CHE SUDAKA

DOSSIER November 2002
by Mono Lo / Leo Fernandez

In the school of the streets, the teachers play with their pupils and the most assiduous are also the most resistant.
From this school of the streets, the first album of Che Sudaka, a band from the gothic quarter of Barcelona, was born.

The album is called Trippie town, name by which the Georges Orwell square is known in the Gothic quarter (barrio gótico). The square is a tribute of the city hall to the author of the prophetic fiction "1984". This album has 9 songs, but beware, when one arrives at the end of this record –like at the end of a street in the gothic -there are always surprises.

The square, informally renamed Trippie, has been the meeting point of street musicians and the most active place in the quarter since Phoenician times. It was in this square -so amenable for intermingling and exchange- that this very promising band was formed.

Situated in the heart of the gothic quarter, the square was chosen by Barcelona’s city hall as a guinea pig for their video experiments. Two years ago, video cameras were placed in all of its corners. It is not a new program to show the inhabitants of Barcelona and their mayors who lives in their streets and how people lead their lives, but an active policy of video dissuasion aimed at organized gangs… of street musicians who meet there at any time of the day to say hello - and maybe more, if there are affinities.
In the face of such danger, the police is ever vigilant to make sure that no bottle will leave a barroom without due permission and will remain on a specific table until the end of the day. Between the delirious zeal of the police and the noise of the quarter’s streets, there is an underground world full of good musical genies, wishing to touch with their magical wands the wounded street musicians who strive daily to bring joy to the streets of grey cities.

After 8 years struggling against gales and tides in Mar del Plata with a band called Correcaminos, Leo and Hernán, the only members of this Argentine band remaining after the crossing of the ocean, are forming the band Che Sudaka since the beginning of 2002. Because they were from Mar del Plata, they never got the opportunity to record an album in Buenos Aires, the cradle of musical production in Argentina. They are all from the heartland of Argentina, except for Rodrigo, who is half French and lived several years in Senegal.

As they arrived in Barcelona, the four members of Correcaminos were pursuing the dream of making a living with music and recording their first album. But landing is never easy and, as Rodrigo puts it, after a few weeks, the last masks fall. The band broke up and the members tried to join other bands which played in the streets of Barcelona. El Tecla, in Barcelona since
1998, was the first to join the band and gradually the Che Sudaka project took shape. In spite of the determination displayed by the City Hall to silence mouths and jail guitars, Leo and his friends resort to a peculiar railway studio that brings much joy to its occupants. Some of you probably heard this band play for free in Barcelona’s subway and will be surprised at having to pay to attend their concerts. It seems that being a street musician can be seen as a temporary activity for destitute people or a Sunday afternoon pastime of philanthropic students, but many of them are realizing their dream of making a living with music and playing 8 hours a day. As Leo says, a lot of people ask them: "What do you do? ""I am a musician.""Yes, but besides that, how do you make a living?" It is difficult to make people understand that playing is the street can be a choice.
"Our lifelong dream is playing every day. We do not worry. Now everything that comes along is welcome. Now we have patience because we have already achieved many things."

Since they arrived in Barcelona, luck has smiled on them. One of their lucky breaks came from the former Mano Negra singer who helped some groups of street musicians of Barcelona to record an album so that they would be able to live better by selling them on the street. "La Colifata was for us a lesson on how to release an album. It is very easy. It was something that came out one day with a certain person who organized it all, put all that we did on a cocktail shaker and the compilation was out. From this moment on, all that we needed to do was to sell it. We play all day long in the streets and having a record means another source of income, which is important for us. An independent album allows us to live better. I learned that to sell a record it was not necessary to have the support of radio stations or big record labels", says Leo.

La Colifata – as the compilation is named – is interwoven with the speech of the inmates of the La Borda mental hospital of Buenos Aires and is a tribute to this extraordinary broadcast in which the mentally ill have full freedom of speech. Radio LT 22 broadcasts the program in FM to the whole country every Saturday afternoon. Talking about the sound mindedness of the intervention of the "mad people" in La Colifata, Leo says "when you want to define normality it becomes complicated" In fact, Che Sudaka is not a normal and current band. On a train, in a bar, on stage or facing a balcony they play with the happiness and the energy of a group that wants to seize life with all their strength.

The name of the band - Che Sudaka - has its origin in a song of Leo’s first band called Correcaminos:
"A new change, a new door
and other beings that appear on this Earth
You want to change from the inside, you want to change your mind.
The conversion is hard and the sequels are even harder
Everything changes for the better in its moment, Che Sudaka."

As Leo says, in the past sometimes we find some answers.
"There –in Argentina –we were proud of being Argentines, but when we arrived here, we felt mostly Sudakas: Argentines, Chileans, Ecuatorian, Peruvian, we all feel we are from the same world." Besides, "che" is an Argentine way of telling someone to get energized. It comes from the mapuche language and meant " friend" for the Indians who were the first
inhabitants of Argentina and Chile.

One of the best moments on stage of the band was the Foliada 2002 in Galicia. They have performed only around 25 concerts since the beginning of the band in early 2002, but counting with the former performances of the members this number would reach around 300. The streets have been and continue to be the main stage and rehearsal place for them. Leo has played more in one year in Barcelona than in 8 years in Argentina, where he had do all sorts of odd jobs -except that of a musician- to make ends meet.

The lyrics are composed by Leo. Some are from the previous band, Correcaminos, but most have their origins in the streets of Barcelona and the first hard months they had to face in Europe. Each song has its history and every one participates in the musical creation of the songs. The band members have different influences and idols: Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, Todos
tus Muertos, Mano Negra, Rubén Blades, Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Sumo (mythical band in Argentina), Cafe Tauba. The variety of taste is wide and the experiences vary: Manuel, the guitar player, has a jazz and tango background, Teclas, the keyboard player, has his
background in bossa nova and in traditional folklore from Argentina and each one has his own musical idol, which contributes to enrich the group. "Manu Chao has influenced all the musicians of our generation. Macaco, Ojos de Brujo, Dusminguet are more like contemporary".

Among the songs of the album "Trippie Town", Perro De La Calle (street dog) is one that has grown out of their street experiences. They have played it twelve times an hour and three hours a day for eight months. Its lyrics and rhythms have evolved in the street note by note. One of the most remarkable songs in the album is La Cacerola (the pan), which tells us about the events which took place in Argentina in late 2001 from the perspective of Leo, lost in Barcelona, at that time. Many Argentines who have heard this song cannot understand how he managed to describe with so much accuracy the events without having experienced them directly. Sin Papeles (without papers) is the motto song of this band, who feels protected playing on the streets a song that explains that when you are not "in order, you are a nobody in the Europe of the Universal Human Rights." We also want to bring attention to a very upbeat song that seduces the listener: Cosmopolitan Town tells us how Barcelona can look like Babylon as long as people take the trouble of getting more positive to bring joy to it.

How can one qualify their new record? "There are several musical influences, from cumbia to salsa, from reggae to electronic music, from the typical quartet of Cordoba ("that would be a ska merengue") to the ragga" as Leo and Hernán tell us.

Che Sudaka is a piece of urban poetry in the jungle of modern Babylon, drops of hope in the ocean of individualism. A record to make our days happy. In case dance turns out to be forbidden, voices silenced and guitars and drums jailed, this album will be there to remind us that music heals the mind and the musicians are the medicine men of the soul. It is well worth dreaming with them and shouting with them:

Arriba la vaina ! (Let the good times roll)

Records [up]
  Trippie Town
   2003 - Album
 

Main contributions [up]
  La Colifata
   2002 - Compilation
 

News [up]
  31.12.2009: "Tudo É Possible": CHE SUDAKA démarre le 2010 avec deux cadeaux pour vous! (Français)
  31.12.2009: "Tudo É Possible": CHE SUDAKA start the new year with two presents for you!
  31.12.2009: "Tudo É Possible": i CHE SUDAKA iniziano il 2010 con due regali per te! (Italiano)
  31.12.2009: "Tudo É Possible": CHE SUDAKA comienzan el 2010 con dos regalos para tí! (Castellano)
  18.12.2009: Calendario RadioChango 2010 & RadioChango Añejo Reserva 7 Años (Castellano)
  19.11.2009: KASBA MUSIC: MÚSICA CATALANA, INDEPENDENT I UNIVERSAL (Català)
  30.10.2009: Radio Alter On The Road Communications (Italiano)
  23.10.2009: SOLIDARIO GUATEMALA - Un CD - DVD Para Club Quetzal-Los Amigos de Rigoberta Menchú (Castellano)
  23.10.2009: SOLIDARIO GUATEMALA - Un CD – DVD Au profit de Club Quetzal-Amis de Rigoberta Menchú (Français)
  16.09.2009: CHE SUDAKA nuevo álbum "Tudo é possible" (Castellano)
  10.09.2009: Barcelona Postiza, nuevo recopilatorio ya en la calle! (Castellano)
  09.09.2009: Fiesta Aniversario de Fmp3 (Castellano)
  02.09.2009: CHE SUDAKA – TUDO É POSSIBLE (Castellano)
  07.08.2009: Jornada 'Barcelona Postiza' a FNAC LOUNGE (Català)
  07.08.2009: Jornada 'Barcelona Postiza' en FNAC LOUNGE (Castellano)
  29.04.2009: La Conexión, nuevo doble álbum de Rude & Barriobeaterz (Castellano)
  31.03.2009: VIÑA ROCK 2009 (Castellano)
  31.03.2009: Radio Alter on the Road Communications, el libro de Paula Pitzalis (Castellano)
  19.02.2009: Barcelona Tv censura el documental "Mirando el mundo al revés" (Castellano)
  23.01.2009: Crónica del V Mestizao Festival (Castellano)
  27.12.2008: V MESTIZAO festival (Castellano)
  05.12.2008: STOP BOLONYA! (Català)
  17.11.2008: CHE SUDAKA DE GIRA CON GOGOL BORDELLO. CONTRATACIÓN ABIERTA 2009 (Castellano)
  05.11.2008: EscuCHE * SUDAKA x LA COLIFATA (Castellano)
  20.10.2008: Proyección dvd "MIRANDO EL AL REVES" en Buenos Aires (Castellano)
  03.10.2008: Rumba Reggae COLI Party (Castellano)
  28.09.2008: CHE SUDAKA será artista invitado en la gira de GOGOL BORDELLO (Castellano)
  05.09.2008: Kontrakorriente 2008 (Castellano)
  03.09.2008: Recopilatorio RadioChango Añejo Reserva 7 Años (Castellano)
  03.09.2008: Recopilatori RadioChango Añejo Reserva 7 Años (Català)
  27.05.2008: Presentazione "RADIO ALTER ON THE ROAD COMMUNICATIONS" (Italiano)
  26.05.2008: JAM Festival en Rasquera (Castellano)
  26.05.2008: JAM Festival a Rasquera (Català)
  12.05.2008: ESTA SEMANA CHE*SUDAKA COMIENZA LA GIRA POR EL ESTADO ESPANOL...!!! (Castellano)
  06.05.2008: FESTA ALTERNATIVA #2 (Français)
  16.02.2008: CHE*SUDAKA arranca este 2008 con todo!!! (Castellano)
  28.11.2007: Dissabte 15 de Desembre 2007: Festa RadioChango en La Capsa! (Català)
  28.11.2007: Sábado 15 de Diciembre 2007: Fiesta RadioChango en La Capsa! (Castellano)
  21.09.2007: FESTA DE PRESENTACIÓ DEL DISC A BENEFICI "ESPERANSAHARAUI (25 granets de sorra)" (Català)
  25.06.2007: Callejeando. Festival Multicultural de música callejera, Benahavis (Málaga) (Castellano)
  01.06.2007: Exposició fotogràfica en el Ateneu Popular 9Barris (Català)
  01.06.2007: Exposición fotográfica en el Ateneu Popular 9Barris (Castellano)
  21.05.2007: POR COLOMBIA, UN CANTO A LA VIDA (Castellano)
  15.05.2007: Projecció del documental “MIRANDO EL MUNDO AL REVÉS” de CHE SUDAKA. (Català)
  15.05.2007: Proyección del documental “MIRANDO EL MUNDO AL REVÉS” de CHE SUDAKA. (Castellano)
  20.04.2007: Ayuda para los galpones recuperados de Jujuy, Argentina (Castellano)
  26.02.2007: 6º ANIVERSARI DE RADIOCHANGO A LA SALAMANDRA (23 de Març) (Català)
  26.02.2007: 6º CUMPLEAÑOS DE RADIOCHANGO EN LA SALAMANDRA (23 de Marzo) (Castellano)
  03.01.2007: Gira CHE SUDAKA - ARGENTINA 2007 (Castellano)
  17.11.2006: FÊTE RADIOCHANGO: AQUÍ I BARCELONA (Français)
  16.11.2006: FESTA RADIOCHANGO: AQUÍ I BARCELONA (Català)
  25.07.2006: Busker’s Festival Barcelona - Festival Internacional de Música Callejera (Castellano)
  18.06.2006: A PER LOCA MUSICAL (Castellano)
  04.04.2006: CHE*SUDAKA - GIRA GALIZA - ABRIL 2006 (Castellano)
  04.04.2006: Fotografía musical en el BAHÍA (Castellano)
  04.04.2006: Fotografia musical al BAHIA (Català)
  29.03.2006: Barcelona Raval Session II - con camiseta de regalo!!! (Castellano)
  14.03.2006: ATTENTO !!! RADIO CHANGO FÊTE SES 5 ANS ! (Français)
  10.03.2006: RADIOCHANGO fa 5 anys... FESTA!!!! (Català)
  10.03.2006: RADIOCHANGO cumple 5 años... FIESTA!!! (Castellano)
  14.02.2006: Concert per l'autogestió de l'Assemblea 18.2.06 (Català)
  31.01.2006: BARCELONA RAVAL SESSIONS VOL. 2 (Castellano)
  29.09.2005: CHE*SUDAKA PRESENTA ALERTA BIHOTZA - 5 DE OCTUBRE - SALA APOLO (Castellano)
  28.09.2005: FIESTA RADIOCHANGO A LILLE - 7 OCTOBRE (Français)
  27.09.2005: Mestizoo (Castellano)
  22.09.2005: Fiesta de Radio Chango à Lille! (Français)
  11.08.2005: TOURNEE BRETONNE CHE SUDAKA (Français)
  05.07.2005: Nuevo disco de CHE*SUDAKA "ALERTA BIHOTZA" en las tiendas (Castellano)
  14.06.2005: Arte en las Calles (Castellano)
  10.06.2005: CRONICAS DE ROCK MESTIZO - Música sin papeles (Castellano)
  09.06.2005: FESTIVAL EUSKAL HERRIA ZUZENEAN (Castellano)
  08.06.2005: 10ème FESTIVAL EUSKAL HERRIA ZUZENEAN (Français)
  17.05.2005: Babylon Street se despide hasta el Invierno! (Castellano)
  15.04.2005: Fiesta RadioChango 21.04 (Castellano)
  11.04.2005: RECOPILATORIO RADIOCHANGO AÑEJO RESERVA (Castellano)
  05.04.2005: Despertando Abril con Babylon Street!!! (Castellano)
  23.12.2004: la fiesta está servida en Nochebuena!!! (Castellano)
  13.12.2004: CONEXIÓN MESTIZA: MADRID-BARCELONA (Castellano)
  12.12.2004: FIESTA, SKA REGGAE, ROCKSTEADY, SUDAKA SOUND SYSTEM (Castellano)
  27.10.2004: La Makabra, otra alternativa en Barcelona! (Castellano)
  08.09.2004: CD "Mundo Mestizo" (Castellano)
  21.02.2004: CHE SUDAKA: Aplazada la salida del nuevo disco (Castellano)
  21.01.2004: RADIOCHANGO presenta la onda mestiza en LAS NOCHES DEL CHANGO! (Castellano)

Forum [up]
  The Forum for Che Sudaka

Interviews [up]
  Entrevista con CHE SUDAKA - MIRANDO EL MUNDO AL REVÉS - 05/2006 (Castellano)
  Entrevista con Leo - 08/2005 (Castellano)
  RADIO ALTER ON THE ROAD: Che Sudaka in Sud America ed Europa - 08/2005 (Italiano)
  Entrevista con Leo en Esperanzah - 08/2003 (Castellano)
  Interview avec Leo - 08/2003 (Français)
  AUDIO: Entrevista de l@s Changuit@s - Mariatchi - 05/2006 (Castellano)
  AUDIO: Presentando TRIPPIE TOWN - 01/2003 (Castellano)
  AUDIO: Entrevista en "Mestizando" RVK - 12/2002 (Castellano)

Extras [up]
  "Mi libro", de Lion (Castellano)

Concerts - Tour Dates [up]
  24.03.2010 St. Brieuc - France
  10.04.2010 MADRID - Spain
  16.04.2010 Saint-Palais (64) – Gaztexte Aldaka - France
  17.04.2010 Pau - France
  23.04.2010 Andel (22) - France
  24.04.2010 Chemille (49) - France
  01.05.2010 VILLARROBLEDO - ALBACETE - Spain
  07.05.2010 Barcelona - Spain
  08.05.2010 Carcassonne - France
  14.05.2010 Tenerife - Spain
  22.05.2010 Bilbao - Spain
  30.05.2010 Saint-Pois (50) - France
  03.06.2010 Bordeaux (33) - France
  04.06.2010 Paris (75) - France
  05.06.2010 Saint-Georges de Montaigu (85) - France
  10.06.2010 Porto - Portugal
  18.06.2010 Girona - Spain
  19.06.2010 Tilburg - Holland
  21.06.2010 Kayl - Luxembourg
  23.06.2010 Reus - Spain
  13.07.2010 Sant-Malo du Bois (85) - France
  17.07.2010 Cauterets - France
  07.08.2010 Kácov - Czech Rep.
  11.08.2010 Pau (64) - France
  13.08.2010 Els Prats de Rei – Festa Major Jove - Spain
  14.08.2010 García (Tarragona) - Spain
  03.09.2010 Cholet (49) - France
  04.09.2010 Bouaine (85) - France
  24.09.2010 Tobarra (Albacete) - Spain
  25.09.2010 Balen - Belgium

Videos [up]
  11.2009: RadioChango TV, Nov.09 : Programa completo
  11.2009: RadioChango TV, Nov.09 2/7 : Novedades Musicales
  10.2009: Video Clip Che Sudaka - Calle Luna
  03.2008: Videoclip: Che Sudaka - Almas Rebeldes
  03.2008: Videoclip: Che Sudaka - Silence Raval
  09.2007: Vídeo de la presentación del disco a beneficio EsperanSaharaui
  04.2007: VideoClip "El Trenecillo" - Che Sudaka
  03.2007: VideoClip "Mirando el Mundo al Revés" - Che Sudaka
  03.2007: Fiesta RadioChango 23F-2007: Wagner Pa y Che Sudaka
  03.2007: Fiesta RadioChango 23F-2007
  05.2006: Vídeo entrevista con Che Sudaka
  03.2006: Fiesta 5º aniversario de RadioChango

Photos [up]
  Che Sudaka en Granada
  V Festival Mestizao
  JamFestival - Rasquera 6 /7/08
  La Voz del Chango 18/6/08
  Festival Gaztexe Gaua!
  Che Sudaka 2007
  Fiesta RadioChango 15 / 12 / 07 La Capsa
  La Voz del Chango - 5 /12/ 07
  La Voz del Chango - noviembre 07
  Presentación disco EsperanSaharaui
  Festival Callejeando 2007
  6º Aniversario RadioChango
  Che Sudaka 2006
  Busker's Festival 2006
  Apolo, Barcelona, 5/10/2005
  Che Sudaka 2005
  Entrevista Colifata 2002

Contact & Management [up]
Management : management@chesudaka.com
Promo : promo@chesudaka.com
Info : info@chesudaka.com

Artists related [up]
  Correcaminos
  Mamamilotas

Links [up]
  www.chesudaka.com
  www.fotolog.com/che_sudaka
  www.myspace.com/chesudakastyle
  www.onvibes.com/chesudaka
  blogs.ccrtvi.com/chesudaka
  www.audiokat.com/artistas/chesudaka.asp

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