Artist History In the early 90s, Richard Blair was a successful engineer/producer in the UK working at Peter Gabriel's Real World studio alongside the likes of Gabriel, Eno and Daniel Lanois. While visiting Colombia, he fell in love with the country's seductive and magical music and people and decided to stay there. A two week visit turned into a three year adventure. Blair immersed himself in Bogota's nightlife and explored the local underground, melding his British club sounds with the existing Colombian salsa scene. Living in Colombia's crowded, rainy capital, he learned the language, soaked up the nightlife and fell in with some of the country's most forward-thinking musicians. Blair produced and engineered pivotal albums by the pop vallenato superstar Carlos Vives and pioneering rockers Aterciopelados, becoming a catalyst for Colombian music at a time when artists were fusing Latin roots with modern sounds. Blair knew both, his introduction to Colombian rhythms was producing the dynamic Afro-Colombian percussion ensemble of Toto La Momposina for Real World. He gained a rich and deep knowledge of Latin rhythms and Latin soul, earned a reputation as something of a musical revolutionary, and a labelling as 'the don of Latin break beats'. On a trip back to London in 1994 he heard the dark and dirty sounds of UK drum and bass for the first time and decided to combine these with his Latin obsession to produce a storming new Latin sound for the 21st century. Blair transformed himself into club DJ Sidestepper, and released two singles under that name, including the acclaimed groundbreaking "Logozo," which appeared on the ethno-electronica compilation Phat Global #1. On More Grip, Sidestepper's full-length debut, Blair perfected his merging of hi tech beat-heavy drum 'n' bass with traditional Latino percussion and horns to create a new, progressive style of Latin dance music. "Latin music will never be the same again, " said one critic. "More Grip does for Latin music what Bristol prophets Massive Attack and Roni Size did for R&B and hip-hop." The new album deepens and develops the styles and techniques Blair has previously explored, and takes his ideas of creating ultramodern ultra-sophisticated Latin music even further, mixing state of the art production with beautifully controlled soul music, acoustic firepower with electronic precision, Latin swing with abstract techno. No one else does the Latin thing the way Sidestepper do - in a way that appeals to both the old school connoisseur of salsa and dub and those hungry for radical new beats and atmospheres whatever their source. Co-writer Ivan Benavides is one of Colombia's best respected songwriters, a trained architect, who began his career as one half of Ivan y Lucia. Richard met him when he was the producer and Ivan was the writer for the Carlos Vives record "La Tierra de el Olvido", which has become a benchmark for modern Colombian music. Ivan subsequently formed his own band - Bloque, which signed to Luaka Bop in New York. More recently, Ivan was a judge on the Colombian version of 'Popstars' . He continues to produce and write music for TV , his own projects and many well known artists in Bogota and New York . Janio Coronado is best known for his work as singer of the salsa band Alquimia, who have recently enjoyed a second wave of success in Colombia and Latin America, although he has had an extensive recording and touring career in Colombia, having sung with most of the top level bands and singers. Richard met him when they recorded 'More Grip', and has been a fan of his ever since. "He has a fantastic presence on stage and has become an integral part of the live Sidestepper show". He has a composition of his own on 3 am, 'No llorare' ,which represents the coastal music tradition that Janio comes from, a key link beween Colombia and the wider Caribbean. Richard met Ronald Infante when he produced a record for his band Asere in Cuba in 1997. He sang on 'More Grip', and Richard wanted to use more of his earthy and romantic voice on this album. "When we wrote the tune ' Dame Tu Querer ' , we knew that only he could sing it. It was very hard to get him out of Cuba, so in the end we had to go to Habana to record him, a worthwhile trip indeed". He is currently singing and recording in Habana. Roberto Cuao is perhaps the most respected and in demand percussionist in Colombia today. He played on 'More Grip' and toured extensively with Sidestepper over the last few years. "He has a fantastic feel, but can play very accurately with programmed beats. For a Latin player he has a very open mind and helped to find innovative and minimal patterns on this record." Jimena Angel has been part of the Sidestepper crew for many years, touring and helping with demos, although on 3 am appeared on record for the first time. She has had some success with her own band Pepa Fresa, and starred in a TV soap opera. "She has a wonderful voice, and really gave the chorus a special quality." She is currently writing and recording her own material in Bogotá. Liliana Montes has been acting and singing for years in Colombia, but only last year made her first record, of music from the pacific coast of Colombia produced by Ivan, which became a cult classic. "She has a deep knowledge of Colombian folk music, and added a very authentic flavour to the voices." Rubi Dan has been MC ing and recording for many years in the London dance scene. Recently he has had an underground hit with drum and bass crew I 'n I. "I was introduced to him by a mutual friend, and Rubi seemed to just get the Sidestepper vibe straight away." He's currently working in London on an album of his own. Jucxi Dee has worked together with Rubi for many years, mostly MCing, and is part of the I'n'I crew. "On this record I wanted to give him the chance to use that lovely voice as a singer, on the tune 'Walking'".

Location London, UK - United Kingdom

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