Temple Sour, the legendary Peruvian band tells it all: Were they banned from Colombian festivals? Why are they separated?

Peruvian reggae band Temple Sour He gave many reasons for his separation through humorous videos posted on his social networks, but none of them told the truth. After nine years composing songs like “La venenotza”, “Por ti (La poderozta)” or their biggest hit “Verte así”, the group managed to position itself as an icon of Peruvian reggae along with bands like Laguna Pai or La Renken.

The project that began in 2014 as a band of school friends, made up of Joaquín Aramburu (voice), Bruno Paiva (keyboard), Mateo Ledgard (bass), Lorenzo Tapia (guitar), Jordán Gambirazio (drums) and Jaime Pareja ( guitar,) had as main objective to produce a song that they considered as true reggae.

In their attempt to achieve their goal, they forged a distinctive style on the music scene that, ironically, positioned them as a benchmark for national reggae, in addition to gaining them thousands of followers who managed to sell out almost all the concerts on their last tour.” The last summer”, leaving only a few for their final show on May 5 at the Parque de la Exposición Amphitheater.

In an interview with El Comercio in the Cordial bar cellar, Temple Sour arrived fragmented and without the vocalist and drummer who could not attend for personal reasons. Inside the cellar where wine abounded as well as confessions, the temperature dropped, but not the mood.

How did they meet in the first place?

James: We all studied music in some way or learned to play instruments at school, I used to get together with Jordán to make music and I wanted to find more people like that. It was in that search that I met Bruno talking about music at a party, Mateo, who at that time played classical guitar and was the one who had to settle in as our bass player, but it would not be until Joaquín joined the band that what began it is known as Temple Sour.

─How was your first composition together?

Matthew: At the beginning we played songs that Jaime brought us that, in general, were linked to psychedelic rock. At that time the recordings were made in our first rehearsal room, Temple Studio, and I remember that while we were recording someone said: “We should start playing reggae” and that is how our first song “I Can See the Sun” appeared.

James: That song written by Jordán and I was the first one we did as a band. At the beginning, Jordán himself said: “What happened! Now we will be a reggae band? We are not going to play reggae!” Finally, we ended up playing reggae and we started to grow fond of and appreciate that song because it was one of the first times that we entered the world of reggae as musicians.

Bruno: I was in a reggae band before Temple Sour, but when we recorded “I Can See the Sun” I realized that this musical project that was being born was a place where I could put my songs and feel that they were really going somewhere. side. Then, when we released the song and saw the response from the public, I thought: “Okay, this is working, we have to continue”.

─How does a band that doesn’t play reggae decide to play reggae?

Lawrence: We are aware that we do not have the background that other reggae artists do have, in addition to the historical knowledge behind it. If you listen to “Pasajeros” or songs from before that album, you will realize that our sound and rhythm is not something you can formally call reggae, because there are details that we are missing.

James: Exactly, in fact, not knowing these kinds of details allowed us to experiment and achieve a sound that identifies us as a band. Although it is inevitable to listen to our past albums and think: “We were c*****s”. For this reason we decided that for “NARRO”, the last album we put out, we had to show that we do know how to play reggae.

Bruno: I do have a certain anger with the first part of the Temple Sour discography, because it doesn’t sound like I wanted it to sound. This was partly because at that moment I had many ideas in my head, but I didn’t know how to translate them. Little by little I was training my ear and when I knew how to materialize what I wanted, I asked Jordan for help to improve. This individual improvement, not only by me but by the rest of the guys, made the sound of the last record more consistent.

─How has each of the members evolved?

Bruno: Since we started playing together nine years ago, we have been developing based on reggae, but the maturity that each one has acquired has its own story. That, wanting to or not, makes everyone look for their own musical path.

James: When we were recording “Pasajeros” and everyone saw that an album could be produced from the comfort of their computer, the group’s creative mind fragmented and we began to look for new paths in parallel to Temple Sour.

Matthew: It was during the pandemic that we started to see beyond reggae as artists. During the confinement we had a moment of pause as a band, since there was no longer so much responsibility for rehearsing or playing together, so I spent more time concentrating on fine-tuning my own style in terms of production and composition. The period of the pandemic was very important to me, as it was the seed that prompted me to want to have my own productions.

─What is the real reason behind your separation?

James: We have different visions of what we want to achieve in our personal and artistic life, we also have to take into account that the process of musical composition is ultra personal, even comparable to a love relationship.

Bruno: It is true, if you are in a marriage and one wants to have children and the other does not, most likely that relationship will end in a divorce. What is happening to us is an image of it. In the end, the band is like a boat where everyone has an oar and if someone does not want to row for some reason, we get stuck in the same place. To avoid this situation, it is better to try to reach a port and for each one to navigate on their own boat. Happily we have done that on time.

Matthew: In short, we are not aligned

James: Yeah, but where does the misalignment come from? It’s not something like: “I want something for the band and you want something else”. Each wanted something different for himself!

Matthew: The band could be anything, we could still go one line, but we all have a different idea of ​​the music we want to make, so we’re misaligned. Stopping doing what we want to force ourselves to try to make music together would be dishonest.

─But the friendship is maintained, right?

Matthew: Yes of course…

Bruno: Not just friendship. I have a good chemistry with each one of the band members, with some more than others, this opens the doors to collaborations between us when we are in our individual projects. Many years ago I separated my connection with them as friends, while we were working because they say that it is not good to work with friends or family. In the case of Temple Sour, this was born as a project on two legs, but we got misaligned and this caused us to put friendship above work or the other way around.

─ Is there any member who refuses to separate?

Matthew: I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t.

James: I still haven’t felt that.

Bruno: I believe that Joaquín does not want the separation, not because he has expressly told me, but because it gives me the feeling that it is so. In these last concerts a nostalgic energy is felt and I feel sorry because leaving Temple Sour is going back 50 steps and trying to move forward again, this can generate some kind of doubt between us, in addition to the economic issue obviously, but this is the best decision we were able to make.

─What things were not said about your mythical trip to Colombia?

Matthew: Other interviews popularized the myth of what happened in Colombia. We really want what happened there to be something bigger than it really was.

Lawrence: There was a lot of talk about Temple Sour going to Medellín to have a great time drinking aniseed at a table for hours, but in reality when we went to the clubs we only stayed for half an hour and left at 8 pm It was a series of partying failed and repetitive activities that did not make our trip so exciting.

James: Something that is not known is that Bruno did not want to lend his keyboard, so a Colombian production company almost kicked us out of Colombia. It wasn’t Bruno’s fault, but there was a giant misunderstanding.

Bruno: It is a story that has several layers. When we traveled to Colombia we had a problem with our booking and management, both agencies began to compete and fight in a toxic way to the point that they would not let each other work. What was initially proposed with these two entities was that we made the decisions, while they could propose ideas and provide support on different issues.

When we had our shows in Colombia, they put us in a sticky situation with another big company that handles festivals and bands, which caused them to tell us that they were going to close the doors to Temple Sour and that we could never play a festival in Colombia again. . The reason was because they provided us with various services and we did not give them anything, in this specific case they mentioned that I did not lend my keyboard to someone I did not know who it was because they had not informed me of anything.

Prior to that event, there was a double contracting incident for the same hotel chain where we were going to play. The agencies we hired made decisions without consulting us and after a while we decided to stop working with them.

─What will they do next in their solo careers?

Lawrence: Do not trust any booking or management! I don’t see myself doing anything other than music, but I would look for trustworthy people on those issues.

Matthew: I live the life of an artist, not only in music, but in all areas, one day I could do audiovisual things, painting or anything, because what doesn’t change is my process. Mind you, I don’t see myself teaching or learning any kind of engineering.

─What can people expect from your latest shows?

James: No one has ever seen Temple Sour like this, this tour is super special in every way. We have put a lot of effort into the show, although it saddens me to know that, due to a matter of spaces and capacity, not everyone who wants to see us for the last time will be able to attend

Bruno: You can’t miss the last dates of Temple Sour on April 1 in Trujillo, April 8 on Asia Boulevard and the last concert on May 6 at the Parque de la Exposición Amphitheater, there are only a few tickets left for the last show, don’t miss it and remember: Long live the temple!