They say you should be able to feel the beat of a picó sound system reverberate through your heart.
A celebration of Afro-Colombian music is of course the essence of picó culture as it exists in downtown neighbourhoods of cities on the Caribbean coast. But Melbourne-based picó collective El Gran Mono is proving it’s about more than just the music.
The group is creating a diverse cultural community of music-makers and selectors, hosts, dancers, artists and designers and of course fans, who become immersed in its live-show experiences. El Gran Mono’s vision to educate and include people from all walks of life in an authentic picó experience represents an important cultural exchange between Colombia and Australia based on the universal power of music and community connection.
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But first, what do you need to know about picós? They are huge technicolour (often fluorescent) sound systems that are custom-built to blast out vinyl records of predominantly Afro-Colombian music. They are culture unto themselves, dominating the streets of Colombian cities like Barranquilla, Cartagena and Santa Marta where crowds gather around them to connect, eat, socialise and of course, dance.
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Thanks to El Gran Mono founders Tom Noonan and Johnny El P, Melbourne has had its very own picó since 2018 – EL GRAN MONO – the first to be built outside Colombia. Noonan, who was living in East Africa in 2013, visited Barranquilla and connected with members of the city’s local music industry who introduced him to picó culture, which was vastly different from his experience of sound systems in Australia. Their imposing size and sound, their art and psychedelic colours, and the atmosphere they created at Barranquilla’s picó parties captivated Noonan, and he reflects on being “completely overwhelmed” by the energy and social connections that were forged around them.
“I came back to Australia feeling really inspired to explore a similar project here; a cultural exchange between Colombia and Australia through music and other performance elements. The project was a way of reinforcing positive narratives around sound system culture,” he says.
Noonan worked closely with a picó crew he met in Barranquilla to create a Melbourne-based sound system and surrounding community that authentically reflected Colombia’s music culture. In 2018 he and Johnny El P oversaw the creation of EL GRAN MONO in Melbourne (which literally translates to ‘The Great Monkey’), a sound system giant measuring over three metres high. Even by Columbian standards, it’s big. It also showcases a custom artwork painted by the great Colombian artist William “El Maestro” Gutierrez. As Colombia’s most respected picó sound system artist, Gutierrez worked closely with El Gran Mono’s founders to create a scene that authentically connected the sound system to its Melbourne home. Picture a fierce, King Kong-like ape atop Flinders Street Station, with vinyl recordings flying through the sky and terrified Melburnians washed in a surge of apocalyptic, acid-green paint. Bueno! Gutierrez, who resides in a humble Barranquilla suburb where there is a picó party almost every weekend, is pleased to see picó culture evolve outside of Colombia, particularly in seemingly ‘unlikely’ cities like Melbourne on the other side of the world. He embraces every opportunity to work with emerging picó collectives like El Gran Mono who share his vision to engage with people not only through the music of these sound systems, but through their visual elements of art, colour and symbolism.
The EL GRAN MONO picó certainly has Australia talking, or rather, up and dancing. The group has been invited to perform at a string of festivals and events this year, including Womadelaide, RISING’s Heavy Congress, Vivid Sydney and Spilt Milk, in addition to their own verbenas (picó parties) like the upcoming Barrio Trópico New Year’s Eve party at Retropolis Studio in Melbourne. Even if people aren’t too sure what to make of El Gran Mono’s picó at first, its magnetic pull has the blood pumping and the body swaying to tropical rhythms within minutes of being in its orbit. El Gran Mono’s stable of collaborators, MC’s, creative talent, and guest picterós and picoteras (music selectors and live performers) represent a dynamic community seeking to celebrate and strengthen cultural connections between Colombia and Australia.
Sure, the project is exposing people here to a broad range of Afro-Colombian sounds they might not otherwise have the opportunity to engage with, but it’s also educating people about the true essence of Colombia’s picó culture which local authorities often perceive as being dangerous and sordid.
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“I grew up in Barranquilla, so I almost took the picó music and community culture for granted, it’s embedded in my being. El Gran Mono is not just about being a source of entertainment or putting on fun events. There is a deeper element of education to it. It’s about exposing people to what is happening in the Caribbean with sound system culture,” says Oscar Jimenez, singer, producer and one of El Gran Mono’s MCs.
“There are some challenges with local government and authorities in Barranquilla connecting sound system culture to drugs and violence. One of the key reasons we wanted to involve the Barranquilla crew in the El Gran Mono project is to help them flip some of these negative narratives,” Noonan adds.
In the context of a cultural exchange, El Gran Mono’s mission is to ensure picó culture is as positively recognised ‘on the ground’ in Barranquilla and along the Caribbean coast as it is here in Australia. “Picó culture is viewed as a tool of resistance against Colonialism,” explains Jimenez. “The music played by these picós originally comes from Afro-Colombian communities who wanted to reconnect with their African roots. The physical picó is really a symbol of identity and culture, it’s a very powerful tool that represents music, art, dance and connection all at the same time,” Jimenez says.
With plans to record and produce its own album in the new year, El Gran Mono has evolved organically towards being creative entity that redefines sound system culture both locally and abroad. From Colombia, to Greece, to Italy and the UK, promoters, DJs, performers and fans are hearing about El Gran Mono’s initiatives and events, and the safe and inclusive environment they offer people who want to explore an authentic experience of picó culture. The group’s long-term vision is to strengthen the Colombia-Australia cultural exchange, producing an annual Caribbean Carnevale event in Melbourne, and a possible tour in 2024 that will see the EL GRAN MONO sound system taken back to Barranquilla with an Australian delegation.
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“This music – Afro-Colombian dance music – doesn’t have a language. It’s universal, it’s about feeling and body,” Jimenez reminds us. “Coming out of the pandemic, people have a lot of energy and an urge to release it, and I think the El Gran Mono experience encourages people to connect and celebrate life.”
El Gran Mono will be hosting Barrio Tropico NYE in Melbourne, featuring a line-up of world-class performers and Melbourne’s own picó sound system.
