SON VENENO

Son Veneno

Son Veneno - An interview with Michael Brown from the band by Cristina Dio June 2003

Don't let the relaxed posing fool you. This formidable ensemble of sizzling musicians don't lounge around on stage, they work hard, make it look easy even...sometimes not even breaking out into a sweat. Son Veneno have steadily forged themselves a reputation on the Sydney salsascape as the gig not to miss. They play the Side On this month. Recently we had a few minutes with Michael Brown from the band.

DIASPORA: You have a fantastic line-up. "world class" - as you put it on the bio. What is the background of the band members?

MICHAEL: Most of the band members are first generation Australians except for our basist/musical director Cesar Marin who came out from Chile when he was three. Cesar's brother Steve Marin plays drums with the maturity far beyond his 21 years of age. On percussion we have Steve Martelota and Jose Marquez, new members to the band but regulars in the Sydney latin scene. On keyboards we have Lautaro Veloso who has just recently written some new tunes which we will be playing at the Side-On Cafe. The horn section is Michael Brown on tenor sax/flute and Misha Teterin on alto and synthesiser. In the front line we have Carlos Mora and Rebecca Tapia on vocals and a new addition to the band is Hip Hop artist Maya Jupiter and guitarist Dauno Martinez.

DIASPORA: Where did the Son Veneno concept come from?

MICHAEL: Son Veneno was the brain child of Ariel Gallo and Luis Robalino 4 years ago . Back then Veneno was a dance band playing salsa hits and merengue hip hop etc. As new members joined original music started to enter the repertoire with saxist Michael Brown writing the first tune Dos Mundos. This influenced other members to be creative and now everybody is contributing.

DIASPORA: You perform a blistering repertoire of styles - what is the band's philosophy? Anything goes musically? Do you intentionally mix it all up - "orchestrated chaos" I think you call it?

MICHAEL: Veneno can play any style of music from jazz to hip hop and with Maya Jupiter joining the band recently she has added some of her songs to the repertoire. Veneno will never forget it's salsa/cuban roots but we do live in Australia and our music reflects the culture around us.

DIASPORA: Son Veneno's major musical influences (in terms of artists/era/albums)?

MICHAEL: We listen to so many styles of music such as Timba, latin jazz funk hip hop etc. but a lot of our heros come from Cuba such as Chucho Valdez and Ira Kere, Los Van Van, Isaac Delgado, Bamboleo and the list goes on. We also are following a similar path as Ozomatli and Los de Abajo as an original latin influenced band.

DIASPORA: Do you think the Aussie audience is becoming more discerning as far as Latin music is concerned or do you think they still struggle to distinguish salsa from samba?? Does it matter?

MICHAEL: Aussie audiences are mush more aware of latin music than say 5 years ago since the success of Bueana Vista but they want to hear a mix of styles and english lyrics only to relate to the band a bit more.

DIASPORA: Have you guys played/toured outside Australia? Spent time studying music overseas?

MICHAEL: We haven't toured overseas yet but members of the band have studied in Cuba individually.

DIASPORA: Your success is growing here and you are probably the most popular Latin band that I know off. What is next - world domination??

MICHAEL: We have everything in place, great music, amazing live act and dedicated members. The only thing missing is the commercial help needed from publicists, record companies and management. We are gradually getting these things in place.

DIASPORA: How do you see the future of Latin music - a) generally b) in Australia?

MICHAEL: I think that latin music has peaked in popularity and audiences now want to hear it mixed with other styles even within the latin genre itself.

We love them and so will you. Check out their gig dates and more info on their website www.sonveneno.com