Chicha Libre

About Chicha Libre

Started in 2006, the Brooklyn band is made up of musicians from France, Mexico, Venezuela and the US who have been at the forefront of a global movement to revalorize Chicha - psychedelic cumbia from Peru.



Chicha was first popularized outside of Peru by a compilation released by Chicha Libre's own Olivier Conan and entitled "The Roots of Chicha." The music proved popular around the world, being championed by people such as Elijah Wood, Matt Groening, Alex Kapranos (of Franz Ferdinand) or director Almadovar, who included one of the tracks as the opening track of his movie I’m So Excited.



Chicha Libre started out as a tribute to Peruvian pioneers but quickly evolved into an original project which MTV has called “one of the world's preeminent Tropical Psychedelic band”. Indeed, while they remain true to their Chicha roots, Chicha Libre's music has taken a definitely more psychedelic turn drawing more and more from its members' alternative background.

Like its mentors, Chicha Libre uses surf guitar, organ sounds and Latin percussion to play a mixture of borrowed and homegrown sounds – but its music is a freeform reinvention, not an exercise in nostalgia.

Synth sounds, treated guitars, French songs, classical music and pop debris from three continents contribute to Chicha Libre’s freeform approach to the tropical genre.