When Agapornis combined Soda Stereo with cumbia: “Rock fans said it was a crime”

Being an innovator in the music industry means jumping into an abyss of possibilities, as it could result in failure or resounding success, and that lovebirds he knows very well. Until a few years ago, the term cumbia pop did not exist within the repertoire of musical genres, since it did not fit within the parameters of any of these styles, which also led it to receive criticism from the most purists of the field. Today, we could search for absolutely any song that comes to mind, and we would find a fun version on this particular beat.

Adopting the name of an exotic bird belonging to the African tropical parrots, this group of friends from La Plata Rugby Club in ’89 began their musical career in a self-taught way, playing solely for fun at the end of their sports matches. Soon after, they began to create various covers of pop and rock songs, among which are the popular “Someone Like You” or “Persiana Americana”. From there, the rest is history, as they currently have 7 studio albums and more than 408 million views on YouTube.

— How did the name Agapornis come about, being so particular?

The lovebird is a kind of parrot, and the peculiarity of this bird is that they are also called “inseparable”, since if one raises it from an early age without any partner of the same species, it will generate an unbreakable bond with its owner. ; not being able to give the bird to anyone, even if they wanted to. So, one of the guys in the band at that time had a pet lovebird, and since he had to carry it everywhere he was always on his shoulder. Right around that time we knew it was time to form a band, and for that we needed a name. Seeing the lovebird hanging from our friend, one of the boys jokingly mentioned “why don’t we call ourselves lovebirds, which speaks of not separating and knowing each other for a lifetime”. Precisely as it was somehow our story, we stuck with the name. Maybe if we had known that the band was going to have such an impact, we would have thought about it a little more –laughs–.

— You started doing musical covers, converting them to cumbia, like “Someone Like You” or “Persiana Americana”, from the beginning the reaction of the public was polarized?

There was everything, but as always there were the negative reviews that, unfortunately, for us came from both sides. For example, we did “Persiana Americana” by Soda Stereo, and consequently rock fans said it was a crime for us to do that version, completely ruining it. And on the other hand, the most purists of cumbia did not consider us to be part of the genre either. The truth is that we really don’t respect traditional cumbia, they were simply melodies that came out of us at that time.

“So where did you guys fit in?”

We had no empathy with any genre, our empathy was simply with the people who liked our covers, because they didn’t care if it was cumbia, rock or pop. The only thing that interested them was that they were fun versions of well-known songs that they could dance to. Returning to the example of “Persiana Americana”, perhaps in its original format one listens to it at home, or in the car, but not to dance. So, being able to listen to it in another context, for us, was to give another variable to that same work of art, with no intention of offending anyone.

— Do you consider that a cumbia pop boom has originated?

In fact, the term cumbia pop occurred to us precisely in those types of interviews in which they mentioned the criticism we received from other genres, being able to make our own rules from there. With the passing of time, we did not realize the dimension with which this was going to go beyond. We began to see that in important dance competitions in Argentina, one category was cumbia pop, as an established musical genre. As a result of this, the Rombai and Marama bands also appeared, who also made our same musical “mistake”: that very characteristic compás, different from that of traditional cumbia, previously considered a mistake for the genre.

— Now that you are coming to Peru this October 31, what are the similarities or differences that you find between the Peruvian and Argentine cumbia?

Perhaps the Peruvian cumbia is a little more traditional, we noticed this when collaborating with the Yaipén Brothers. We think it is very similar to the cumbia from Santa Fe, Argentina; a province in which this genre has always been very present. From there comes a relatively universal cumbia that was replicated in several Latin American countries, including Peru.

— Could you identify with the content of the lyrics of the Peruvian cumbia?

We generate a link with any gender that is not malicious. In our beginnings we distanced ourselves a bit – by making covers and composing – from the Argentine cumbias that had a lyrical content that highlighted disrespect in general, whether it be the objectification of women or the defense of crime. So, perhaps from there we generate more harshness in our nexus with cumbieros in general, but the truth is that for us any musical genre –Peruvian, Colombian, reggaeton cumbia– that is done with criteria and desire to have fun, seems great to us. .

— What are your expectations about a fanatic public of cumbia, like the Peruvian?

We have been three or four times in Peru, and all those times we have had a lot of fun, since we also play at big parties. We know that now we are going to an equally important celebration that will take place again after several years, so we are quite enthusiastic.

— Since they recently have an addition to the band. How have you adapted to concerts with your new member Aldana Masset, as a female voice?

Aldana contributes with a very important matter of freshness. We have been in the band for eleven years, we have toured together and shared too much time since the beginning. Being so camouflaged, the fact that a female figure enters that adapts very quickly to us, provides us with ideas that could mislead us at first, but that in the end we end up accepting, since it gives us a more youthful artistic vision.