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Exclusive Interview with Palenke Soultribe

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Recently we had the opportunity to speak with Palenke Soultribe. Read up on a lot of interesting things you may not have known about them.

Hello guys, nice to have you guys on MaxMuzik! As this is your first interview with us, let’s start off with a little background. How did you get into music?
Hello! Very excited to be part of MaxMuzik for the first time. We are currently in Europe in tour but it is always a pleasure to make some time for you guys.

We all started our life in music in our teen years out of curiosity. Our families were not into music professionally but in Colombia in general people are every into music dancing, etc… is part of our culture.

For our readers who’ve never heard your music, explain your sound in 5 words.
Electro Cumbia Psychedelic Afro-Colombian Funk

Can you offer insight into some of your musical inspirations? And who is your favorite artist from electronic music, outside your own specific genre?
Our inspirations came from two different sides. On one side, is the history of the music from our country. Music that inevitability we were exposed to. At home, in the taxicab, at families’ parties, etc. On the other shore, there is the music we got from abroad. It came thru the radio and imported records form artists we were shocked by. From The Beatles, all the heavy stuff in the 70 then the post-punk era and finally the mutation of those into electronic generated sounds. If you listen closely to our records you can perceive a bit of all those styles. The later electronic music names that left a mark on our sound are The Chemical Brothers, Underworld, Daft Punk and probably Richie Hawtin.

You have just released your new album “MAR”, how was the experience working on this album like for you?
Intense! We finished our 2012 Touring season around October and we were against the clock to be able to have it ready by January-February. So we locked ourselves in the studio for 2 months and challenged our skills to come up with something we like. We off course have lots of help from musicians, writers, engineers are part of the crew and we pulled thru.

What was the most challenging part of the production process of the album?
Usually for us the finishing stage. Mixing and mastering are always a tedious process. We work with great engineers but by the moments you are into these stages ears are tired and your judgment could be distorted. When you spend so many hours in front of an object you start losing the perspective of things.

Could you tell us about your music production process? Also your equipment and the setup you use in your live shows.
When producing usually one of us comes with a simple idea. A riff, a beat or a sentence, then the other takes it and develops it. Then we bring it to the rehearsal room and polished. MAR had mostly programmed beats but surely lots of overdubs of live drumming. Things like hihats, Brazilian surdo, toms fills and all the Colombian percussion.

For the live shows we run a laptop with Ableton live that operates like the brain of the operation. It plays back some sequences for support but as well triggers all the video and camera show and the lighting. On top of the computer we have a full drum set, a full Colombian percussion set, a Rickenbacker bass and a couple of live synths.

Palenke Soultribe’s latest video: “Move it” (ft. Naada)

Speaking of shows, what are your touring plans for the rest of 2013?
We are in the middle of our tour in Europe now. We started in Belgium then we moved to Holland, Germany, Denmark Sweden and we will finish in France. We have a cool show in Los Angeles for Grand Performances in August and another USA tour by September.

What artists would fans be surprised to find on your iPod?
No surprises! There is a huge variety but if you listen to our music close you can tell that no influences are banned. At this precise moment we are listening to 50’s ska music for instance!

Any final thoughts or parting words?
Thanks for the invite. We invite everyone to be curious and visit us in iTunes and see what we do. Also people can write us on Facebook. We are always in touch.

Follow Palenke Soultribe: Web | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | SoundCloud

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