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As seen in issue 56 of Closer Magazine, published on 2009-03-27 in the "LocalMusic" section.
Magic City Homebrew
Afrobeta draws inspiration from local roots
By: Larry Boytano
“We’ve been involved with everything from playing for four-year-olds to providing animation theme songs to Ultra to the Latin Funk stage at Carnival on the Mile.”
Take black beans and rice, Cuban coffee, a healthy dose of hipstered Miami Booty Bass, send it through a sequencer and presto: The electronic, fertile ground that birthed Afrobeta is sown.
“Miami music had a big influence on me,” says keyboardist Tony "Smurphio" Laurencio, “especially the late '80s, early '90s freestyle, Miami Bass, and electro coming out of the '90s too.”
“Adding to that is the culture,” says vocalist Cristina "Cuci Amador" Garcia. “Growing up in Miami with Cuban parents, there’s a sound in the community. We grew up speaking Spanish and having the culture in our life. We drink coffee before the show, and after the show we can end up in a 24-hour cafeteria drinking more coffee and eating. It’s real and it’s part of our music and life.”
As Afrobeta, the two have been laying down electro funk since 2006. Their local roots were a large part of the connection and show up in the constants of their songs: a badass bass thump, electro accents hovering around Garcia’s lucid, lyrical stream, Laurencio moving to the beats behind a bank of keyboards, and Garcia--when not crooning--hopping, dancing and banging her head to the rhythms.
The duo's Afrobeta Sessions--a weekly Tuesday night gig at Jazid--is ground for more inspiration, and a great stop-by for musicians.
“The whole idea of doing a weekly in Miami is for it to breed new songs,” says Garcia. “Just from the conferences and festivals that are in town, we’ve met people from Sweden, London, France, Iowa, New York--you name it.”
“It’s also part of being a successful local band in Miami,” says Laurencio, who still holds down a slot in the Suenalo lineup, in addition to doing side projects with the likes of rapper Pitbull. “It’s the one night a week that people know you’re going to play in a place, and you never know who will show up.”
In three short years Afrobeta has had their share of success. They've played the New Times Battle of the Bands, New York's Latin Alternative Music Conference, and contributed to Grammy-award winning reggaeton duo Calle 13's hit "Electro Movimiento.”
The band's own tunes “That Thing” and “Nighttime” are on Itunes, and an EP is in the works. The duo plans to hit the road hard this summer, with gigs are already booked in California, New York and North Carolina.
“Our music crosses a lot of genres and musical tastes so people feel that we can fit into a lot of situations,” Garcia says. “We’ve been involved with everything from playing for four-year-olds to providing animation theme songs to Ultra to the Latin Funk stage at Carnival on the Mile.”
“We have so many tracks that we’re always doing new stuff,” adds Laurencio. “Every time people come see us it’s like they’re getting a new show.”
Afrobeta plays Ultra in Bicentennial Park on March 27 at 8 pm
www.myspace.com/afrobeta
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