The Colombian band Systema Solar knows how to have a good time. You can hear it in their infectious music, an inspired collision between the Latin folk traditions of their home country, the tropical Caribbean influence of its northern coast, and the up-to-the-minute sounds of modern pop, hip-hop & dance music. And you can also see it in their numerous, colorful videos and their vigorous live show, full of psychedelic touches & eyeball-exploding costumes. Their name translates into English as “solar system,” and there certainly seems to be little left under the sun with which they can’t have fun. Even their track “Yo Voy Ganao,” which serves as an activist anthem for native fisheries threatened by encroaching tourist activity, doubles as a party jam fully capable of getting the dancefloor jumping.
Thanks to the good folks at Nacional, purveyors of high-quality contemporary Latin music from around the globe, Systema Solar, who have been around since 2007, now have their tunes more widely available in the US market. And they’ll be bringing their high-energy sound to SXSW this year for a number of performances, including at the Radio Day Stage at the Austin Convention Center on Wednesday, March 16 at 1pm, just before KCRW’s own presentation there with White Denim, Declan McKenna & Lapsley. More info about Systema Solar can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/systemasolar/.