Palenke Soultribe is a live electronic music trio fusing electronic sounds with Afro-Colombian rhythms and melodies. Originally formed in Colombia, but now based in Los Angeles, Palenke Soultribe (a.k.a. PST) have claimed a spot in the Latin Alternative music world by putting on energetic shows, releasing musically interesting albums and remixes and always pushing the envelope visually and conceptually. The initial line up was formed by producer/bassist Juan Diego Borda and keyboardist/producer Andres "Popa" Erazo. Currently, PST continues to work as a collective, inviting guest producers, singers, songwriters and instrumentalists to their shows and to contribute on their albums.

Origins

The origins of the band go back to 2001 when Erazo and Borda worked on demos through a project known as Polaina Dinamita. That experiment created an underground buzz in their hometown of Bogota, Colombia, pioneering the experimental fusion of electronica with Caribbean music. Late in 2006, after completing personal projects, the duo decided to reunite in Los Angeles and start producing music again. This time, they took on a new name, Palenke Soultribe, narrowing down their sources of music. This time around PST would be more focused on exploring Afro–Colombian rhythms rather than incorporating all Latin-American music.

The Band’s Name

Although

Palenque Palenque (; Yucatec Maya: ), also anciently known in the Itza Language as Lakamha ("big water" or "big waters"), was a Maya city-state in southern Mexico that perished in the 8th century. The Palenque ruins date from ca. 226 BC to ca. 799 AD ...

is also the name given to a Maya city in southern Mexico that flourished in the 7th century, Palenke Soultribe actually derives their name from the village of

San Basilio de Palenque San Basilio de Palenque or Palenque de San Basilio, often referred to by the locals simply as Palenke, is a Palenque village and corregimiento in the Municipality of Mahates, Bolivar in northern Colombia. Palenque was the first free African t ...

, a village inhabited by escaped slaves as a refuge in the 17th century.Smithsonian.com
"Colombia Dispatch 4: Palenque: An Afro-Colombian Community" by Kenneth Fletcher. October 29, 2008. The word ‘palenque’ actually means “walled city”. Of the many palenques of escaped slaves that existed previously, San Basilio is the only one that survives. These refugees were able to bring their culture, music and traditions to the small villages they formed in the jungle. The palenques are considered by many as the first free territory on the continent. As for the origins of 'Soultribe', Borda elaborates that "we just feel like we are a collective of musicians based on the soul, wanting to do great art".

Recordings, Releases and Media Attention

Samba of the World

In 2014, Palenke Soultribe collaborated with COPILOT Music and Sound on a cover of Carlinhos Brown's "Maria Caipirnha (Samba da Bahia)”. The arrangement represented the musical instrumentation and styles of Colombia for Visa's "Samba of the World", a digital campaign for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

Te Veo Video (2010)

Following the release of Oro, Palenke teamed up with Miguel Navarro to film the video for their single Te Veo, on location in Bogota,

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

. That collaboration ended up being one of the most watched videos on MTV3MTV3
"Palenke Soultribe - Te Veo. September 6, 2010.

Oro (2009)

After a vibrant 2008, full of live shows in the USA, Palenke began work on their first professionally recorded album. Oro was the first of a planned trilogy, and featured eight songs and collaborations courtesy of top artists, including Cesar Pliego (of

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

nominated band

Kinky (band) Kinky is a Mexican rock band, formed in 1998 as part of the Avanzada Regia musical movement and consisting of Gilberto Cerezo, Ulises Lozano, Carlos Chairez, Omar Góngora, and Cesar Pliego. Although a majority of songs are sung in Spanish, some ...

Winner Sr. Mendez, Miami's own

Latin Grammy Award The Latin Grammy Awards (stylized as Latin GRAMMYs) are awards presented by the Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from any ...

nominated band Locos Por Juana, Mr. Vallentao and Elastic Bond. Oro was mixed by Mark Needham who had previously worked with

The Killers The Killers are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2001 by Brandon Flowers (lead vocals, keyboards, bass) and Dave Keuning (lead guitar, backing vocals). After the band went through a number of short-term bas ...

Cake Cake is a flour confection usually made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elabor ...

Bloc Party Bloc Party are an English Rock music, rock band that was formed in London, England, London in 1999 by co-founders Kele Okereke (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano, sampler) and Russell Lissack (lead guitar). Their first four albums all featur ...

, and

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1967 by the singer and guitarist Peter Green (musician), Peter Green. Green named the band by combining the surnames of the drummer, Mick Fleetwood, and the bassis ...

among others. Critics and fans received Oro positively, and it was considered their breakthrough album, receiving reviews by

KCRW KCRW (89.9 FM broadcasting, FM) is an NPR member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, where the station is licensed. KCRW airs original news and music programming in addition to programming ...

89.9 and

Billboard Magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized in lowercase since 2013) is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events and styles related to th ...

.Billboard.com
"Palenke Soultribe, Oro." by Ayala Ben-Yehuda. August 11, 2009. Additionally, it was nominated once again by the Independent Music Awards.Independent Music Awards
"Palenke Soultribe: 9th IMA Dance/Electronica Album Nominee". Retrieved on April 21, 2011. It was also during this year, that prominent Los Angeles radio station KCRW, selected one song off the album, "No Voy a Morir" as Today's Top Tune.KCRW
"Palenke Soultribe: No Voy a Morir." June 30, 2009.

Tropic and Heaven (2007)

Tropic and Heaven was a continuous mix CD with 10 tracks combining Colombian rhythms with electro break beats and house. Although produced in a home studio, this album was well received by critics and fans.
. "Out of Colombia, LA’s Palenke Soultribe blend traditional music with electronic beats to match the tropics and heaven" by Gerry Hectic. June 23, 2007. As a result, PST won the Independent Music Award in the Dance/Electronica category.

Folkloric Dekonstruktion (2005)

This first work was a vinyl EP consisting of four dance songs featuring live accordion and Colombian percussion. The record was distributed independently by WC-Music and created a small buzz within the LA DJ scene. That EP gave Palenke the motivation to create their first full-length album.

Notable Performances

2015

Pachanga Latino Music Festival Pachanga Presents is the first Latin-themed music, cultural arts and food festival originated in Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and mos ...

2012

Fusion Festival The Fusion Festival is a music festival, music and arts festival with a counterculture, countercultural character. It takes place at a former military airport called Müritz Airpark in Lärz, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, in northeastern Germany. The ...

Lärz Lärz is a municipality in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is governed by the Röbel-Müritz amt based in the city of Röbel. Geography Lärz is located south of lake Müritz – in the Me ...

* USA tour with

Balkan Beat Box Balkan Beat Box (BBB) is an Israeli musical group. Founded by Tamir Muskat and Ori Kaplan in 2003, BBB was later joined by Tomer Yosef who became a core member. The group plays Mediterranean-influenced music that incorporates Jewish music, Jewish, ...

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

(SXSW),

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

2011

Winter Music Conference The Winter Music Conference (WMC) is a week-long electronic music conference, held every March in Miami Beach, Florida, United States since 1985. It is also known as the premiere platform for electronic dance music. The conference brings togethe ...

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

.Soul of Miami
"WMC 2010: Palenke Soultribe, Live at Bardot This Thursday." March 23, 2010.

2010

(SXSW),

. Spinner.com interview.spinner.com.
"Palenke Soultribe Interview: SXSW 2010." by Kelly Kettering. March 2, 2010. *

. Miami New Times interviewMiami New Times
"WMC 2010: Palenke Soultribe, Live at Bardot This Thursday." March 23, 2010. and review.Miami New Times
"WMC 2010 Thursday Night Recap: Afro Kumbe at Transit and Palenke Soultribe at Bardot, Last Night". By Christopher Lopez. March 26, 2010. * Los Premios Shock,

, alongside fellow Colombian bands

Superlitio Superlitio is a Latin rock band from Cali, Colombia formed in 1997. Its members are Pedro Rovetto (bass), Pipe Bravo (Lead Voice, keyboards and guitar), Alejandro Lozano (guitar), Armando Gonzalez (drums) and Dino Leandro (Machines and Ukulele). ...

and Locos Por Juana.
Festival Estereo Picnic
Bogota,

.Bogotá.gov.co
"The Alternative Stereo Picnic Festival Arrives to Bogota." April 23, 2010. * Sunset Junction Street FestivalBillboard.com
Sunset Junction Street Festival Lineup]. August 21, 2010.

Palenque vs. Palenke

PST has completed their latest album, ‘Palenque vs. Palenke’, to be released on

Nat Geo Music Nat Geo Music was a television music channel operated as a part of National Geographic Global Networks, which is a business unit of National Geographic Partners (a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and the National Geographic Societ ...

. For their latest project at the time of 2012, they have revisited timeless Afro-Colombian classics from the masters of

, Colombia. Using the original session recordings from legends like Petrona Martinez (

Nominee), Batata (Tambor Legend), Son Palenque and Sexteto Tabala, PST are re-interpreting these sounds for a new generation of listeners.

Discography

Main source:

Singles & EPs

* ''Folkloric dekonstruction'' (2005) * ''Tropico & Cielo Remixes'' (2007) * ''Tropico & Cielo Remixes II'' (2008) * ''Tropico & Cielo Remixes III'' (2008) * ''Wepalenke'' (2010) * ''ORO REMIXES'' (2010) * ''VERSUS'' (2014) * ''Hechiceria'' (2023)

Albums

* ''TROPIC N' HEAVEN'' (2007) * ''ORO'' (2009) * ''MAR'' (2013) * ''SANGRE'' (2015)

References

External links

Official Band Site
{{Authority control Electronic music groups from California Musical groups established in 2005