In Zona Sur, Argentina, outside the capital city Buenos Aires, resides one of the men responsible for helping the new wave of cumbia spread like wildfire, through vinyl and the internet, beyond the Americas and into soundsystems from LA to London.
Pedro Canale, better known as Chancha Vía Circuito, has become one of the best-known artists to emerge from the thriving Buenos Aires music scene, centered around the Zizek nightclub. His elegant, well-crafted and bass-friendly compositions have found their way onto pounding cumbia mixtapes worldwide, including two of the most influential to date: Diplo/Mad Decent’s “Soy Cumbia” mix, and Vampiros Dee Jay’s “La Sonidera Colombiana” (his track “Damas Gratis Dub” opens both mixes).
Pedro is friendly and unassuming, apparently unfazed by the critical success of his album “Rodante,” and he continues to lead a seemingly quiet lifestyle a fair train ride outside of Buenos Aires city.
I spoke with him from my home in Japan, where he enjoys underground fame among the surprising number of Japanese cumbieros.
Chief Magazine: When did you start writing your own music, and what kinds of music have you made?
Pedro Canale: I started when I was 12. I used to make songs on the acoustic guitar (the guitarra criolla) and since then I’ve passed through various different styles: rock, reggae, heavy, electronic, to name a few.
I read that when you were young you used to play percussion in the murgas. How did that influence your musical development?
When I was a kid I played the bass drum in a folkloric group at school, but I never played in a murga, maybe that was a mistake somewhere. But recently I got involved with the murgas, 4 years ago, when I was invited to join the jury for the Buenos Aires carnival.
In any case, it has had an important role for me because the percussion characteristic of the murgas—the bass with the cymbal—opened my ears to a palate of timbre I wasn’t familiar with.
What is the rhythm of the murgas like?
Well, as far as the Argentinean murgas it’s pretty simple: 4/4 with the bass drum on whole notes.
The little I have seen of murgas on YouTube has been incredible. How would you explain murga to people unfamiliar with it?
It’s not easy to explain, but to summarize you could say it’s an artistic expression of social protest that began with the slaves brought on ships from Africa, and it acquired different styles and characteristic touches in different countries… It’s an art that combines music, dance, song and fantasy. And yes, I agree with you, they’re incredible.