Gondwana

One of Chile's most popular and longest-running reggae acts, Gondwana was formed by bass player Claudio "I-Locks" Labbé in Santiago in 1987. Inspired by The Police's surprise performance at the 1982 Viña del Mar Festival, Labbé picked up the bass and quickly gathered a couple of friends who began rehearsing together in the early 1990s. Even though they managed to build a substantial following in the early days of their career, the group still struggled to find their footing in the scene and it wasn't until the arrival of singer Quique Neira that things finally took off. Gondwana, their studio debut, was released in 1997 to great critical acclaim. In 2000, the group issued their sophomore effort Alabanza, which found them honing in on their love of roots reggae on the hit singles "Antonia," "Sólo es Verdadero (El Amor de Jah)," and "Libertad." Despite Gondwana's ever-growing popularity in Chile and in the rest of Latin America, Quique Neira decided to abandon the group to pursue a solo career shortly after the release of 2002's Made in Jamaica. Neira's spot was filled in by Kingo on Crece (2004) and later by MC Jona and Maxi Vargas on Resiliente (2007). Over the next few years, Gondwana experienced a surge in popularity in Argentina, earning two nominations to the Gardel Awards for their albums Revolución (2012) and Reggae and Roll (2014), which mainly consisted of covers of Soda Stereo, Divididos, and other Argentine rock bands. Carpe Diem, their eighth studio effort, hit the shelves in 2017.

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