Monsieur Periné
Monsieur Periné is a Bogotá-based musical ensemble from Colombia with an Afro-Colombian sound that mixes Latin and European flavors.[1][2] Lead singer Catalina García sings in a mixture of Spanish, French, English, and Portuguese.[1][2] Other members include Santiago Prieto, who plays the charango, violin, and guitar; Eva Peroni on the bass; Jairo Alfonso on the winds (primarily saxophone and clarinet); Abstin Caviedes on the trombone and bugle; Miguel Guerra on percussion; and Darwin Paez on the drumset. Their style mixes elements of cumbia, tango, danzón, bolero and pop music, according to the San Diego Union Tribune.[3] At the Latin Grammy Awards, the ensemble was named best new artist of 2015.[4][5] Their debut album in 2012 won Colombia's national gold album award.[6] The group was formed in 2008.[6][2]
Monsieur Periné
Floripondios
2008-present
‡Catalina García, lead vocals
‡Santiago Prieto, strings
Miguel Guerra, percussion
Jairo Alfonso, woodwinds
Abstin Caviedes, brass
Darwin Páez, drumset
Eva Peroni, bass
‡Nicolás Junca, guitar
‡Camilo Parra, woodwinds
Daniel Chebair, drumset
Alejandro Giuliani, drumset
David González, bass
Fabián Peñaranda, bass
Adinda Meertins, bass
History[edit]
Origin[edit]
Catalina García, a native of Cali, Colombia, studied in the French international school Lycée Français Paul Valéry de Cali (Spanish: Liceo Francés Paul Valéry de Cali). She later moved with her parents to the United States for two years before returning to Colombia. At eighteen, García moved to Bogotá to study anthropology at Javeriana University.
The main members of the group played together for the first time during Holy Week in 2007, in Villa de Leyva, a small town near Bogotá. Later, García, Santiago Prieto, Nicolás Junca and Camilo Parra (an early member who would later quit), began getting together frequently to play songs from various Latin American genres as well as jazz, which eventually prompted them to begin searching for their own voice.
During 2009 and 2010, they began performing locally in Bogotá; in 2009, they performed in several local music festivals. At the end of 2010, the group began composing its own original songs, recording "Ton Silence" and "Swing with Me".
In 2010, motivated by performing at the Ibero-American Theater Festival, they began to include the work of designer Alejandra Rivas Ramirez. However, it wasn't until 2011, when the group received a national award which allowed them to perform at the Estéreo Picnic Festival, that they began to develop the visual image of Monsieur Periné. This included the use of clothing designed by Rivas, an image concept design by her, and the work of plastics artist José Arboleda.
The band released their first single, "La Muerte", recorded with Felipe Álvarez, who works with artists such as Shakira and Bomba Estéreo. The radio station Radiónica named the song "Song of the Year", which was key in the development of the band.
In 2012, the band released its first music video for their song "Suin Romanticon".
In 2015, Camilo Parra left the band to work on his new project, Astrolabio. In 2015, drummer Alejandro Giuliani left the band, citing disagreements. The last to leave the project was Rivas Ramirez, the designer of the band's image as well as all of its costumes between 2010 and 2015.