DILEMASTRONAUTA y La Tripulación Cósmica - SLEEPWALK (EP)

DILEMASTRONAUTA y La Tripulación Cósmica - led by Combo Chimbita-drummer Andres Jimenez - present their second band offering featuring a new line up that adds Carlos Rienzo, the sole millo flute player in the US. “To me there’s no one like him in the city,” says Jiménez. “It really wouldn’t be what it is without Carlos,” who sings, plays percussion, gaita and the millo, a high-pitched wind instrument, “a flute that is meant to play Colombian music and we’re putting it in a different context. To me it’s one of the most unique lineups that I work with.” The group also features NY-Bogotá mainstays Ricardo Gallo (Los ALiENs) on synthesizers and Juan Ospina (M.A.K.U. Soundsystem) on bass.

“This project was born out of a musical residency down in Bushwick at this place called Sleepwalk. I wanted to understand and play with the millo flute. I was interested in the way it’s played and how it would sound in a non-traditional context. So we had the luck to have Carlos Rienzo, and we were trying to find common grounds as to how to interact musically. We started exploring these traditional songs and that led to the creation of two original songs. But these songs and the way we played it really was born from playing it live in front of people."

To document and celebrate the group's new line up, DILEMASTRONAUTA y La Tripulación Cósmica are releasing a limited edition 12-inch vinyl EP comprising three traditionals and two original songs, featuring cover art by Bogotano artist Mateo Rivano. “Most times we have to look back to different sources to understand how to move forward. And in this case, I hope that this we’re doing is some kind of reference as to what I was about musically and how I feel about the world,” says DILEMASTRONAUTA, who sees the EP as “a diary for my daughter.”