“We want this competition to inspire local bands to record original albums in Australia, not just covers of the classics. Otherwise we’ll never win an ARIA, and it’s really important for the growth in general of Latin music in this country. We’ve got some really exciting local acts including Sydney’s Afro-Cuba Elite, featuring Armanditio Garcia; Canberra’s sensational 13-piece Mi Tierra, and recently formed cumbia-reggae ensemble, Cumbiamiffin. It’s also a great opportunity to bring musicians together that have been playing this Latin role in Australia for some time, and give them the recognition that they deserve.”
“In a social sense, Latin culture is thriving. There’s been a steady increase in demand for Australian people to join Latin dance academy classes, because it’s a lot of fun, and a great way to meet people. But they dance to music that’s been produced overseas. We need to not only save the local bands, but encourage and support them to produce original music, because there’s absolutely no reason why we can’t do it here.”
The competition features 16 local acts, touring through Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. As part of the rules, they must have eight or more members, have been together for longer than one year, and must have submitted at least one original song.
“Latin music in Australia is strong in the sense that when people wanna’ party they book Latin music, but when they book it they hire only 4 or 5 musicians, and it’s just impossible to get an authentic sound. A good Cuban band will have 12 to 16 members. That’s another reason why it’s harder in Australia. These bands are dropping off because it’s too hard to make money when you split it across all the members. And if you can’t keep the bands together, then it’s impossible to record albums.”
“Gift Abroad QLD is the event’s organiser, and have put up the winning prize of $10,000, and paid air travel for two members of the band to fly to Cuba. They’ll be able to absorb the culture daily, and intensively study Latin music through the networks we’ve set up over the last ten years. The hardest thing is the massive difference in size of Australia compared to Cuba. There, everyone knows each other, and you don’t think about it but all day you’re speaking their language, eating their food, playing their music and dancing. Here, the country’s so big that you can go ten years without even knowing your neighbour. Our hope is that they can then bring that experience back to Australia and record an album.”
Five acts will be selected from the heats to go straight to Sydney, culminating in one hell of a party at the Hordern Pavillion on Saturday November 5. It’s not only the finale of the competition, but also an opportunity for Australians to sample the international talent of the ‘Legends of Cuba’- Felix Baloy from the Buena Vista Social Club and Afro-Cuban All-Stars, Sixto “El Indio” Llorente of Manolito y su Trabuco, Orquesta Aliamén, and Mamborama. They will be playing with Gus’ 11-piece band, Chukale, who have just finished their album, Expedition, featuring the ‘Legends’.
“I’ve been going to Cuba on and off for the last 8 years, mainly to study Cuban music. That’s how we met the guys from Bueno Vista Social Club and Afro-Cuban Allstars, and we always left the door open to record an album with them. We’ll be launching the album on the tour, with the Cubans. We wanted to go to the roots of Cuban music and bring that experience back to Australia. A lot of the session work was done here in Brisbane, and then we went over to Cuba where we recorded with the legends. It was a wonderful journey of three years, and it’s proof that you can get an authentic sounding Cuban album produced here in Australia.”
Gus is enthusiastic that the outlook for Latin music in Australia is good. “We’ll get there; it’ll just take time, like anything. 12 years ago was the first Bacardi Festival in Sydney, which is a big celebration of Latin music. This year there was up to 20,000 people there. You couldn’t move. So the enthusiasm’s there. In order to create festival tours for local acts in Australia, you need to be able to promote an album, so that’s definitely the main focus of this competition.
