An Exclusive, Behind-the-Scenes Look at 'Ayo,' Bomba Estéreo’s Latest Album
Photo courtesy of Bomba Estéreo

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An Exclusive, Behind-the-Scenes Look at 'Ayo,' Bomba Estéreo’s Latest Album

The eponymous documentary offers an inside look into the Colombian band’s creative process, during, before, and after their recent record "Ayo".
Meredith Balkus
translated by Meredith Balkus
Brooklyn, US

This article originally appeared on Noisey en Español. Leer en Español.

Cultural roots, industry savviness, mind, body, and pure dance: These are the elements Bomba Estéreo builds upon and works into Ayo, their fifth studio album that came out in mid-2017. One of the most prolific Colombian bands of the last decade, they collaborated with Will Smith on the remix of their song “Fiesta,” accompanied Arcade Fire on their most recent world tour, and captivated dance floors across the globe, solidifying their status as one of the jewels of alternative Latin American music.

Ayo, which was released two years after the album Amanecer (2015), was produced by Chris Castagno and Ricky Reed and was recorded between Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Colombia and Los Angeles, California. The record weaves together the band’s past and present, drawing upon their roots and earliest musical inspirations and building towards a powerful global sound capable of igniting a fire in nightclubs around the world.

Noisey is proud to premiere this exclusive documentary, which was directed by filmmaker Simón Hernández and which traces the entire process behind the making of Ayo. It covers everything from an early initiation ritual to purify the group's collective energy and their instruments, the first stages of recording in the depths of Colombia’s Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, the conceptualization of each song, the trip to LA and the creation of a new, full band sound that they brought to the stage on tours through the US and Latin America.

You can watch the entire documentary below: