Sonido Del Principe

Sonido Del Principe aka Vince the Prince runs a cultural hub of electronic media by the name Generationbass.com with the help from Dj umb. A tasty blend of all things worldly. I recently had a chance to discuss things with him questions such as how the hell does some one from the Netherlands end up listening to Cumbia.

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Here’s the interview:

Vince, the first question I must ask is how does anyone, living somewhere between Middelbeers, Haghorst and Diessen, have an interest in Cumbia? When was your first exposure to the sounds of Colombia?

Yes it’s kinda strange right? But it all started when MAGA BO left a couple of mixtapes over here, on one of them was a cumbia track, el hijo de la cumbia’s edit of la mara tomasa. That one kinda got me hooked. Then a couple of months later, SONIDO MARTINES was over here and gave me 2 more mixtapes, then I was really hooked. I remember playing a VAMPIROS DEEJAY mixtape for months on end!

As a DJ, a blogger (generationbass.com), and a producer where do you draw your inspiration from? Does the fact that there is a new international family of Cumbia/Latin artists have anything to do with it?

I get inspired by new sounds man, new stuff I discover online or old records i find at the local fleamarket or garage sales. Of course, the fact that a lot of peeps are online these days and everybody sends each other new tracks and mp3’s helps out a lot as well. It’s just great that everybody wants to share their music this way, there’s no ego thing, it’s just all 4 da love of cumbia!

What is the music scene like where you live and how did you get started in it?

Over here there’s a big mainstream scene, rock, metal and pop & house are popular, dubstep and bass oriented music is coming up. Cumbia, Kuduro and Baile Funk are almost unknown, but we try to change that! I started out in a punk band, played all over the world, made over 7 albums. The musical journey went on through electro and dancehall, all the way to CUMBIA!!

Have you started your night at Cul de Sac? If so, what do you play? If not, what do you prefer to play when you do play out?

Yep, the nights at local bar CUL DE SAC have begun! That’s just a lot of fun man, I play lots of CUMBIA VILLERA, but also more traditional cumbia stuff and new remixes and tracks by the people from all over the globe. Later on the night we also play some dancehall and sometimes throw the tempo up with some KUDURO, which is great dance music from ANGOLA, but that also depends on who our guest DJ is…

I actually use to live 103km from where you stay (Kalkar, Germany) and i’m curious as to how things have changed over the last ten years but a more appropriately how did YOU end up in the Netherlands?

Hey man, i was born here… Lives in Tilburg most my life, short stint at Rotterdam, a bigger city, but mostly Tilburg!

Do you go out to see shows? What’s been your favorite show to date and why?

Yep, whenever something good is around I try to go see it. Among my favorite shows are the ones by DOUSTER (ZZK, argentina), VILLA DIAMANTE and of course SONIDO MARTINES, but i’ve also seen great shows by CONGOROCK and by dubstep dudes BAR9.

Where do you see the cumbia music scene going in the next few years?

I hope for here, CUMBIA will go a bit bigger, not really large, but big enough to throw some decent parties and get the people moving. Musically, I think there will be a lot of genre blends. I really like mashups with cumbia, but on the other hand I also hope there will be enough artists like EL DIPY or EL ORIGINAL, who keep the cumbia very VILLERA!

You’ve had some love on the blog scene, with Bersa and Peligrosa is loving your sounds too, what are your plans for the future? Are you considering releasing a full lenght LP?

Well, I’ve had some offers to be honest, but I’m already happy people play my tracks and remixes out and other people get a chance to enjoy them. I have a stack of material ready right now, also some older stuff, which I plan to zip and throw online as a free DL album. After that I will start on new material, maybe some of it will be released, I can’t say yet… I think it’s good to have free music out there man, I love the idea of not charging money for my creative process.

What other projects are upcoming for you?

I’m working on a new track with a female rapper from France named KAYA, working on a whole bunch of new remixes (some known tracks, some unknown artists as well) and I’ve just bought a KEYTAR! I plan to start recording new material with vocals and trademark keytar and accordion sounds, played by myself! Of course it will remain basssssss heavy and I’ll just keep adding influences from all over the world…

Thanks!

No thank you man! Thanks for your time and dedication to CUMBIA!!!

Much love!!