King Coya Releases Electro-Folklorica Cumbias De Villa Donde

King Coya’s new album, ‘Cumbias De Villa Donde,’ is now available at all digital stores via Nacional Records. King Coya is part of the critically-acclaimed Argentine experimental cumbia collective Zizek. New release, ‘Cumbias de Villa Donde,’ is a collection of down-tempo electro-folklorica with special guests like Grammy-nominated Petrona Martinez and Cucu Diamantes (of Yerba Buena).

Originally from the Argentine Andes mountain region, King Coya is the digitalized, imaginary version of Gaby Kerpel. He is a renowned Argentine composer whose credits include the scores to the groundbreaking off-Broadway shows “De La Guarda” and “FuerzaBruta” (as well as its Island Records soundtrack).< King Coya tracks grew out of live sets at Zizek’s infamous club nights, performing in front of raucous late-night crowds in Buenos Aires. With ‘Cumbias de Villa Donde,’ his vision of cumbia and electro-folklorica becomes a fresh, danceable fusion. Rich, layered compositions blend new world with old, the East and the West, in an exercise of digital cross-global pollination. Coya is a term used in Northern Argentina, referring to a local in a yarn cap, reserved in nature and small in stature, playing an instrument like the charango; the miniature guitar used in Argentine folk music. Kerpel, through King Coya, has developed into a purveyor of laid-back, electro-folk fused with cumbia, hip hop, and reggae enriched by a collection of diverse vocals. Gaby Kerpel has a long relationship with alternative folklorica, first bringing the genre to the theater with the “De La Guarda” production and later with FuerzaBruta. His music has graced stages across the globe, from Montreal to Tokyo and Bogota to Tel Aviv. In 2003, he released his first solo album, ‘Carnabailito,’ on Nonesuch Records. ‘Carnabailito’ took him to Los Angeles and then to New York where he worked on his live show before returning to Buenos Aires to work on “FuerzaBruta” in 2005. In 2007, Kerpel completely revamped his live performance by taking on King Coya at the Zizek club party in Buenos Aires. Shortly after, he played in New York on the Zizek SXSW tour that debuted the Zizek sound internationally, along with collective members Tremor and El Remolón in an electro-folklorica sound system. Most recently, King Coya performed at Central Park SummerStage as part of LAMC 2009.