Bomba Estéreo

History

The group's roots trace to 2001, when Simón Mejía, formerly of the 1990s Colombian alternative rock band Charconautas, participated in the collective A.M. 770, which included musicians and visual artists. That collective drew influence from Colombian acts like Sidestepper and Bloque de Busqueda, who had begun fusing traditional Colombian rhythms such as salsa and cumbia with electronic dance music. A.M. 770's first track, "Ritmika," appeared on the 2002 compilation Colombeat, assembled by Aterciopelados for their label Entrecasa.

By 2005, Mejía had turned A.M. 770 into his solo project and renamed it Bomba Estéreo, releasing the mini-album Vol. 1 in 2006. After attending the Latin Alternative Music Conference in New York City, he secured an international distribution deal with Nacional Records and a Colombian deal with Polen Records. One vocalist on Vol. 1, Liliana "Li" Saumet, had previously sung for the dub reggae band Mister Gomes en Bombay. Mejía then collaborated with Saumet and Diego Cadavid on the next album.

By the 2008 release Estalla, Bomba Estéreo had become a full band including Saumet, Cadavid, Julián Salazar, and Enrique "Kike" Egurrola. Estalla was released in the US as Blow Up, and its single "Fuego" helped the group win MTV Iggy's "Best New Band in the World" for 2010.

Awards and nominations

Bomba Estéreo have received eleven Latin Grammy Award nominations. At the 23rd Annual Latin Grammy Awards, Liliana Saumet and Simón Mejía each earned a second nomination for Album of the Year, Saumet as a songwriter on Bad Bunny's Un Verano Sin Ti and Mejía as a producer on Fonseca's Viajante. The band have also received four Grammy Award nominations and three Premio Nuestra Tierra nominations. They won a Revista Shock Award for Best Group for Elegancia Tropical, an iTunes Award for Best New Artist for Elegancia Tropical, and the MTV Iggy Award for Best New Band in the World for Estalla / Blow Up.