The group La Banda Brava tries to give its music a guayaco seal

touch the Fun kafest 2022an annual music festival organized in and around the Palacio de Cristal was somewhat consolidated the brave gang as a group. The group, composed of musicians Armando Gutiérrez, Javier Vera, Joel Vélez, Pablo Sánchez, Joao Vera and Juan José Sáenz De Viteri, was born in 2015 from the friendship of its members, all graduates of Music of the Santiago de Guayaqui Catholic UniversityHe.

Although they take the festival stage as a backing band for singer-songwriter Álex Eugenio, the audience’s reception made them realize that “there was something to polish, something to develop”, as Gutiérrez points out.

“There will always be an audience that wants to listen to me,” says Mar Rendón, the Ecuadorian who moves to Mexico

However, his smallest performance was just as important. The members of the group ventured to play live to publicize their then unknown songs.

They managed to perform a concert in a small bar, and despite torrential rain trying to ruin their evening, the public’s appreciation for their unpublished songs pushed them to continue. The chorus of one of his songs, the brava bara song that tells their story as an artist was very well received by the people.

Identity

“We are looking for a guayaco, costeño sound”, emphasizes Vera. The group moves between genres such as reggae, bolero, hip-hop, salsa and chachachá. The idea of ​​the project is that the public, also internationally, listens to the music and recognizes it as “Guayaquil music”, says Vera.

Authenticity is another important factor. The process of composition and production of the songs, Gutiérrez indicates, is completely native. “It’s part of our production and of our life, it’s like a label: all our music, all our production is made here, with talented people from here,” Gutiérrez adds.

The lyrical content also reflects the identity that La Banda Brava wants to imprint on its songs. They sing about onions, about eating soaking bread with coffee, about the ice cream truck. “In Guayaquil, you can get stories from everywhere,” emphasizes Vélez.

His latest single, Muchacha cha, tells the story of a “man chiro” who falls in love with “una pelucona”, but who offers him love and art, says Vélez, who experienced a similar situation during his university years. “We all saw ourselves reflected there,” jokes Vera.

All members of the group received grants from the UCSG. “We were relaxed, but with a lot of passion and discipline. We were always good students, but relaxed, and the friendship we formed gradually turned into this one,” Gutiérrez recalls.

In addition to cha girlthe band has released two singles: I recognize you And the brave gang. They are recording a new song and they plan to release a 14 song album next year.

However, they also plan to take some distraction from the studio work with live performances. His last presentation was at the end of 2022 at the Vibra Fest. “We went into the studio to record and record, but people are already telling us ‘we want to see you'”.