Superlitio

Artist Information

Biography

Latin Grammy-nominated band Superlitio have been described as one of the best rock acts in Colombia today. The band independently released its fourth album CALIDOSOUND in July 2009, having teamed up with award-winning producer Rafa Sardina. The year saw them headline Rock al Parque, the largest open rock festival in Latin America, while also winning the Recording Of The Year award at the Shock Awards, the most prestigious music awards in Colombia.

Superlitio have also won plaudits for their innovative use of digital, notching up more than 40,000 downloads of their latest album preview with a Colombian newspaper, and more than 150,000 streams on the MSN portal during the launch week.

Band members Pipe, Pete, Alejo, Dino and Armando have come a long way since forming Superlitio more than a decade ago. The band has played more than 500 shows, supporting artists like Juanes, Café Tacuba, Julieta Venegas, Control Machete, Babasónicos, Molotov, Aterciopelados and Manu Chao.

In 2008, Superlitio had their second number one in the Colombian radio airplay chart, with the title track from the movie Perro Come Perro – one of the most critically acclaimed Colombian movies ever. The band also garnered nominations for Best New Artist at the Latin Grammys, as well as Best Rock Album at Univision’s Premio Lo Nuestro Awards, and Best Fusion Video at the Much Music Awards. In the US, they won La Banda Elastica award for Best New Alternative Artist.

Superlitio’s music has also been regularly used on Colombian TV shows, including hugely popular soap opera Francisco el Matematico. The band’s music has also been used in Colombia’s equivalent of The X Factor.

In March 2010, right after their second appearance at SXSW Festival and a short US Tour with shows in NYC, Washington, and Miami, CALIDOSOUND was digitally released on a global scale through The Orchard. Perro Come Perro was choosen as the single of the week in iTunes Latino US and Mexico achieving over 50.000 downloads.

The band is currently touring Colombia promoting their latest single Te Lastime, which have already reached the number one spot in several radio stations around the country.

Instrumentation

* Pipe Bravo (Keys, guitar & vocals)
* Armando Gonzalez (Drums)
* Pedro Rovetto (Bass)
* Dino Leandro (Machines & DJ Set)
* Alejandro Lozano (Guitar)

Discography

* Calidosound - 2009 (Superlitio)
* Tripping Tropicana - 2004 (Cielo Music / Sony BMG)
* El Sonido Mostaza - 1999 (Superlitio)
* Marciana - 1997 (Superlitio)

Links

• Facebook
• YouTube
• Twitter
• Reverbnation
• MySpace
• Last.fm

Audio

• Perro Come Perro
  Listen  
• Te lastime
  Listen  
• Que vo' hacer
  Listen  
• Perdoname
  Listen  
• Feelin' Funky
  Listen  

Video

Te Lastime

Photo Gallery

Press

• Colombian band Superlitio embraces extreme fusion with extraordinary results [+ Show ]
  

  "Colombian band Superlitio embraces extreme fusion with extraordinary results… Superlitio accepts th..."Colombian band Superlitio embraces extreme fusion with extraordinary results… Superlitio accepts the risks of experimentation while avoiding its pitfalls."
  

• Indie Champs: Superlitio [+ Show ]
  

  Superlitio will perform during BMI’s official SXSW showcase at Maggie Mae’s (323 East 6th St, Austin...Superlitio will perform during BMI’s official SXSW showcase at Maggie Mae’s (323 East 6th St, Austin, TX) on Thursday, March 18. Superlitio will take the stage at 11:15 p.m.
  
  On March 18, Colombian band Superlitio will take the stage at the BMI Showcase at the prestigious South By Southwest (SXSW) Music Conference and Festival in Austin. The six band members, who have been around for more than a decade and just had one of the best years in their career, are undaunted. “We generally surprise people,” says bassist Pedro Rovetto, “It always feels like we have more to prove being from Colombia and with the language barrier.”
  
  That language barrier is not much of an impediment, after all, since Superlitio’s vocalist Mauricio Campo sings in Spanish, English and French. This accessibility is also evident in their music, an easy mix of rock, funk, reggae and pop. Their latest and fourth album, Calidosound, will be released on iTunes in the US on March 16.
  
  Even though Superlitio is one of Colombia’s best known bands (last year, they headlined Rock Al Parque, the biggest music festival in Latin America, and won Recording of the Year at the Shock Awards, Colombia’s Grammys) they remain fiercely independent. They do not have a record label, only distribution deals, and have been very smart and collaborative about placing their songs in TV and film. Most recently, they contributed the title song for Perro Come Perro, which won accolades on Sundance and countless other festivals.
  
  To lead up to the release of Calidosound last summer, Superlitio gave away seven songs from the album for free online, reaching 40,000 downloads and unprecedented buzz. “It was a gamble but it paid off,” says Pedro. “For us to reach that amount of people via sales would have been almost impossible in Colombia.”
  
  Calidosound, produced by LA-based producer Rafa Sardina (Macy Gray, Beyonce) evokes their city of Cali in Western Colombia, and has more salsa and reggae elements. As usual, the core ideas were conceived by Mauricio, Pedro and keyboardist Andres Felipe Bravo, and then developed with the rest of the band members.
  
  Their goal for 2010 is to promote and tour in the US, and it all starts at SXSW. Says Pedro: “People will get to experience all our new music and hopefully get infected by the Litio virus!”
  
  http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/547496

• This group needs no gimmicks to be heard
  

  "Irresistible grooves and a penchant for good basic fun…this group needs no gimmicks to be heard."

• These six Calenos who groove with their mouths open, ready to swallow the world are kings of rhythm [+ Show ]
  

  "The Superlitio sound is jazz, funky-rock, dub-reggae, salsa, freestyle punk. Call it whatever you w..."The Superlitio sound is jazz, funky-rock, dub-reggae, salsa, freestyle punk. Call it whatever you want, but don’t take anything away. These six Calenos who groove with their mouths open, ready to swallow the world are kings of rhythm."
  

• This is a band to watch [+ Show ]
  

  “a wildly eclectic album... veers every which way, from rock to hip-hop, drum 'n' bass, jazz, funk, ...“a wildly eclectic album... veers every which way, from rock to hip-hop, drum 'n' bass, jazz, funk, dub and electronica... this is a band to watch.” –
  

• Superlitio Interview [+ Show ]
  

  In case you hadn't noticed, the last few years have witnessed rock bands from around the globe make ...In case you hadn't noticed, the last few years have witnessed rock bands from around the globe make their cases as essential musical experiences as opposed to merely exotic curiosities. Colombia's music scene is tremendously active with every type of music, and Superlitio are among the country's best rock bands. They've been nominated for a Latin Grammy and are looking forward to their second appearance at SXSW (always a hotbed of Latin talent from all genres) to promote their new album 'Calidosound.' Spinner spoke with bassist Pedro Rovetto about the recipe for the band's sound and being in New York during 9/11.
  
  Describe your sound in your own words.
  
  1/2 Spoon of Rock, 2 1/2 Cups of Latin loveliness, 3/4 Ounces of electro grooviness.
  
  How did your band form?
  
  We wanted to form the best band in our city of Cali, so we rounded up the best musicians and started jamming together, eventually they all left and the six of us is what was left. We then decided the best way to come out with the band was with a CD from the start, so we went in the studio and did our first record, without having played even one show. Then when we did start playing there was a huge response from people and eventually the band was able to start playing all over Colombia.
  
  What are your musical influences?
  
  Rock, salsa, Latin grooves, reggae and electronica.
  
  How did you come up with your band name?
  
  We put two words together that had no business being next to each other. At the very beginning we were called Kitsch, but thought no one could spell it right, so we started looking for a better name. Lithium is a drug they give to people with depression to help them feel more upbeat and happy. We thought our music did the same so we joined "Super" and "Litio" (Superlithium), thinking we were a giant "feel good and happy" lithium pill!
  
  What's your biggest vice?
  
  The rockin' part of rock 'n' roll. We love performing live, that is where we excel and feel that the band and music best connects with people. We don't like traveling so much; we just like the payoff of the performance once we get there.
  
  What's in your festival survival kit?
  
  Aguardiente (Colombian moonshine), sharpies, sunblock.
  
  Do you prefer the Beatles or the Stones?
  
  The Beatles, please. Why? The songs. How can you not love a band that pen's the phrase "I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together"?
  
  What's the craziest thing you've seen or experienced while on tour?
  
  9/11. We landed that morning in NY -- last flight to touch down in JFK from L.A. Then we took the subway into Manhattan. The train stopped, the driver said he couldn't keep going and we had to get out. We walked out the station and started trying to walk to our friends house ... and madness. People were covered in white, just massive amounts of people taking over the streets. Then when we look towards downtown and saw a big tower of white smoke: we knew things had changed. We could not leave New York for two weeks. It was a surreal experience.
  
  http://www.spinnermusic.co.uk/2010/03/09/superlitio-interview-sxsw-2010/

• Superlitio make it on their own [+ Show ]
  

  Colombian band Superlitio is one of the acts trying to prove that with a pragmatic approach to promo...Colombian band Superlitio is one of the acts trying to prove that with a pragmatic approach to promo supported on digital, bands can make it on their own, without the backing of a big label – see this week’s lead feature for more on that debate.
  
  By the start of 2009, Superlitio had two albums in their native country and a third one with an American small indie label, which let them put their feet on the red carpet of the Latin Grammy as a nominee in 2004. This helped them to build up a moderate fanbase through tours in Colombia and the US. It’s at this point where many bands would look for outside help to go to the next level – which in most cases, would mean a label.
  
  Instead, Superlitio teamed up with Juan Paz from Sandbox’s parent company Music Ally, to figure out a digital promotion strategy that would capitalise on their young following, using it to barter their way to national exposure.
  The opportunity presented itself when El Tiempo, Colombia’s largest national newspaper, launched a youth-orientated section of its website. Assuming correctly that the paper wanted to promote this, Superlitio agreed to direct their fans towards the site, in return for coverage of the band.
  
  A key selling point in the deal was the fan demographics provided by ReverbNation, which proved to El Tiempo that Superlitio had the right audience. The band’s campaign then took three distinct phases.
  
  Phase 1: Raising awareness of the upcoming album
  With a new album on the way, Superlitio decided to maximise the potential of the El Tiempo deal by producing a series of videos for the site focusing on the recording process. The five-minute webisodes showed fans how each track evolved, with fans able to comment on every video, giving an interactive soap opera feel. After four weeks, 16,000 unique visitors had generated more than 20,000 views of the webisodes.
  
  Phase 2: Expanding the fan mailing list
  Raising awareness of the new album among a few thousand people was a start, but the band also looked to expand its mailing list, to help promote the album when it eventually comes out. The method chosen was the standard carrot of offering a free download in exchange for a fan’s email address. Unoriginal? Perhaps, but effective. At a conference in Canada last week, US digital music PR Ariel Hyatt said that fans are 800% more likely to sign up for band mailing lists if offered a free download.
  
  Superlitio went several stages further though: they included seven of the album’s eleven tracks in their giveaway – with the promotion promoted on El Tiempo’s website. The deal went further, too. El Tiempo published a code in its print version that readers could use to access the download. In the first week, 5,000 individual downloads were generated, with 50% opting into the mailing list. A different code appeared in the paper each week for a month, generating 25,000 downloads and 6,000 new email addresses for the list.
  
  Phase 3: The release push
  Eventually, the physical album came out, with Superlitio and El Tiempo continuing their partnership to promote that as well. With the newspaper keen to boost its website’s digital advertising revenues, a plan was hatched to develop a truly engaging ad for the album that would get readers clicking. The concept was inspired by Island Records’ ‘Band in a Banner’ ad for VW Brown last year.
  
  Using a Mac, a blue screen and a cheap camera, the newspaper and the band created a banner advertisement showing themselves performing the album’s first single within the boundaries of the banner. It promoted the album’s release, and also the seven-track giveaway, which at that point was still running. Within a week of the ad appearing on El Tiempo’s homepage, another 15,000 downloads had been generated and 2,000 people were added to the mailing list.
  
  Tracking success
  All this is great exposure for an emerging artist, but the danger is that so many free giveaways could have an adverse impact on sales of the album itself. So how did it do? In the first week, Superlitio sold 1,000 CDs, with Tower Records selling out its shipments twice in the first fortnight.
  
  However, the boost went beyond album sales: Superlitio managed to play 35 sold out shows all across the country by the end of 2009 and reported fans singing along lustily with the new album tracks, despite them not having been heavily playlisted on radio. It’s an example of a successful partnership between a band and a media company, where both are trying to attract the same audience.
  
  http://www.sandbox.fm/2010/03/15/campaign-focus-superlitio-make-it-on-their-own/

Setlist

Basic Requirements

Calendar