Album Notes

CURARE’s music can be defined as Longo-Metal , an Ecuadorian, Latin-American reinterpretation of various currents of hard rock. Mestizo music, or musical mestization, combines the extreme sounds of Andean and Afro rhythms (Andean flutes, zampoñas, rondador) with distorted guitars and hard core rhythms. The resulting sound is a celebration of young Andean rock.

Since early 2001, CURARE has been one of the most prominent bands within the Ecuadorian Rock circuit. Holding themselves within Radio Latina’s Top Ten during the entire 2004 year, Curare is the only band within the extreme rock genre to perform multiple times in Ecuador’s “Teatro Nacional” or National Theater- the capital’s most exclusive venue.

On February 2002, the band broke into the national scene by being selected as one of the eight bands nationwide to include two songs on the compilation CD “Desarme Vol 1” and in 2003 their first album titled “Comando Urbano” was released. The album was recorded at IAVQ studios in Quito under the direction of Chilean Sound Engineer Felipe Mardones.

Months after the release of the “Comando Urbano” album, the track “Lluchi Caimanda Gringos” was chosen to form part of the Soundtrack of the Ecuadorian film “Ni Cagando” and in January 2005, CURARE released a music video of the song incorporating images from the film.

In July 2004, CURARE was elected among headlining artists to inaugurate the “Social Forum of the Americas,” held for the first time in Quito- Ecuador, as well as for the closing night of the OCLAE Congress during that same month. Beginning in 2003, CURARE showcased in the largest annual rock festival “Semana del Rock” or Week of Rock, playing side by side with 100 bands from throughout the country. Subsequently, these honors have helped the band maintain their status as a headlining band.

Due to their unique musical fusion, the band has participated in a variety of diverse events unavailable to ordinary rock bands. The first was a performance at the ethnomusicologists colloquium held by countries under the Andres Bello convention. Second, the band played a critical role in the academic work of ethnomusicologist Juan Mullo: “New Notions of Musical Identity”. Lastly, CURARE performed in the native opera “Ayahuasca” written by jazz guitarist Dave West, along with indigenous musicians from three major regions of Ecuador. Curare was also a part of the 2005 Quito Fest, festival in which international bands play alongside Ecuadorian artists with an audience of 30,000 each year. Curare has covered Ecuador’s entire terrain touring playing in coastal, Andean and Jungle regions of the county in cities and towns like El Coca, Guayaquil, Ibarra, Otavalo, Latacunga, Pasaje and Cotacachi.

During the summer of 2005, Curare’s single “Taita Imbabura” was included in the CD compilation “Latino Aphrodisiac Summer 2005” put out by US Rock en Espanol Magazine, BOOM, one of the genre’s major music publications. Later that fall, CDBaby.com chose CURARE’s album “Comando Urbano” as the Editor’s Pick for the week, giving Curare 5 stars and an excellent review. Currently, “Comando Urbano” still remains an Editor’s Pick under the “Rock en Espanol” category.

In June 2006, Curare was invited to attend Canada's most important music festival North By North East (NXNE), in Toronto.

Presently, CURARE is touring to promote their second album “Radical Accion” out through Ecuador’s rock label, Desarme Records.