Sparrow & Barbossa is DJ and producer duo Bryan Coletta (Swiss) and Emiliano Haberli (Uruguay). Based in Madrid, Spain, they bring together their love of piano, percussion, and African tribal rhythms, creating a fusion between organic and electronic progressive sounds. In 2021, they released their highly anticipated album Seven Seas (Redolent Music), showcasing ethnic roots, Afro and Latin house, and world music through electronica, earning a spot in Traxsource’s Top Albums of 2021. Following a busy 2022 with the launch of their imprint, Tortuga Tribes, the duo sees the 2023 release of their sophomore album, Réciprocité, on Sony Music Latin imprint, Orianna Music. Following the release of the album’s first single ’Bien Buena’, we caught up with Sparrow & Barbossa to find out more.
Hey guys! Thanks very much for taking the time to sit down with us here at DMC World. How’s 2023 been for you so far?
2023 has been an incredible year for us so far. New album, new booking agencies, lots of gigs, a loads of emotions.
Where in the world are you answering this interview from?
We just came back home to Madrid from Santiago de Chile.
Please can you introduce yourselves to our DMC World readers?
Some of your DMC World readers actually may know about us already as we were featured on a “Back To Mine” article two years ago. But for those who don’t know us yet, we’re an afro house dj duo based in Madrid Spain. Sparrow is a Swiss pianist, son of Francis Coletta a prominent jazz guitarist and is the melodic guy of the duo being a piano player since a very young age. Barbossa on the other side is the percussive side of the duo, he is from Uruguay and has been a percussionist all his life.
In three words, how would you best describe your sound?
We created a fusion between organic instruments and electronic sounds. Our age difference has a positive influence on both their releases and performance. While Bryan brings the freshness of modern sounds and melodies, Emiliano fine-tunes the rhythmic part and builds up his knowledge throughout the years. Globe-trotters, who’re true lovers of ethnic and lost cultures, we are devoted to transmitting this legacy through electronic music.
You have a new single Bien Buena out now. Tell us more about that!
Our new single Bien Buena is part of our new album called Réciprocité. It is a latin house collaboration with Eribertho Cruz, and a direct one way trip to cuba. It mixes cuban cha-cha vibes with powerful synths to create an ideal latin house music dance floor banger.
You’re also gearing up to release you new album ‘Réciprocité’ on Orianna later this year. Can you tell us about the project?
Our second album project has been going on for almost two years now. It has been entirely co-developped with Francis Coletta, Sparrow’s father. It features collaborations with the Gypsy Kings, Eribertho Cruz, G Zamora, Maria De Moraes, Starving Yet Full (Ex. Azari & III), Idd Aziz amongst others. Réciprocité will also be our new live performance for the coming years and it’s by far the project we’re most excited about so far.
How did the introduction to Orianna come about?
DJ Chus, who has been a great friend of Orianna’s A&R Hector Romero for years and years is who introduced us to him. Our collaboration has been incredible ever since.
When did you start writing the album?
We started about a year and a half ago.
Do you each have separate roles when it comes to producing music together?
Definitely yes, while Barbossa sets the rhythmic base of our tracks, Sparrow works on the melodic and synths parts. The combination of these two roles is we believe what makes us sound so different.
Talk to us about your studio set up…
Due to our very high number of gigs and travels, (300+ flights in 2022), most of the time our dj set up for the creative part is a laptop, a midi keyboard, the Roland HPD and two headphones. Then when times permits it we take it to our main studio in Madrid and finish the work there with our analogic gear.
Do you have any plans to tour the album in 2023?
This has actually started already. Until summer comes we’ll be touring essentially in Latin America with the Réciprocité tour, and then summer time we’ll be more focussed on Europe : Ibiza, Mykonos, Marbella and so on and then back to Latin America for winter time.
Thanks so much for taking the time and best of luck for the rest of the year!
Thank you!
*****
Sparrow & Barbossa – Bien Buena is out now via Orianna: https://sparrowbarbossa.lnk.to/BienBuena
