Sidestepper was founded in Bogota, Columbia, in 1996. The band is famous for creating a combination of traditional Columbian an electronic music. The group was established by a well-known British producer Richard Blair. Together they created a new wave of electroacoustic music in Columbia.
Sidestepper worked with such famous labels as Chris Blackwell’s Palm Pictures, Sony Music Columbia, and Peter Gabriel’s Real World Records. The band’s lineup changed a few times. It included such famous musicians as Iván Benavides, Andrea Echeverri (Aterciopelados), Jimena Ángel, Liliana Montes, Gloria “Goyo” Martínez (Choquibtown), Sergio Arias, Humberto Pernett, Jacobo Veléz (La Mambanegra), and Kike Egurrola (Bomba Estéreo).
In the beginning of the 1990’s, Blair was a well-known producer, who worked in Peter Gabriel’s British recording studio. He had a chance to collaborate with such celebrities as Daniel Lanois , Brian Eno, Sinead O’Connor, and John Paul Jones. In 1992, he went to Columbia, where he planned to spend a few months working with such artists as Carlos Vives and Toto La Momposina. Blair quickly realized how much untapped potential was to be discovered in this country and created Sidestepper.
