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• culture an traditions
• Culture and Traditions
• Havana
• Music
• national
• personalities
• Personalities
• 01 / 16 / 2010

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It was not a coincidence that the Brazilian rock band, Sepultura, in their recent visit to Cuba, invited them to share their stage. And that is because Chlover is still preferred among the public, which has classified them as one of the best bands in Cuba.

Its members, the drum player and director Orlando Acosta, the guitar players Alain Echeverría and Milton Núñez, the bass player Noel Camerotta and the singer Michel Hernández, despite the fact that they still have no album production, have already the second rock DVD in Cuba, with the characteristic that the first one also belongs to them.

The band was founded in the Havana municipality of Artemisa, on December 13, 2002. Their beginnings were marked by performances in their town and in some places from the capital which made them somewhat famous in the world of metal rock.

Orlando Acosta says that the jump to popularity of the band came through their television performances in the program Cuerda Viva and Lucas, apart from the radio show Sabarock. Despite this, he holds the rock festivals in a special place: “They are
the only chance to extend the genre to every province in the country.”

- What does the Cuban Rock Agency means for this sort of bands?

- The Agency was a dream come true, a kind of award for the followers of this genre in our country. We needed an institution to support and recognise our music, as well as to offer us places for our concerts. When  Patio de María closed down, lovers of Rock and Roll saw all of our hopes to revolutionize the genre in our country, go away. The opening of the agency made us regain the spirit.

Orlando, however, stated that many of the bands founded by the Agency, including Chlover, have been limited to the spaces from the Maxim to develop their shows and have lacked participation in the festivals.

- The Achilles Talon of the genre in the country is its poor promotion?

- Cuban rock has to be promoted all over the world. There is more than enough talent, bands such as Hipnosis, Escape, Tendencia and Zeus are of the highest level and may perform on any stage. To interact with other publics and even with artists from different parts of the world, may be beneficial for us.

The mixture of Cuban genres, especially the young alternative music, that of Benny, Van Van and from Buena Vista Social Club is included as the main pool in their compositions.

The songs deal with social themes. They include problems with the personalities, codes referring to nationality and everyday life of the Cuban. At first the themes were in English. “It is a very musical language.

When you write, you are practically making the words sound,” says Milton Núñez, who is in charge of a good deal of the arrangements of the band.

“But the message was very far away from the public –went on the guitar player. Then we decided to change again to Spanish, so Cuban fans might understand our messages better.”

For seven years of their career, the band from Artemisa has achieved many awards from the specialized critic and from the audience. But for Chlover the high point of their trajectory was “when we were declared founders of the Cuban Rock Agency.

To be the only group from outside Havana within that catalogue boosted us. They were recognizing the effort and talent of everyone. Apart from that, the opportunity to play with Sepultura, was an amazing experience,” expressed Noel Camerotta, bass player from the band.

Chlover, rather that drum beats and powerful riffs, is “the chance to make your dream come true if you fight for it and you dedicate your life to it –says Milton. We are part of Cuban music. Our work is to make it richer and more open.”

Source: www.jrebelde.cubaweb.cu  and Cubarte