SONIDO: Saturday, 16th January 2021
SONIDO makes music. Music from Latin America . . . sort of. Some born and all raised from a young age in Sydney, Australia, the members of SONIDO are influenced by the music of their home, as well as the poetry, sounds, and rhythms of their heritage. The product is a unique form of Latin American-infused musical expression forged in the crucible of their families’ immigrant experience in the 1970s & 80s Australia.
SONIDO began its life as Sonido de Los Andes in 1977 when a group of young émigrés began performing traditional music of the Andes using instruments such as the charango, quena, zampona, bombo, and guitar. Their virtuosity and dedication inspired a new generation of cultural torchbearers, culminating in the 90s when Sonido de Los Andes became SONIDO and a new generation of musicians took the mantle of preserving these traditions, whilst injecting new influences that came from an upbringing in a very different culture. Though still firmly rooted in the folklore of South America, the group began to incorporate rhythms and instruments from further afield in Latin America, as well as from the Western pop, rock, soul, and jazz that they grew up listening to.
Today SONIDO is focused on distilling the influences and experiences of over 40 years into a very distinct form of artistic expression. It is music born of a love for their home, awe for their heritage, and respect for the sacrifices of their parents’ generation that risked it all, voluntarily or by force, to build a new life in a strange place. It is the traditional music of a place on no map, folklore in search of a country.
