BIOGRAPHY
Last update: May 3rd, 2011
TenTemPiés is an international collective of musicians based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Their music is an innovative and exciting blend of flavours, mixing Latin rock with ska and reggae with an Amsterdam twist: Damsko Mestizo! Formed during the summer of 2008, TenTemPiés has by now performed its energetic and inspiring live shows at an impressive number of venues.
Written by Maurino Alarcón and his band, their characteristic music is inspired by political issues and social injustice worldwide. Maurino’s parents, both Chilean, fled from the coup d’etat by the Pinochet regime and arrived in The Netherlands as political refugees in 1973. Growing up in Amsterdam, he is nevertheless strongly influenced by music and art inspired by progressive artists from Chile and Latin America, like Victor Jara, Quilapayun, Inti-Illimani and Silvio Rodriguez.
In 2009 TenTemPiés participated in a band competition called ‘Amsterdamse Popprijs’ in which they made it to the finals. That same year, TenTemPiés published its first demo EP, which sold out within a year at the live shows. Exactly a year later, in March 2010, a second EP called ‘Por Ahora’ followed. A limited edition of this EP was pressed and sold to collect money for the victims of the earthquake that hit Chili in February 2010.
In a side project, Maurino Alarcón was one of the twelve guest vocalists contributing to the album ‘Across’ (Unexpected Records, 2010) of well-known Dutch composer/producer Perquisite. Their unexpected collaboration resulted in the song ‘Me Despido’, which was dubbed “maybe the most beautiful song of the album” in music magazine OOR.
On June 15th 2011, TenTemPiés released its long awaited debut album ‘Canto Para Gritar’, which has received raving reviews by the Dutch music media. After a sold out CD presentation in Amsterdam’s pop temple Paradiso, an extensive tour of club shows and festivals followed such as Bevrijdingsfestival, Amsterdam Roots, Haarlem Jazz Stad, Uitmarkt and the Popronde. Besides this TenTemPiés has shared the stage with notable bands like Che Sudaka, La Pegatina, The Black Seeds, La Troba Kung-Fu, Ojos de Brujo and Molotov.
TenTemPiés opened 2012 with a short tour through Germany, followed by an impressive list of summer festivals: Bevrijdingsfestival Wageningen, Dunya, Festival Mundial, Oerol, Zomerparkfeest, Uitmarkt and Babypop to name a few. In October the band crossed the borders again, this time for a tour across France and Spain. In March 2013 the band crossed the ocean for a tour through Chili, back to the musical roots of front-man Maurino Alarcón.
Upon returning in Amsterdam, TenTemPiés presented their new EP ‘A Casa Tierra’ on April 18th in a packed Bitterzoet. For the mastering of the EP the band turned to Andrew Baldwin (The Who, The Orb, Hidden Orchestra) at the famous Metropolis Studios in London. With the 6-track EP, including a remix of the award-winning Dutch producer Perquisite, TenTemPiés is now fully geared up to spread their music and message even further, in The Netherlands, Europe and beyond.
TenTemPiés is:
Maurino Alarcón (vocals, guitar)
Jouke Schwarz (elec. guitar, backing vocals)
Nathan Klumperbeek (bass, backing vocals)
Remco Menting (drums)
Miguel Padron (percussion)
Lucian McGuiness (trombone)
Matias Varela (trombone)
A tip for all festival programmers: the band TenTemPiés. One word: PARTY! – Aram Haagsman, The Tunes
When I saw them play live for the first time I was sold. In Maurino Alarcón the group has a charismatic leader and it’s clear that TenTemPiés is able to just rock any crowd. – Perquisite
A good socially engaged latino party! Right from our own 020 (Amsterdam). – DJ Tommi
I’d been hearing good things about TenTemPiés around the Amsterdam scene for quite a while, but I gotta say when I finally got around to seeing ‘em live they far exceeded my expectations. These guys are deadly, do yourself a favor and check them out. – Geoff Lagadec, Jaya The Cat
