TenTemPiés is an international collective of musicians based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Their music is an innovative and exciting blend of flavours, mixing Latin rock with ska and reggae with an Amsterdam twist: Damsko Mestizo! Formed during the summer of 2008, TenTemPiés has by now performed its energetic and inspiring live shows at an impressive number of venues.
Written by frontman Maurino Alarcón, their characteristic music is inspired by political issues and social injustice worldwide. Maurino’s parents, both Chilean, fled from the coup d’etat by the Pinochet regime and arrived in The Netherlands as political refugees in 1973. Growing up in Amsterdam, he is nevertheless strongly influenced by music and art inspired by the political ideals of left wing artists from Chile and Latin America, like Victor Jara, Quilapayun, Inti-Illimani and Silvio Rodriguez.
In 2009 TenTemPiés entered the band competition called ‘Amsterdamse Popprijs’ in which they made it to the finals. That same year, TenTemPiés published its first demo EP, which sold out within a year at the live shows. Exactly a year later, in March 2010, a second EP called ‘Por Ahora’ followed. A limited edition of this EP was pressed and sold to collect money for the victims of the earthquake that hit Chili in February 2010.
In a side project, Maurino Alarcón was one of the twelve guest vocalists contributing to the album ‘Across’ (Unexpected Records, 2010) of well-known Dutch composer/producer Perquisite. Their unexpected collaboration resulted in the song ‘Me Despido’, which was dubbed “maybe the most beautiful song of the album” in music magazine OOR.
On June 15th 2011, TenTemPiés released its long awaited debut album ‘Canto Para Gritar’, which has received raving reviews by the Dutch music media. After a sold out CD presentation in Amsterdam’s pop temple Paradiso, an extensive tour of festivals and club shows followed. Towards the end of 2011, TenTemPiés participated in the Popronde, a travelling festival presenting the 100 most promising Dutch bands through shows all over the country.
TenTemPiés looks back on a great year: the birth of its debut album, playing large festivals such as Bevrijdingsfestival, Amsterdam Roots, Haarlem Jazz Festival and Uitmarkt and support shows for bands like Che Sudaka, La Pegatina and Ojos de Brujo. As 2012 has arrived, TenTemPiés is now fully geared up to spread its music and message even further, inside and outside of The Netherlands.
