Born in Colombia South America, Monareta´s medley has been active since the year 2000, when composer and producer Andres Martinez started playing break beats and hip hop flows in different clubs and electronic music festivals in Bogota with composer Camilo Sanabria. Since their high school years they´ve been interacting with different music projects such as noise punk band YURI GAGARIN (MTM), where Martinez was frontman and funk band Zigma (BMG), where Sanabria was keyboard player and music programmer. Besides doing music, both were BMX champions in their country; Sanabria a professional sportsman; Martinez a street bike improviser. Both went together to the same primary school, the same high school, same university, same music and arts department, same ROCK AL PARQUE 1, 2, and 3, same ROCK DESDE EL VOLCAN, and know they´re involved in this adventure of caribbean electroniche and afroclash sounds. This medley with a wide range of dub beats, porros( Colombian Caribbean music), and exotic atmospheres, has been exhibited in different cities such as Bogota (2000-2003), Cartagena(2003), Berlin ( 54 International Film Festival 2004), New York (2004-2007), and Los Angeles (2006-2007). Monareta's recent Concerts in New York and Los Angeles include different venues such as THE ANNEX, SOB's with Aterciopelados, Pacha Massive, and Nortec Collective, Mercury Lounge at the 2006 LAMC, Temple Bar in California in April 2007, and other venues in dowtown Los Angeles. The band released their first digital album on April 2006 called ELECTRONOCHE, through NACIONALE (Nacional Records), recorded in Bogotá and New York. Martinez plays the guitar, keyboards, vocals, and programming. Sanabria plays subbasses, keyboards and synths, vocals, and programming. The CD has guests such as DJ Fresh, American born singer Terryn Pieh, and bass player John Velasquez (Vallenato bass player from LOS DIABLITOS). Their single "MATANZA FUNK" was included in the soundtrack inspired by the film LA MUJER DE MI HERMANO, also released by NACIONAL RECORDS. Toguether with SaiL.A.way collective's Guillermo Wytheman, MONARETA has been creating a community of band exchange within states, arranging concerts in N.Y. and L.A. LA BONANZA is the band's latest album; April 2007, and it was released also by Nacional Records. The album is full of glitchy, danceable, and cumbia sounds mixed with breakbeat and dub. The album's single "LLAMA" was included in the soundtrack for "CHICAS PROJECT" for MUN2 T.V. Monareta did a remix for "IMPROVISA", a song from the last album of Colombian act and Latin Grammy awarded ATERCIOPELADOS, also included on the Chicas Project compilation.
http://2008.sxsw.com/music/showcases/band/3796.html
