The secrets of Afrodisiaco’s “Date laturn”: which victim of Utopia and which hits inspired the song that changed the history of the band

After the release of “Date laturn”, at the beginning of 2000, AphrodisiacPeruvian band led by Koki Bonilla, created with the aim of making versions, playing at kermeses and social events; took a new, much more ambitious and unexpected course. In this new stage, the group achieved the greatest success in its history.

“When we created the group, in 1998, we did it with the idea of ​​playing in schools, municipal anniversaries, teenagers, weddings…, we played every Friday in a place called Mangos, which was in San Isidro. But since I had the idea of ​​composing, at one point I began to create my own songs, with a happy and danceable style. ‘Turn around’ has an incredible story, full of anecdotes”highlights Jorge Luis Bonilla Montoya, artistically known as Koky Bonilla.

“Date laturn” is part of “Vasos & Besos”, the second LP of the national group. It obtained a platinum record in sales a few months after its launch and was considered song of the year by several radio stations.

“As the first musical production (‘Coctel de Mordiscos’) was not very successful, we decided to make a new album, a little more danceable and fun, like the spirit of Afrodisiaco”, narrates the founder of the Peruvian band.

The inspiration

“The story of this song was born one night, during a show. Flavio de la Llave, a friend who died in the fire at the Utopía nightclub and who always went to our shows, came on stage to entertain the audience while I changed the string on my guitar that had broken. With the great charisma that characterized him, he asked the girls to take a little walk and they happily obeyed him. I kept that image in my head, I loved what I saw that night and decided to translate it into a song”, agrees Bonilla.

“And when I wrote the part that says: ‘Girls who adorn the night, what beautiful little joints at the table’ I was inspired by ‘Table that applauds the most’. Then I put a rhythm in the style of Los pericos and Los authentices decadentes. ‘Mayonesa’, that song that says: ‘Bate que bat el chocolate’, also had to do with ‘Turn around‘” remarks the musician.

It also clarifies that the group never wanted the song to become a hit, as it happened just days after its premiere on different radio stations.

“In the second chorus, in which he says: ‘She has everything my song has, she wiggles, she approaches me, my heart races…’ we doubled the speed, we wanted to get out of the comfort zone and do something more agile, different; but we never thought she would be so successful”, he manifests.

“Turn around” was produced in early 2000 by Amadeo Gaviria. A month later, commissioned by commercial radio station DJs, the band created a faster version of the song, complete with trumpets, keyboards and formidable percussion.

“To create that song they gave us the example of the beat of ‘Pa’ Mayté’, by Carlos Vives. They wanted a more disco version, which we managed to pull off with the help of producer Miguel Reátegui. We did it in a couple of hours”, argues the musician.

“Turn Around” gave Aphrodisiac notable popularity. From animating social events, national musicians went on to lead massive festivals. The shows were opened by international groups and musicians, such as: Enanitos Verdes, Vilma Palma e Vampiros, Chichi Peralta, David Summers, Los Pericos and Auténticos Decadentes, among others.

“This theme served to make us known, we entered with force to the radios and also to the television. It sounded in the telenovela ‘What a good breed’. It achieved a success that we were not looking for, much less expected. He crossed borders. There are versions of the song made in Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama… At this time we did up to four shows per night, from Thursday to Sunday”, he clarifies.

devastating news

In July 2002, during the last edition of the Grand Star of the Feria del Hogar, the band, which was testing sound before going on stage with The Nosewho and the Nosecuántos, received unfortunate news that put the band in mourning. Flavio de la Llave, the young man who inspired “Turn Around”, was one of the fatalities in the Utopia fire.

“The news devastated us, he was a great friend, we loved him too much. It was a very sad concert, we were all crying. It was a day that I will never forget, one of the saddest of my life.”, he stresses.