Colombian artist Jan Carlos Torres Alonso goes under the pseudonym of OKRAA. His latest magnificent joint, ‘Mineral’ just out on Hot Gem Tunes, swirling kaleidoscopic psych, twinkling percussive interjections and chanted mantras, are given foundation by bountifully bounding ‘house’ bass and beats. It encapsulates the sights and sound of the throbbing sweltering Colombian capital city of Bogota: and it’s absolutely glorious…
For OKRAA, his experiences playing live have steered his songwriting naturally into the direction of ‘Mineral’: “I’ve been very into representing euphoria through sound. I’ve been approaching songs from my live act way of doing stuff and jamming to modules and beats progressively; I’ve had this ‘layering’ way of developing my musical ideas. It’s more minimal.”
However, while his successes to date have taken his sound into newfound pastures, the electro artist still stays true to his early musical roots. As he puts it himself, “in terms of sampling there’s a virtual instrument I created by processing the cuatro llanero, which is a native string instrument from Colombia. It’s the lead, high, kind of bells sound on the track. This has a lot of what I feel my music is: a representation of who I am. I’m a very Colombian dude, but I’m very in contact with what’s happening everywhere.”
