FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nag Champayons Celebrate New Single / Debut Video “Brazilian LSD” at Wynwood Yard December 2
Little Haiti’s Afrogalactic / tropidelic outfit issue new psychedelic garage funk single, equally spaced out video
Miami, FL – November 17, 2016 – With each successive release, the Nag Champayons have raised the Miami musical bar in terms of creativity, messaging and collaborative efforts. On December 2, 2016 the group will once again blow away convention with a heady and infectious new single, and visually stunning video called “Brazilian LSD”. They will celebrate the release with a screening and performance at Wynwood Yard (56 NW 29th St, Miami, FL 33127) during an Art Basel weekend event beginning at 10 p.m. The show is open to all ages, and there is no cover to attend.
The new number describes a flight of fancy triggered by a certain South American psychoactive substance. “Just try and relax,” the seductress Yopo Ono says (played by local photographer Alissa Christine, who also shot stills of the band for the video). From there, the song goes from a percussive Marakatu intro, to the band chanting “no falo português pero muito obrigado”, yielding to the driving, mid-tempo groove that forms the bulk of the song.
“This is a hook I’ve had in my head for some time, one that would occasionally pop up during band improv jams,” says co-founder and bassist Edwin Cardona. “Recently, I’ve heard lots of talk and seen ads about people going to South America for an ayahuasca retreat, and how it’s supposedly better than psychotherapy. In a way, this inspired the concept of the band getting lured into the jungle, and then being psychically transported to another plane of existence by the female shaman, who is played by Yuly Pavon.”
Where the band’s 2015 Rising Sounds of a Sinking City, eight-movement, 21-minute theme was dark, serious, and ominous, this new song is funky, danceable, and playful. It is a sonic and visual, if not tongue-in-cheek, representation of the shamanism that originates and is still present in the Amazon basin.
The track was recorded at City of Progress Studio by Andrew YeomansonAKA DJ Le Spam, who also mixed it, along with the group. Mastering credit goes to Cacolici. Produced by the band, “Brazilian LSD” features Cardona, co-founder Ryan Cacolici (keyboards / mouth harp), Jose Elias on guitar, Ephniko on vocals, drummer / percussionist Kenneth Metzker,percussionist Nery Arrevalo, and vocalist Komakozie.
“This song almost happened backwards – it was there as a jam, but when we played the full arrangement live at the Okeechobee Fest in early spring, the video concept really came together,” says Cacolici. “Once the vision occurred that night, where the jaguar chases a naked Ed through the jungle, that’s when the lyrics and video concept came together. It’s really the first time we did something with a focused intention.” Although the keyboardist and visual artist has been involved in editing and production before, this is the first time he’s actually produced one all the way through.
The video was shot and edited at 7th Circuit Studio by J Dude, and also features a cameo appearance by 7th Circuit founder Ray Orraca, who plays the part of a shaman. The Dude also contributed to the post-production effects. Cacolici, who art directed the video, continues: “We’ve been focused on the video for the last couple of months, and it was great to incorporate the Moksha Family Arts Collective, which has always been our home turf. We had the Okeechobee experience because of Ray and the 7th Circuit stage, so it was cool to shoot the green screen there and bring him into it.”
The video will be issued on the band’s YouTube Channel – be sure to subscribe to receive an alert when the video is pushed live. The single will be released on CD Baby, iTunes, and Spotify, which will all be accessible through the band’s website December 2nd.
For more details, visit www.NagChampayons.com or call 786.280.0727.
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ABOUT THE NAG CHAMPAYONS
It’s Frank Zappa and Serge Gainsbourg wrestling Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra. It’s Sonic Youth’s plane crashing into Fela Kuti’s boat in the Everglades on the hottest day of summer. “Afro-Floyd,” said one listener. The group began in the early 2000s as an improvisational collective whose name came out of the burning of Nag Champa incense during early jams.
They currently feature Ryan Cacolici on keyboards, Edwin Cardona (bass), Jose Elias on guitar, Kenneth Metzker, Nestor Prieto, and Nery Arrevalo (percussion), and Ephinko and and Michael “Komikaze” Rodney on vocals.
The Nags won the Broward Palm Beach New Times‘ award for “Best Band Name” in 2004. Drawing from African, Caribbean, hip-hop, rock and jazz influences, they have consistently amazed crowds with their diversity, quickly rising to the top of Miami’s music and art scene. The group enjoyed a years-long monthly residence at the Hollywood, FL Mystic Kava Bar, calling it “Psychedelic Jazz Practice.”
On the heels of their lauded single “James Brown’s A$$,” the band was invited by the Brooklyn Academy of Music to perform as part of two of their premiere productions, the Si Cuba Festival and the Dance Africa Festival. As part of the Moksha Family Visionary artist collective, the Nags have had the honor to collaborate on stage with notable live painters Alex Grey, Mark Henson and Alex Sastoque.
The Nag Champayons continue to challenge convention; first with their 2012 self-titled EP featuring the acclaimed single “183rd St. Flea Market,” which includes contributions from long-time Nag collaborators El Chino Dread Lion (Yerba Buena) and Itagui from Locos Por Juana, then with their brilliant 2015 concept album Rising Sounds of a Sinking City, and now with their heady and infectious new single and video, “Brazilian LSD”.
For more, visit www.NagChampayons.com or call 786.280.0727.
MEDIA CONTACT
Michael Mut
Mut Communications
786.426.2277
info@mutcomm.com