Scheduled for Saturday, March 19, 2011 at Maggie Mae’s, Austin, TX during SXSW
*Subject to change
8:00 PM Inverness
9:00 PM Fernando Milagros
10:00 PM Francisca Valenzuela
11:00 PM Intimate Stranger
12:00 AM Gepe
1:00 AM Chico Trujillo
Francisca Valenzuela
23 years old. Singer, songwriter, composer, producer and multiinstrumentalist. Born and raised in California, until moving to her current hometown of Santiago, Chile at age 13. She is currently launching her second album called “Buen Soldado” (Good Soldier/ Independent, March 2011) which was produced by Vicente Sanfuentes (Sr.Coconut, Gepe, Matias Aguayo), Mocky (Feist, Jamie Lidell) and Francisca. Her songs range from piano pop rock, to some more jazzy, or even folkly tunes. Her lyrics refer to social or political issues, personal stories, intimate reflections, humor and love stories.
Her first album, “Muérdete la Lengua” (Bite Your Tongue/Independent, November 2007) contains 10 songs in Spanish and 2 songs in English. It was written and composed by Francisca Valenzuela and produced by Mauricio and Francisco Durán of Los Bunkers. The album went Gold in her country Chile, and allowed her to tour all over the country and the globe -from the World Expo Shanghai 2010 and 2008 LAMC Festival in NYC to a Homage to Chile in Pompeii to Vive Latino Mexico 2010 – and was highly praised all over Latin America and more. As National Public Radio (NPR) Music in the US highlights: “with a voice reminiscent of Fiona Apple and killer piano skills, Valenzuela raised eyebrows with her debut album , Muérdete la Lengua (“Bite your Tongue”)”. Rolling Stone Chile named it 16 in its 50 best albums of 2007; American Latino TV awarded Francisca the 2009 “Favorite Latino TV Newcomer Award”; her 5 singles rotated on MTV and she was selected in the 2009 “15 x 15: artists to Watch” campaign, among other acknowledgements.
“Buen Soldado” (Good Soldier, Independent / March 2011) contains 12 songs in Spanish, all written and composed by Francisca Valenzuela and produced by Vicente Sanfuentes (Sr.Coconut, Gepe, Matias Aguayo), Mocky (Feist, Jamie Lidell) and Francisca Valenzuela. In January 2011, the first single “Quiero Verte Más” (“I want to see you more”) hit radios in all Latin America. Club Fonograma reviewed it as “this piano led single sparkles the second it starts and it is beautifully executed by Francisca´s soulful sensibilities, after all, she is the most glamorous artiste in Latin Pop”. The album will be released in March 2011.
She has collaborated and performed with numerous artists such as Latin Bitman, Mocky, Beto Cuevas, Inti Illimani, Los Bunkers, Los Jaivas, and Café Tacuba among others. She has also made music for cinema and theatre and participated in international tribute albums for Violeta Parra, Inti Illimani, 31 minutos and Joan Manuel Serrat.
Chico Trujillo
The cumbia chilombiana, Chico Trujillo’s trademark infectious rhythm, is a new version of classic cumbia, bolero, ska & rock mixed with traditional Chilean rhythms. The band performs to raving reviews, concerts for the freedom of Mapuche political prisoners to the stages of major world capitals.
The band was founded in 1999 in Villa Allemana, a small town in central Chile, by members of the band “Lafloripondio“, as they returned home from a tour through Germany, Holland, and Austria. Upon his return, Macha, alias Aldo Asenjo, began meeting often with his friend Antonio Orellana, just to play guitar and try out ideas. Gradually, in these sessions, tunes began to take shape such as “Cabildo”, “Me convertiste en santo” and “Dejame decirte algo”, and later, at the beginning of 2000, “Tongoy” and “Maria, ria”
Later, Tuto Vargas and Jaunito Gronemeyer, the bass player and percussionist from “Lafloripondio” respectively, also joined the sessions. This formation developed the foundation for further compositions. Eventually they invited Chapa, on the percussion, and Tio Rodi, on drums. This was the formation and it remained unchanged until 2001 when they added a horn section, and Michael Magliocchetti on guitar. They recorded their first album “Chico Trujillo y la Señora Imaginacion”, released in Germany as “Arriba las Nalgas”. With this album the band showed its ability to interpret traditional chilean songs in a new and powerful way. These songs opened new horizons for the band and the mixture of acoustic guitar, vocals, and strong emotion led quickly to a growing circle of fans,
In live concerts, the mixture of traditional cumbias like “El Tren”, and “Pedacito de mi vida”, was expanded. The band performed primarily cumbias, boleros and ska filtered and renewed with inspired texts, emotion, and energy
Intimate Stranger
After four years of touring Latin America, the UK, Europe and the USA, Intimate Stranger – an international band formed in 2006 by Chilean guitarist Lautaro Vera (Cucsifae, Don Fango, Disturbio Menor), English/Croatian singer/bassist Tessie S-Woodgate and drummer Mauricio Muñoz have finally had the breakthrough they deserve with the release of their second album Under in June 2010. The title song is getting extensive radio play across the globe, (major US student stations and top South American stations such as Horizonte and Rock and Pop.) The video for “Under” is now on MTV and the press reviews for the album and in particular the second single from the album, “Nighttime” are sensational. Since its formation in 2006, the band has lived in London, Santiago and more recently in Austin, TX playing at venues as diverse as The Rock Garden, and The Dublin Castle in London, The Roxy in Buenos Aires, Club Blondie, Santiago, to the Parish in Austin and the Warehouse in Houston and Tipitinas in New Orleans. Intimate Stranger has performed with: Cheap Trick, Surfer Blood, High on Fire, Anita Tijoux, Carl Stone, The Raincoats, Hello Cuca, Sky Larkin, Crystal Castles and more.
Adding keyboardist Ismael Palma in 2008, the new set up with synths and keyboards has further evolved the band’s sound, as is reflected in the their new material, which Derek Lactaoen, in Revolver magazine describes as somewhere between the female rock vocals of the Kills and the inviting voice of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, although he adds: Intimate Stranger tends to break barriers when it comes to labeling them with a genre.” Karl Nielsen (Head of Marketing at Canal U TV (VITV/Fizz) in London describes the style as “unique and captivating”.
March 2010 they pre-released their second album Under, to coincide with their SXSW 2010 full-house Showcase at Maggie Mae’s and a tour of the southern states of the USA (Santa Fe to New Orleans and all the major and college cities on route, supported by strong TV, radio and press including live performances and interviews on Fox, KEYE TV and ME TV).
With a growing fan base in the USA and headliner status in Chile at the top venues in Santiago, the band found themselves garnering major coverage on Spin Earth, Spinner, Extravaganza, Revolver, Disorder, Austin 360, EMOL, Music Popular and a half page interview in Chile’s leading national newspaper “El Mercurio”, which stated “…A singer who is always able to find the perfect intonation and melody and a guitarist who is equally able to compliment and pick out those strong melodies…”. All this followed on from the band being selected for a major interview in the January 2009 edition of Rolling Stone Chile for the “Leading Ladies of Rock 2009′ special, with a half-page photo of singer Tessie, on the inside front cover.
Intimate Stranger Official Website
Intimate Stranger on Facebook
Intimate Stranger on MySpace
Gepe
Chilean alternative singer/songwriter Gepe, whose versatile style incorporates aspects of both indie pop and indie electronica, emerged to critical acclaim during the mid-2000s in association with the well-regarded independent label Quemasucabeza. Born Daniel Riveros in 1981 in San Miguel, a commune of Santiago, Chile, he cites influences ranging from legendary Chilean singer/songwriter Victor Jara and sunshine pop icon Brian Wilson to alternative rock touchstones such as Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine as well as contemporary indie pop acts such as Animal Collective and Devendra Banhart. Before adopting the Gepe moniker, Riveros collaborated with bassist Javier Cruz in the short-lived duo Taller Dejao, resulting in the independently released full-length album El Brillo Que Tiene Es Lo Humano Que Le Queda (2004). While he continued to collaborate with others in the Chilean indie pop/rock scene such as Javiera Mena, Riveros embarked on a solo career as Gepe, making his recording debut as such in 2004 with 5×5, an EP released in association with the independent label Jacobino Discos. He subsequently switched to another Chilean independent label, Quemasucabeza, on which he made his full-length album debut in 2005 with Gepinto and was concurrently featured on the label sampler Panorama Neutral. Successive Gepe releases on Quemasucabeza include the follow-up album Hungría (2007) and the EP Las Piedras (2008).
Gepe on Facebook
Gepe on MySpace
Protistas
With a prolific and amazing career, Protistas is shining with his debut album Nortinas War (Cazador, 2010). Formed in 2008, the four-piece band from Chile includes guitarist/ vocalist Álvaro Solar, drummer/vocalist Andrés Acevedo, bassist/ keyboardist Benjamín Varas and guitarist Francisco Marín. Collecting sounds from the north of Chile, Protistas blends its latin-american spirit with the latest sounds of indie-rock bands like Woods and Real State, creating a fresh musical landscape they call “wild pop”.
Protistas has performed in the most important stages of Santiago as well as the rest of the country, including Amanda Cultural Center -supporting the french band Tahiti 80-, Gabriela Mistral Cultural Center, and the Aula Magna of the Austral University in Valdivia, after been selected in the Fourth Independent Music Festival.
Nortinas War has been praised in many Spanish- speaking countries such as Mexico, Spain (Radio Vasca EiTB), and also Brazil, where Protistas debut album was described as a wonderful album in MTV´s blog Dominodromo: “A work of great beauty, detail and elegance, featuring an intelligent narrative, complemented perfectly with every note, pause or chord sequence. From the dramatic and instrumental opening of ‘religious Mask’ to the closing apotheosis of ‘Videocámara’, everything is combined in harmony” (Rodrigo Maceira, MTV Brasil).
Critics have also spread to the anglophone press, thanks to web sites devoted to the alternative culture in Latin America, like “Club Fonograma” (www.clubfonograma.com) and “Sound and Colors,” whose article Going underground: new indie music from Chile, talks about Protistas as one of the most important upcoming bands of the indie scene: “Their songs straddle the balance perfectly between abrasive and sweet, and between strong and fragile, something that is not easy to pull off. Once you throw in the fact that these songs deal with the problems of Northern Chile, echoes of previous wars, Chile’s ritualistic festivities and the problems of love and life that permeate all young people’s lives, this is vital music indeed” (Russ Slater, Sound and Colors).
In Chile, the press continues to praise the band with positive reviews: “Melodic and memorable, a great first step into a promising future” (Sebastian Amado, Extravaganza Magazine), “The final product is round, and the band gets closer at times, to canadians Eric’s Trip as well as to Animal Collective, with tribal (and native) elements of early electronic and krautrock” (Rodolfo Garcia, http://super45.net/), “Protistas´ first album bets on the simplicity, understood not as a limitation of their resources, but as a proposal strong enough to stand up close to the bands they acknowledge like Woods, Deerhunter, Explosions in the sky and Galaxie 500 “(Cristal en Vivo). Rolling Stone magazine in Chile has also highlighted Protistas as the revelation band you should listen.
Protistas on Facebook
Protistas on MySpace
Inverness
Inverness are a Patagonian alternative rock band based in Santiago, Chile. The band is composed of Rodrigo Jarque (vocals, guitars, piano, Yamaha SK-20, glockenspiel, harmonium), Angelo Agurto (bass guitar), Washington Abrigo (guitar, samples and drones) and Rodrigo Soto (drums and percussion). Inverness have released two albums ['Monstruos Bajo la Cama' (2006), and 'Illuminaciones' (2009), LeRockPsicophonique]