Artist:San Lazaro

How does a band from Melbourne, Australia, come to sound like this? blending old school salsa, reggae and funk with Latinoamerican folk styles so effortlessly and convincingly? How did this continent of kangaroos and deserts produce such emotive and raw Spanish language songwriting? like some kind of bizarre lovechild of Reuben Blades and Victor Jara, or a latino incarnation of Johnny Cash backed by the Fania all stars... “It’s all about Serindipity” according to San Lazaro’s lead singer/songwriter Franchesco “Keko” Viran. This unlikely group of musicians came together in the musical melting pot of inner city Fitzroy. Migrants from Latin America and Australian musicians found themselves playing together, pumping out the classics of salsa and mambo to seething crowds week after week when at some point it just became it’s own thing. No longer a bunch of songs from across oceans and decades but real home grown Australian Latin music, reflecting the experiences and culture of yet ...