To listen to audio on Rock Paper Scissors you'll need to Get the Flash Player

Sample Track 1:
"Bionic Boogaloo" from Bio Ritmo
Sample Track 2:
"Lisandra" from Bio Ritmo
Layer 2
Salsa espacial

Click Here to go back.
The Montreal Mirror, Salsa espacial >>

Inspired as much as by Egypt's Abdel Halim Hafez as they are by the theme from Six Million Dollar Man, Bio Ritmo is a bit of an odd salsa band-but odd in the best, most fun and interesting of ways.  Hailing from Virginia, this nine-piece band is extraordinarily tight.  No matter how many bits and bobs from all over are tossed into the mix, the final product never forgets its salsa foundation.  The Mirror spoke to timbalero Giustino Riccio about Bio Ritmo's mixed and well-matched music.

Mirror: How did Bio Ritmo start?
Giustino Riccio: I grew up with Gabo [Tomasini, congas], who is one of the original members, and he invited me to the group in 1992.  I joined the band right after high school.  It was not meant initially to be a salsa band, more a Latin-tinged experimental thing centred around the percussion.

M: Bio Ritmo draws in types of sounds and things that people wouldn't necessarily expect from a salsa band.
GR: I say that it is relatively unintentional.  There was a brief period where we set out to sound like a salsa band, but that was because we were working to sound authentic.  We all came from different backgrounds, whether it be punk, rock 'n' roll, or jazz.  But over the years and more recently, we have just allowed ourselves to develop naturally.  We refrained from ever putting any constraints on ourselves.  I think there are a lot of salsa bands where, say, somebody has an idea that sounds a little too rock 'n' roll, and they might intentionally leave it out.  But we think, hey, that's pretty cool.  We definitely are really open to many different styles and genres from around the world.  I think it is just a subconscious thing.

M:How do you go about developing the sound?
GR: My personal ideas are usually not salsa-orientaed at first, just melodies.  I just try and work it into the different rhythms to "salsa-fy" it, if you will.  The initial idea might be Brian Wilson, early Beach Boys-type thing, because we're all into stuff like that, and then we all do our best to work it in.  Nobody's really the sole writer in the group.  It's like a rock band where, if somebody has an idea, everyone puts their stamp on it.  It works through everybody before the ultimate sound is achieved.  The main objective is to use whatever ideas we have, and still keep it danceable.  If you're a salsa band, that's one thing you need to accomplish.

M: There are tracks on the record that sound a little 1960s sci-fi!
GR: The '60s and '70s were the ultimate, they heyday for salsa.  This was when the music was experimental.  In the 1980s, it got more watered down-what they call salsa romantica, monga, the ballad-type stuff that cheesed it out.  Rei [Alvarez, singer] is a big sci-fi fan, and we all get into that sound, the electronic sound.  I remember when I first heard [Wendy Carlos's] Switched-on Bach.  Years ago my dad had it, and I was completely obsessed with it.  It's not a really common sound, it's more a futuristic sound that you only heard in salsa for a brief period in the 1970s.  We don't want to just stay grounded.

 10/29/08
Click Here to go back.