Respect | Raggabund

Raggabund

Meet brothers Paco Mendoza and Don Caramel. Together, the duo are known as Raggabund, the German band that mixes reggae, dub, ska, cumbia, salsa, hip hop, raggamuffin and electronic beats. Formed in Munich more than 15 years ago, they have been producing reggae, latin and dancehall music for their fans worldwide. Whether together with their backing band, ‘The Dubby Conquerors’ (winners of the European Reggae Contest) or as a sound system crew, Raggabund are always a guarantee for energetic shows!

Paco Mendoza, an artist who recently released his solo album, ‘Conscious y Positivo’ along with the legendary DJ Vadim Hip-Hop, is a multi-talented artist. In addition to his role as a singer and guitarist in Raggabund, he’s also works as a producer and composer. His song, ‘La Frekuencia’, was used in 2014 in Ridley Scott’s film ‘The Counselor’ (Brad Pitt, Penélope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Javier Bardem, Michael Fassbender) and also served as a template for the theme song. He’s also moderates the weekly ‘WDR Funkhaus Europa’, his radio show on Mestizo FM.

Don Caramelo gained his first experience in the hip-hop scene, and since 1995 has been fronting the crossover band ‘Les Babacools’. Together with the “Baba”, he toured successfully throughout Europe and has published several albums.

Their new album, ‘Buena Medicina’, was developed in close collaboration with ‘The Dubby Conquerors’. The album’s 13 songs consist of rich, warm, analog sounds of jazzy tones (Yesterday was yesterday) to pumping basslines of New Cumbia beats (Chilling). With ‘Buena Medicina’, they merge their love for reggae and Latin beats to a fine blend of organic sounds and handmade grooves. The new production is a tribute to the beginnings of the offbeat: The original cumbia or the Jamaican roots reggae.

Their tour of South America (which begins on September 19 in São Paulo, in free concert in the Independent Culture Month) is organized by the Goethe-Institut and the PASCH! – Schools Project: a partnership for the future.

Paco and Caramel are looking forward to their tour of 13 shows in South America and promise to make a logbook of their experience. “Our mother is Peruvian and our father is of Paraguayan-German origin. We spent the first years of our lives in Brazil, Argentina, Nicaragua and Honduras. And then we moved to Munich, where we travel to Peru and Paraguay to visit relatives. So we feel at home in Latin America,” says Paco.