Culcha Candela
They miss “foreign sweat” during the pandemic
The band Culcha Candela was founded in 2002.
© Leon Hahn
Culcha Candela will celebrate their 20th band anniversary next year. “We would not have dreamed of that back then,” the band looks back.
With “Hamma!” Culcha Candela made their final breakthrough in the music business in 2007. At that time, the band had been around for five years, and in 2022 they will celebrate their 20th anniversary. On Friday (May 28th) the band’s new ten-song album, “Top Ten”, will be released – their tenth overall. In an interview with the news agency spot on news, Mateo Jasik (42), Chino con Estilo, Johnny Strange (38) and Don Cali reveal why the song “Hope” made it onto the album after all, what they got from the “Euro-Trash” 90s and what to look forward to most in the anniversary year 2022.
Her new album “Top Ten” was supposed to be released in 2020 and was then postponed by one year due to the corona pandemic, including the tour. Have you continued working on it since then?
Mateo Jasik: Definitely. We used the time and put the finishing touches to the album. We were on tour in 2020 when the situation got worse and worse. We couldn’t play the last concert in Berlin. After that we actually wanted to announce our new tour for October and bring out the album, but then the pandemic intervened. It was always postponed, but at some point we didn’t want it anymore. However, the tour will not start until May 2022.
The lyrics of the current single “Hope” fit perfectly into our time. Did it come about afterwards?
Jasik: Yes. The song shouldn’t actually be released as part of the album. Then it went viral and we noticed it hit a nerve. Because it exceeded all expectations, we put it on the album after all.
Where do you currently see the greatest glimmer of hope?
Chino con Estilo: Basically, we first want people to feel hope at all despite the negative reporting. We are very optimistic people and always try to see the good in the bad. There are currently rays of hope. Hopefully we will be able to tick off this chapter at some point if vaccination is more widespread.
On “RWET” you reissue “Rhythm is a dancer” by Snap from 1992. How much did you personally like the 90s?
Jasik: In the 90s I found the music horrific. Now she’s cool again. Every decade is a turn. It’s always the 80s because it was the decade of great melodies. This is used all the time and the 2000s are now cool again. It is currently the 90s euro trash wave that is constantly being used.
You are known for your musical diversity. Is it good not to be pigeonholed in this business?
Johnny Strange: It’s a curse and a blessing at the same time. On the one hand, we enjoy it and we are free. We present different material to different target groups. On the other hand, it was difficult for people, especially at the beginning, not to be able to classify us. For a long time, however, a stamp was left on us. Thanks to “Hamma” we were later able to establish our own drawer. It is important to us not to have any limits – musically and in terms of our image. We can try things.
In the coming year you will celebrate your 20th band anniversary. How does it feel to be in business for so long?
Estilo: Crazy! We would not have dreamed of that back when we started. It’s still a lot of fun and the technical revolutions we’ve seen in this business are crazy. The constant innovations make it exciting. You don’t have to accept every change without criticism, but you have to deal with it and develop an attitude towards it. You have to adapt and learn so that you don’t fall asleep.
Don Cali: We are the generation before Facebook and Instagram and we still had a website with a guest book that people entered. Back then we were still selling records, today everything is streaming. What happened in such a short time is truly revolutionary. We try to stay young and are at TikTok, for example.
Strange: If you don’t keep up with the times, you have to keep up with the times.
What do you wish for your anniversary year 2022?
Jasik: We hope that the pandemic will then be over, that we will be less fearful and that people will not ignore other important issues such as nature conservation. We have to find each other more. As a band we would be very happy to play an anniversary tour. And we look forward to the feeling of being in a poorly ventilated room with someone else’s sweat.
Strange: We miss the sweat of others the most.