Chuck Berry were soon covered by bands such as Los Ap ...
.
Elsewhere
In the 1950s,
Medellín
Medellín ( or ), officially the Municipality of Medellín ( es, Municipio de Medellín), is the second-largest city in Colombia, after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Aburrá Valley, a central re ...
,
Antioquia, was a middle-sized city in a fast process of
industrialization
Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econo ...
.
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
and
Chuck Berry
Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...
were the first ambassadors of American rock music. The society of the
region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
, more familiar with one of the main folk musics of Colombia,
bambuco
Bambuco is a traditional music genre from Colombia. Its metric structure is similar to the European waltz or polska (not to be confused with the polka). Typically a bambuco piece is accompanied by a stylized group dance in either a or meter.
...
, received it with mixed opinions until it became established as part of youth culture.
''Identidad desde el caos, el caos de la identidad. Una historia del rock en Medellin''
(In Spanish)
This musical movement was almost unrecognized in other parts of the country, due to the ongoing boom in literature which marked a "new age" in Colombian culture for the next half century.
Bands like Aterciopelados
Aterciopelados ( en, The Velvet Ones), also known as Los Aterciopelados, is a rock band from Colombia, led by Andrea Echeverri and Héctor Buitrago. Their music fuses rock with a variety of Colombian and Latin American musical traditions. Aterci ...
, Superlitio
Superlitio is a Latin rock band from Cali, Colombia formed in 1997. Its members are Pedro Rovetto (bass), Pipe Bravo (Lead Voice, keyboards and guitar), Alejandro Lozano (guitar), Armando Gonzalez (drums) and Dino Leandro (Machines and Ukulele).
...
, 1280 Almas, Agata, Apocalipsys, La Derecha, La Pestilencia, Ultrageno, La severa matacera
La Severa Matacera is a Colombian musical group, formed in Bogotá, at the end of 1995, with the idea of forming a band which could mix all the influences of its members ( ska, reggae and funk mostly).
History
Their first demo-tape, “Inmuni ...
, Los de Adentro, La Prole, and Leon Bruno have some famous achievements in Latin-American music. The rock scene is beginning to grow as an important part of the Latin American and world music industry.
Metal Medallo and Ultra Metal
Along eighties it emerged one of the most representatives Colombian Underground metal scenes known as "Metal Medallo", this one arose in Medellin Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
, creating a representative kind of local metal known as Ultra Metal
adopted by British military intelligence in June 1941 for wartime signals intelligence obtained by breaking high-level encrypted enemy radio and teleprinter communications at the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park. ' ...
(Extreme and Anti-technical metal music).
This musical scene was characterized by gathering several genres of metal music such as Death Metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...
, Thrash Metal
Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...
, Black Metal
Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with t ...
, and so on; the most representatives bands of this world-class scene were Parabellum, Masacre and Reencarnacion, among others. This metal scene was widely known in this decade in Europe, particularly in Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
, Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
, Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
and Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, even Parabellum and Reencarnacion influenced the Early Norwegian black metal scene
The early Norwegian black metal scene of the 1990s is credited with creating the modern black metal genre and produced some of the most acclaimed and influential artists in extreme metal. It attracted massive media attention when it was revealed ...
, moreover was and is broadly known in Japan and North America. Nowadays, this Colombian scene is respected in several countries particularly in underground and old school scenes.
Colombian Indie & Alternative Rock
Since 2005, Colombia has seen a growth of new punk rock, pop punk
Pop punk (or punk pop) is a rock music genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined for its emphasis on classic pop songcraft, as well as adolescent and anti-suburbia themes, and is distinguished from other pu ...
, and alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...
bands. Despite the problems of gaining radio play, bands like Blunt, Tres De Corazon, The Mills, The Hall Effect, Don Tetto, Area 12, Donna Joe Radio, Zarco, Stayway, The Radio Flyer, the Ghetto Muppets, Proper Strangers (based in UK) are starting to become more popular.
Internationally, new artists such as Locos por Juana (Based in Miami) recently nominated to a Grammy award, and Intrudia (based in Texas) have gained notoriety and represent the Colombian Rock in USA.
See also
* Rock al Parque
Rock al Parque is a free rock music festival which has taken place in Bogotá, Colombia, since 1995. It typically gathers more than 50 bands and as many as 400,000 spectators. It is considered the largest rock festival in Colombia and one of t ...
External links
Colombian Rock
About Colombian Artists
Fuente Rock
Colombian Rock Source
La Rebúlica De Rock
Rock y Pop (Colombia.com)
References
{{Music in Spanish
Rock music by country
Rock music
Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...