Puya (band)
Encyclopedia
History
Formed under the name Whisker Biscuit in 1988 and originally playing only instrumentalInstrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
s, the band added vocalist Sergio Curbelo in 1992 and moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale is a city in the U.S. state of Florida, on the Atlantic coast. It is the county seat of Broward County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 165,521. It is a principal city of the South Florida metropolitan area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010...
, where they created a mix of salsa
Salsa music
Salsa music is a genre of music, generally defined as a modern style of playing Cuban Son, Son Montuno, and Guaracha with touches from other genres of music...
and heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
with the assistance of Jeff Renza and the Noiz Boiz production studio. They adopted the name Puya in 1994 with the release of a demo tape. Puya was the first Puerto Rican rock band to achieve a high level of international success.
In 1995, Puya released their eponymous debut album under the Noiz Boiz label. There they also met producer Gustavo Santaolalla
Gustavo Santaolalla
Gustavo Alfredo Santaolalla is an Argentine musician, film composer and producer. He has won two Academy Awards for Best Original Score in two consecutive years, for Brokeback Mountain in 2005 and Babel in 2006.-Life and career:...
who signed them to MCA
Music Corporation of America
MCA, Inc. was an American talent agency. Initially starting in the music business, they would next become a dominant force in the film business, and later expanded into the television business...
and in 1999 released their second album, Fundamental
Fundamental (Puya album)
Fundamental is the second album by Puerto Rican rock band Puya, and their first released on an international label The album was released in 1999.-Track listing:All songs by Puya .#"Oasis"– 3:45#"Fake" – 4:08#"Fundamental" – 4:04...
, which received critical praise. This propelled the band to stardom even landing them in the second stage of Ozzfest
Ozzfest
Ozzfest is an annual festival tour of the United States featuring performances by many heavy metal and hard rock musical groups. It was founded by Ozzy Osbourne and his wife Sharon Osbourne, both of whom also organize each yearly tour with their son Jack Osbourne...
where they shared the opening slot with Slipknot
Slipknot (band)
Slipknot is an American heavy metal band from Des Moines, Iowa. Formed in 1995, the group was founded by percussionist Shawn Crahan and bassist Paul Gray...
in 1999. In 2000, their song "Tírale" was included in the soundtrack of the movie Heavy Metal 2000
Heavy Metal 2000
Heavy Metal 2000 is the 2000 follow-up to the 1981 animated cult film Heavy Metal, based on the fantasy magazine of the same name. The story itself is based on the graphic novel, The Melting Pot, written by Kevin Eastman, Simon Bisley and Eric Talbot...
, and was the collection's only track with Spanish lyrics. The band opened for Sepultura
Sepultura
Sepultura is a Brazilian heavy metal band from Belo Horizonte, formed in 1984. The band was a major force in the death metal, thrash metal and ultimately groove metal realms during the late 1980s and early 1990s, with their later experiments melding nu metal, hardcore punk and industrial.Sepultura...
, Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...
, Pantera
Pantera
Pantera was an American heavy metal band from Arlington, Texas. Formed by the Abbott brothers, Vinnie Paul and Dimebag Darrell in 1981, bassist Rex Brown would join in late 1981 with vocalist Terry Glaze. Looking for a new and heavier sound, Pantera had Terry replaced in 1987 with Phil Anselmo as...
and KISS
KISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
. They also recorded a cover of The Police
The Police
The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For the vast majority of their history, the band consisted of Sting , Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland...
's "Spirits in the Material World
Spirits in the Material World
"Spirits in the Material World" is a song by new wave trio The Police, written by Sting. It is the opening track for their 1981 album Ghost in the Machine. The song features bass, guitar, synthesizer, drums, saxophone, and vocals. It has a Jamaican Ska beat which changes to a swaggering rock beat...
" in Spanish, with the title "Almas en un mundo material". Because sales of the band's 2001 album Union
Union (Puya album)
Union is the third album by Puerto Rican rock band Puya, released by MCA, in 2001.-Background:Union fuses elements of salsa, rap metal, Rock en Español and jazz. Jazz and mambo musician Tito Puente agreed to record a timbale solo on Unión, but died before he could do so...
did not meet MCA's expectations, the label did not renew the band's contract after it had expired in 2002.
Puya reunited in 2009 for two music festivals in Puerto Rico. Puya's most recent performance was on July 4, 2010 at the Rock al Parque festival in Bogota, Colombia and recently in San Juan, Puerto Rico on September 25, 2010. Puya released the digital EP Areyto on iTunes on August 27, 2010.
Musical style and influences
Puya's musical style incorporates elements of salsaSalsa music
Salsa music is a genre of music, generally defined as a modern style of playing Cuban Son, Son Montuno, and Guaracha with touches from other genres of music...
, hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
, heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
and rap metal
Rap metal
Rap metal is a subgenre of rap rock which fuses vocal and instrumental elements of hip hop music with heavy metal.-History:Rap metal originated from rap rock, a genre fusing vocal and instrumental elements of hip hop with rock...
. Puya's influences include the Fania All-Stars
Fania All-Stars
The Fania All-Stars was a musical ensemble established in 1968 by the composer, Johnny Pacheco, as a showcase for the musicians on the record label Fania Records, the leading salsa record company of the time.-Beginnings:...
, Journey
Journey (band)
Journey is an American rock band formed in 1973 in San Francisco by former members of Santana. The band has gone through several phases; its strongest commercial success occurred between the 1978 and 1987, after which it temporarily disbanded...
, Foreigner
Foreigner (band)
Foreigner is a British-American rock band, originally formed in 1976 by veteran English musicians Mick Jones and ex-King Crimson member Ian McDonald along with American vocalist Lou Gramm...
, Kiss
KISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
, REO Speedwagon
REO Speedwagon
REO Speedwagon is an American rock band. Formed in 1967, the band grew in popularity during the 1970s and peaked in the early 1980s. Hi Infidelity is the group's most commercially successful album, selling over ten million copies and charting four Top 40 hits in the US...
, Slayer
Slayer
Slayer is an American thrash metal band formed in Huntington Park, California, in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King. Slayer rose to fame with their 1986 release, Reign in Blood, and is credited as one of the "Big Four" thrash metal acts, along with Metallica, Megadeth and...
, Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
, Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
, Van Halen
Van Halen
Van Halen is an American hard rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. The band has enjoyed success since the release of its debut album, Van Halen, . As of 2007 Van Halen has sold 80 million albums worldwide and has had the most #1 hits on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart...
and Sepultura
Sepultura
Sepultura is a Brazilian heavy metal band from Belo Horizonte, formed in 1984. The band was a major force in the death metal, thrash metal and ultimately groove metal realms during the late 1980s and early 1990s, with their later experiments melding nu metal, hardcore punk and industrial.Sepultura...
. Much of Fundamental
Fundamental (Puya album)
Fundamental is the second album by Puerto Rican rock band Puya, and their first released on an international label The album was released in 1999.-Track listing:All songs by Puya .#"Oasis"– 3:45#"Fake" – 4:08#"Fundamental" – 4:04...
is based on punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
and heavy metal with salsa-influenced sections. Union
Union (Puya album)
Union is the third album by Puerto Rican rock band Puya, released by MCA, in 2001.-Background:Union fuses elements of salsa, rap metal, Rock en Español and jazz. Jazz and mambo musician Tito Puente agreed to record a timbale solo on Unión, but died before he could do so...
fuses rap metal, Rock en Español
Rock en Español
Rock en español is the Spanish-language rock music. While the term is used widely in English, it is used in Spanish mainly to distinguish such music from "Anglo rock." It is a style of rock music that developed in Latin American countries and Latino communities, along with other genres like...
, salsa and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
.
Band members
- Ramon OrtizRamon Ortiz (musician)Ramon Ortiz is a Puerto Rican guitarist, best known as a member of the band Puya. He is currently sponsored by Fernandes Guitars, who built him his first signature 7 string tribal themed guitar, designed by him....
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s - Eduardo Paniagua – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
- Harold Hopkins – bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Sergio Curbelo – vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
Discography
- Whisker Biscuit (1994)
- Puya (1995)
- FundamentalFundamental (Puya album)Fundamental is the second album by Puerto Rican rock band Puya, and their first released on an international label The album was released in 1999.-Track listing:All songs by Puya .#"Oasis"– 3:45#"Fake" – 4:08#"Fundamental" – 4:04...
(1999) - UnionUnion (Puya album)Union is the third album by Puerto Rican rock band Puya, released by MCA, in 2001.-Background:Union fuses elements of salsa, rap metal, Rock en Español and jazz. Jazz and mambo musician Tito Puente agreed to record a timbale solo on Unión, but died before he could do so...
(2001) - AreytoAreytoAreyto is an independently recorded EP by Puerto Rican rock band Puya, released digitally in 2010.-Background:Puya disbanded in 2002 while several members worked on their own projects...
(2010)