ACL Music Festival Interviews

Aterciopelados

Sunday, 12:30pm, SBC stage

"We're victims of a masculine world," says Andrea Echeverri, lead singer for Colombian rock duo Aterciopelados. "Ever since Madonna, women have played this very sexual role, and I don't like that. I think we can be more."

With a weighty honesty, Aterciopelados, whose other half is bassist/producer Hector Buitrago, has always been different. From their humble beginnings in early Nineties Bogotá, the group's sound-clash of heartfelt folk rhythms and electronica has shaped them to be more than just a rock band.

Early albums like 1997's La Pipa de La Paz, a Latin Grammy nominee, found the pair taking advantage of Echeverri's soulful, elastic falsetto and Buitrago's punk rhythms. Years have passed, but the Aterciopelados style is still hard to encapsulate. "It's the experimentation, the constant search through Latin rhythms and electronic and rock forms for new sounds," she says in her nasal Spanish.

Other gems include 1998's Caribe Atomico, which found the duo polishing their style even further, while 2001's career best Gozo Poderoso kept people guessing what was to come.

"Women are in a dangerous place right now. We're always being used sexually," says Echeverri about her self-titled solo record released earlier this year, "but this is talking about another kind of woman: a mother."

After having her first child two years ago, Echeverri discovered that motherhood not only changes the way you look at the world, but also the way you make music as well.

"With my disc, the music was my tool for speaking – you have songs about pregnancy and taking care of your daughter. It's wonderful."

Before saying goodbye she remembers to tell me in a motherly whisper, "Oh, and I forgot, we've been nominated for a Grammy."

It's that kind of afterthought that will keep Aterciopelados sharing their maternal funk for years to come, as they'll be coming out with a new album next year.