Rock 'n' Roll 'n' Blues Women!

Las Kellies started in 2005 when three girls met at a gig in Buenos Aires, decided to have a band together and borrowed their friend's amps and instruments. Their third album, Kellies - released by Fire Records and mixed by Dennis Bovell (see The Slits, Madness, Fela Kuti), sees Las Kellies mixing catchy garage sounds with dub and post-punk that has earned 8/10 in NME and 4/5 in BUZZ.

Singing in Spanish, English, German, Japanese, Portuguese, Catalan and French, Las Kellies spent several years ensuring their prominence on the Argentinian music scene. With their first record, Shaking Dog! (2007), they created an irresistible blend of raw, spicy rock that owes as much to old rock and roll as it does the Raincoats, which turned out to be a veritable birthday party of a record.

In 2009 their second independent record, Kalimera, was released. That same year Las Kellies took the new, tighter songs on their first international tour, Rocking the Old World, unleashing their infectious energy onto Europe with their garage rhythms, teasing impertinence and all-out fun live shows that incorporate the dress sense of Devo and the bounciness of ESG.

Las Kellies are: Ceci Kelly, guitar and vocals; Betty Kelly, bass and vocals; Sil Kelly, drums and vocals.

Interview with the band Kellies from Buenos Aires on occasion of their concert at the ladiyfest Berlin.

After meeting at the Belladona festival in Buenos Aires in late 2006, five Argentine girls and one Mexican got together to experiment playing cumbia, and the Kumbia Queers were born. Although they’ve been playing live shows for a little over a year, all are veteran musicians; bassist Patricia “Kumbiadaver”, guitarrist Pila “Zombie” Jackson, and drummer “Inspector” also play in the Argentine queercore band the She Devils. Strumming the charango is accoustic punk musician Juana Chang, and lead singer Ali “Guaguanco” is a successful DJ and front-woman for Mexican dyke punk band the Ultrasonicas. In the past year, the Kumbia Queers have toured in both North and South America, and the 2007 video of their cover hit “La Isla con Chicas” was considered “Revelation of the Year” on YouTube and currently has over fifty thousand hits.

We sat down with the Kumbia Queers in Ali’s apartment in Colonia Doctores a few days after their packed show at the Centro Cultural España. Over a bottle of tequila we discussed their opinions about the difference between punk and cumbia, women in the music industry, and the meaning of the word queer.

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