We make conscious music, with a message. We don’t make music thinking of playing on a radio or having a million views on YouTube. So, we are not going to be as popular as many other good productions, but in our opinion they are useless, because there is no message. For a band like us, we are not known by a mass but by an alternative scene, which is the minority in our country.
The consequences of this are few opportunities and little help. We are in a country where there is no subsidy for anything. Neither for unemployment, nor for pregnant women, nor for disabled people. I dare say that 80% of our country lives from informality, from street sales, from their businesses. So, not only for us, but for all art and many people, the Covid has been difficult. As for the launch, it delayed it a bit, because we had to reinvent ourselves. We had to think of another possibility and look at the ease of doing it from home, online. It took us a while to get familiar and digest this situation. And let’s say that until now we are seeing the light at the bottom of the tunnel, learning a little more to move in these times that are not in person and that were so important to us. For us it is a ritual where the people are very important, the live, playing, and financially is what helps us. This has been difficult.
Being musicians and having this project that has been very beautiful, as people have welcomed it in the world, it is good that they also know that there is a reality, that in addition to this we are people who live in a country full of problems, where there are no benefits to anyone. So many musicians have had to leave their homes because they have no way to pay, they have had to leave their studies or sell their equipment because they don’t have enough to eat. Maybe I’m talking about a minority, but in our case it affected a lot. And thanks to the music and the work we did with this album is what has given us strength. The people, how they received it, the messages. That makes me want to continue despite the situation, even though there is no money, there is the desire to continue making music and take this message to the whole world. Here we are, standing in front of a situation that has not been easy for anyone, but thanks to music we are here.
For us, it has always been the primary and most important thing to preserve our culture and our roots. We think that part of the crisis that is happening in Colombia, which is where we grew up and have lived our entire lives,
There are many feelings. A little sadness, a little anger, a lot of helplessness not being able to do anything, not being able to say anything, not being able to speak anything, because in this country unfortunately they shut you up if you want to say something. Part of all that problem is that we have lost our identity. We want to be like others, we always look at others. And we believe that it is very important to rescue our roots and our culture. Above all, recover our sense of belonging, which many Colombians have lost. Many Colombians have forgotten where they come from, where their tradition, their culture comes from. There are many things that are still in our lifestyle, even though it is very modern, very cutting edge.
The fact that Gettho Kumbé is electronic music is because within our journey and our search for a sound we wanted to have cutting edge sounds. For us electronic music is the fact of using sequenced sounds, which do not come from a real instrument. For us it is not techno, it is not house, it is not dance. For us it is not a genre. We simply wanted to use technology, what we have at hand, to continue to maintain our culture.
Our lyrics are what is born, what you live. We can’t talk about anything else, because it would be totally a lie. If you make music or any other type of art, through that art you can convey what you feel. For us it does not matter if it is electronic music or not, it is music and through it we want to say what we think and feel. That through dancing people understand what is happening or at least get the message and stay with something. We are not thinking about whether music is in this position of saying things or not, it is like that or if it is not it does not make sense to make music. I can’t write some lyrics or songs like “Sola”, which come from deep within, where everything is true, they are songs where I express my feelings, so the issue of whether electronic music can be a protest is left a little aside. Be it cumbia, calf, meringue, salsa. Gender does not matter, the important thing for us is the message, that people in the world realize that we are living in a shitty country. For people to realize that it is difficult to stand here, that it is difficult to live with selfishness, that it is difficult to live in an individualistic world, where each one thinks only of themselves and doesn’t give a damn if the rest are starving or if they have a roof. The important thing here is the message, say what you feel. That is making music from the heart, sincere music. The posture of the music makes a lot of sense, because it reaches the ears of many people. You have the opportunity to carry a message. We cannot understand the fact of reaching so many people, having so much scope, to say only stupid things like talking about a shaking ass, to talk about how I picked her up in a bar, that I ate her, that I spent three boxes of condoms. No. They are wasting their time. If we don’t make conscious music to carry a message, we’re screwed, we’re going to end up worse, this world is going to go to hell.
