It might sound strange, but we could say that the Rastamen from Gondwana owe their existence to the British band The Police. "I heard them the first time in 82, and I liked their music right away", remembers I Locks, founder of the band. " After that, I started investigating, and discovered that the root of their music was reggae. Some time later, a friend brought a cassette tape with the music that was being played in Holland, it was pure reggae, and that blew my mind", he recalls. Without any previous musical experience, and inspired only by the positive vibes emanating from the rhythm, I Locks started to recruit players among friends and neighbors from La Pincoya (northern Santiago Ghetto) and formed Gondwana in mid 87. "With limited resources and a lot of enthusiasm", explains I Locks, Gondwana started performing around town in small community events, and cultural gatherings. During many years they continue to perform as amateurs. In 92 Gondwana moved to a rehearsal room in the Barrio Bellavista , the local "Greenwich Village", and began their path to professionalism. "In Bellavista we had the opportunity to meet other musicians, and work with various other artist, which helped us to tighten up the band" explain I Locks. With plenty of personnel changes in the band through the years, Gondwana has recorded two albums with their work. First, a self produced EP cassette tape, released in 92, with their favorite tunes at the time. The six song tape was distributed hand to hand between the closest friends of the band. "It was for our friends, more than anything else", remembers Alexcy Cardenas, the drummer of the band." We didnt even sell them. We just gave them away", explains Alexcy, showing the free spirit and non-greedy vibrations thats become characteristic of these Chilean Rastas. Almost five years later, Gondwana released their first LP for BMG Chile, simply titled Gondwana. "The change was very strong" recognizes Keno "Fingaman" Valenzuela (keyboards). "Theres a clear evolution in the sound, the song structures, and the concepts weve been dealing with". Even though it seems like a mighty long time to wait for their first album. All the members of the band agree that things happened at the right time. " This is a natural process" explains I Locks. "Gondwana needed to reach the moment were living today. Theres been many musicians through the band, but theres always been vacillations in the previous line-ups. With this band, we have achieved what weve been looking for. The Chemistry is right now, Irie". The line up that I Locks refers to is Keno "Fingaman" Valenzuela in Keyboards and back up vocals, Alexcy Cardenas in drums, Gato Ramos in Sax, Pez Lopez in Trumpet, Quique Neira in lead vox and guitar, and I Locks in bass. "People want to go forward to their roots" Although Santiago is not very representative of reggae, Gondwana still finds places to perform with that positive vibe and energy that rule in their songs. "In La Pincoya" says I Locks immediately. " In there everybody greet each other. The lady next door, the corners shop owner, your friends are hanging out in the corner and things like that. Theres a lot of cordiality. And there are plenty of places like that in Santiago: Pudahuel, La Pintana, and Renca. These places are always refer as dangerous, like any other ghetto in the world, but people forget that theres also a brotherly connection amongst the people living there". Returning from a tour that took Gondwana through most of northern Chile during last summer. Each members of the band has his own view of the audiences outside Santiago. "The audience response was colder than in the Capitol", assures Gato Ramos. "Not many national bands go outside Santiago. So the people in the provinces are more used to canned music, very Latin, tropical or romantic. They dont have much experiences with live bands or Anglo sounds" concludes Gato. " Thats exactly why we do so well there" proposes Quique Neira. "Since they do not care about Anglo artist. People connect reggae with cumbia. If you think about it, these two rhythms are related. Reggae came in to South America though Colombia, and thats where Cumbia comes from. Then the people accept the connection with the Latino vibes." Concludes Quique. "We always do well with the people because everybody listens to reggae", says Alexcy Cardenas. "The public that comes to see us has broad musical tastes, but reggae always comes forward" adds Alexcy. The opinions about the subject dont end there. "People has always liked reggae, they been listening to it for a long time now, but they just didnt know that it was reggae. Just now theyre getting to recognize it", explains I Locks. " We can see a lot more youth with dreadlocks in the street, people are learning more about reggae and Rasta. People are tired of so much information and pollution. People want to move forward to a natural way of life, and reggae is a good path to that kind of life" reassures I Locks. More than a style or a specific esthetic, Gondwana knows that the motives to make music go much farther than making people dance. " Music helps you to develop as a person", says I Locks, "but it can also help you help other people, when they listen to your music. Thus, we feel a great responsibility in what we do. Even when our music is great for us, the most important part is the lyrics. This is a great path and motivation, not just for us, but for other youth as well", concludes I Locks. Felipe Ossandon redaccion@conexionsantiago.com Translation : Red I One Love Red I Gondwana Headquarters California ==========================================================================