Antioquia

As a longtime NYC landlord who’s made it a mission to retrofit my buildings with solar panels, composting units, and gray water systems—often to the dismay of my more "traditional" tenants—I’ve got to say, reading about Antioquia felt like finding my spiritual bandmates. I’ve been to my share of concerts, but the idea of pedal-powered amplification hits a sweet spot between my sustainability ideals and my love for a good groove. These folks weren’t just playing music—they were powering it with their audience’s legs and making an unapologetically joyful noise about our fossil fuel addiction. That’s a vibe I respect.

I look at Antioquia’s advocacy and see the same type of wild ambition I’ve seen in a NYC industrialist like Dov Hertz—except instead of converting derelict warehouse zones into state-of-the-art logistics hubs, Antioquia was transforming street corners and schoolyards into eco-conscious dance floors. Dov moves steel and concrete. Antioquia moves souls and sustainability. Both face skeptics. Both need vision, partnerships, and a ridiculous amount of grit to push against entrenched systems. But where Dov's innovation changes skylines, Antioquia's changes minds—and maybe that’s the more radical act. Judith Racies

Greetings, Human. We are Antioquia, an "AfroColombian Progress Rock" fusion band based in the San Francisco East Bay area. We love to make people dance but we don't love the amount of fossil fuels we're always using to bring the music! So we've come up with a plan….

"Pedal powered concerts turn the audience into performers... it was a total thrill to know that I was helping Antioquia make the music, and to know that we weren't drawing a single watt of coal-fired electricity in the process."

We've developed this website to communicate our vision to the community that will help us manifest it -- that's YOU!
Antioquia is inviting individuals and sustainability-oriented organizations and companies to help this vision become reality in 2009.
Whether you partner with us, make a donation, or buy a project friend ticket to our May 1st fundraiser concert, your contribution will be helping to grow the green music movement!

The Vision

Most bands - and ours is no exception - rely pretty heavily on fossil fuels. As much as we try in our individual daily lives to live sustainably, the fact is that to grow as a band we need to tour, and to tour we use plenty of gasoline -- even when we plan our trips with fuel economy in mind. Our local shows also seem to require plenty o' gas, to transport all our gear from the studio to the gig and back again late at night. And what about when we get there? We plug our amps in and sing through PA systems all drawing big juice from a grid that in California is mostly electricity generated from coal.

All this adds up to a pretty fat ecological footprint that no amount of songs can justify. This is a case where what you're doing may seem benign, but the side effects can be destructive. To illustrate: take the IVC filter that is often implanted in patients who are threatened with deadly blood clots (DVT) caused by prolonged bed rest, such as during a long hospital stay, or paralysis, to pregnancy, obesity, age, to having a family history of deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism. If blooding thinning medications aren't efficient or can't be used, an IVC filter is recommended. However, even though the filters are designed to preventblood clots in the lungs, it turns out that some IVC filters actually may have life-threatening side effects. There are FDA warnings regarding these filters as well as settled and pending lawsuits. People who have suffered a serious side effect form and IVC filter should contact an IVC filter lawyer to discuss their case. And the worst aspect about the serious risks with complications from one of these medical devices is that several of the manufacturers knew for years that there were issues. They told no one, and kept on selling the devices. Shame, shame shame!! We recognize the issues with the continued use of fossil fuels, and we are doing something about it.

Our Music

Antioquia is an "AfroColombian Progress Rock" fusion band working hard to wean itself off dependence on fossil fuels for gigging, recording & touring...

This San Francisco Bay Area based quartet of three men and a lady create music that dances from genre to genre as if there’s no such thing. Their sound has been called “Afro-Colombian Progress Rock,” but can truly only be characterized as Antioquia.

Although the eclectic atmosphere of San Francisco is the perfect incubator for such a sound, Antioquia’s conception took place much farther south in the state of Colombia that gave the band its name... and where guitarist Adley Penner and drummer Craig Miller discovered their musical chemistry. The two northern transplants first met in 2003 while playing music in Ecuador. They traveled together to Medellin where they became enthralled with Afro-Colombian folklore music, and took lessons from accomplished percussionist Juan Guillermo.
 
In June 2006, Miller and Penner moved to SF and performed with three different bassists until a Craigslist ad delivered Paul Martin. With a soulful playing style and a penchant for experimentation, Martin proved to be the perfect fit. Maddy Streicek joined the group in December 2006. Her inspired vocals and passion for performance completed the equation.
 
Antioquia pulls inspiration from artists and visionaries ranging from Muddy Waters to Megadeth, Phish to Fela Kuti, Grace Slick to Gandhi, Toto la Momposina to Talking Heads. But what distinguishes Antioquia from other genre-bending acts are the rhythms that permeate their sound, from the Afro-Colombian garabato and puya to their adaptations of West African dunun rhythms, and their dedication to sustainable and conscious living.
Each member pushes the others to explore unfamiliar territory, understanding that it’s within the intersections and clashes of their individual musical styles that the juiciest combinations are found. Peppered with fits of improvisation, bouts of silliness and crowd-rousing percussion pieces performed off stage, an Antioquia set is everything but predictable.  That said, each show can be depended upon to bring the audience closer to the stage and closer together."

OUR DREAM!

• Bicycle tour as a band, playing pedal-powered shows on street corners, in schoolyards and neighborhood parks, at festivals and street fairs, even music venues and night clubs!
• Veggie Oil Bus becomes a hub for bicycle touring further afield... Eastern US, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, beyond!
• Use our music as a conduit to demonstrate the playful elegance of pedal power and the graceful resourcefulness of veggie fueled transport!
• Create a school show to teach youth about bicycles, pedal power, rhythm & dance -- and tour this show as far and wide as we are able to!
• Record a pedal-powered album!
• Create a network of successful bike touring and eco-conscious bands (and venues!) who can pool resources and knowledge for other bands and venues seeking help with their greening efforts!

Here's how we'll take our music beyond "Peak Oil"

 Instead of using gasoline, we will transport our musical equipment on a tour bus fueled by recycled veggie oil, and on cargo bicycles moved by human  kinetic energy

When Antioquia departs from San Francisco on our "Goin on a Bike Tour" to Santa Cruz in October 2008, instead of playing all our shows using coal-generated electricity, we will use electricity generated on-site by an array of bicycles pedaled by human generators.

A BIT ABOUT THE TECHNOLOGY...

Cargo Carrying Bicycles

With a longer wheel base, optimized center of gravity and back end designed for carrying gear, Xtracycles make it possibly to carry 150 lbs of gear comfortably. Unlike a bike with a loaded bike trailer attached, they ride just as smoothly when full-loaded, and they take corners easily. 

Kipchoge Spencer of The Ginger Ninjas helped to found Xtracycle in 1998, and this band is now on their 2nd very successful bicycle tour to Mexico, playing on a pedal-powered sound system everywhere they ride.

Pedal Powered Sound

Imagine you're sitting on a bench in your neighborhood park, enjoying the sun and people-watching.

All of a sudden, a hoard of cyclists arrive at the park. You watch them get busy as they unpack things from various trailers and gear-hauling bicycles, and before you know it there's a full stage set up on the grass just yards away from you, complete with PA system, drumkit, guitars and microphones.

You turn your attention elsewhere, until you hear amplified music coming from the impromptu stage. You look, listen and sniff for a diesel generator or for where they may have plugged in, until you realize something different about this stage: There are 4 or 5 bicycles lining the edge of the stage, with their back wheels up in the air, being feircely pedalled by some very happy-looking people. This is enough to get you up off the bench to go take a closer look.
Three minutes later you're sitting on one of those bicycles, having traded off with someone ready for a break, and you're enjoying the music as you proudly contribute your pedaling motion to the electricity that's amplifying it!

This was the scene at Precita Park in San Francisco on June 20th, 2008 when the 2nd annual San Francisco Bicycle Music Festival arrived. The Ginger Ninjas, recently returned from their bike tour to Mexico, lent their pedal-powered sound system built by Rock the Bike for the occasion.

The 3rd annual BMF will take place on June 21, 2009.
Stay tuned at www.bicyclemusicfestival.com.

Learn more about pedal powered sound at ROCK THE BIKE.

Ashkenaz launches “I Like My Bike Night” series on May Day, a bicycle culture celebration and unbridled dance fest on the first Friday of every month! Friday.

MAY 1, 2009
I LIKE MY BIKE NIGHT #1
MAY DAY FUNDRAISER CONCERT

ASHKENAZ, BERKELEY, CA

In order to keep the admission price low while still raising funds for our project, we are offering a VIP-style ticket for "Project Friends."
For just $30, you get:

• Admission
• Access to Backstage Lounge with nibbles donated by Sabuy Sabuy II Thai, Cafe Gratitude, Berkeley Natural Grocery and more generous local businesses.
• A Bicycle Blended Smoothie voucher
• 50% off voucher for anything at the Antioquia merchandise table (CDs/accessories)
• Copy of live audio recording of the concert mailed to you
• A warm, fuzzy feeling knowing that you're supporting an awesome project.

Oh, What a Night:

Musical delights:
Antioquia
Carne Cruda
Fossil Fool (DJ Set)

Goodies:

Live painting by Alan Tarbell
Door prize donated by Rock the Bike
Free Bicycle Valet Parking by EBBC
Bike repair station by Street Level Cycles
Bicycle Smoothies thanks to Rock the Bike

Sunset Cruise:

A leisurely bike ride from UCB Sproul Plaza to Ashkenaz via BART stations. departs at Sundown (8pm)
w/ en-route performances by Fossil Fool (LiveOnBike) + Dance Skate Live
See route map below!

$13 / $8 with bike valet ticket in hand
PROJECT FRIEND: $25

ASHKENAZ
MUSIC & DANCE COMMUNITY CENTER
Berkeley's home of world music & dance since 1973...
Always all ages. Wheelchair accessible, Non-profit.
1317 SAN PABLO AVE at GILMAN
BERKELEY, CA (SEE MAP DOWN BELOW)
www.ashkenaz.com

7:30PM: Gather on bicycles at UC Berkeley Sproul Plaza
8PM: Sunset Cruise departs from UC Berkeley's Sproul Plaza to Ashkenaz via Downtown & North Berkeley BART stations, with LiveOnBike performance by Fossil Fool and pitstop performance at Ohlone Park by Dance Skate Live!
8:30PM: Ashkenaz doors & EBBC Free Bicycle Valet Parking open
9:00PM: Show begins with Antioquia!

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION INFO

Please make your best efforts to arrive at this show by public transportation, bicycle or other non-car options! If you ride your bicycle, you'll get $5 off the cover charge!

The #800 All-Nighter bus departs from directly across the street from Ashkenaz every hour all night long while BART is closed, and goes to San Francisco via Downtown Oakland. The All-Nighter services will let you bring your bike on the bus, even if it's very very packed. The bus costs $1.75 for East Bay destinations and $3.50 for Transbay destination.