Biriba Union is a band that celebrates unity, cultural expression and the warmth and authenticity that comes from playing a real instrument. Their advocacy for democracy and freedoms for all translates into their work as musicians and their humanitarian work through the organization “Play for the Vote.” You can stream all their unique and creative music through the links at the bottom of this article and be on the look out for more music from them at the end of the year.

Where are you from?
Mike: Overland Park, KS
Patricia: Montevideo, Uruguay
Christylez Bacon: Washington, DC

How has your hometown influenced yourself and your art?
Mike: I grew up in a nice but boring suburb of Kansas City, where I didn’t get to experience much culture. I think that is part of why I’m so inspired by music from other cultures, as learning music has connected me to the world around me, and I’ve been able to meet so many special people through music.

Pati: I grew up practicing sports, and at some point focused at a high competition level on synchronized swimming. I like to believe that the experience with this kind of sport shaped my artistry because of the expressive side of it and its relation with music. We were learning choreography, memorizing patterns, coordinating with other swimmers, listening to music, keeping a pulse, counting beats, etc. just like in a music ensemble. By the time I started learning music at age nine everything was pretty much there!

Christylez: DC is a VERY musical city, especially with it’s own genre of music, Go-Go! These polyrhythms permeate through the city, so the swing and it’s rhythms became my musical fingerprint. With DC being such an international city, due to the presence of the embassies and other factors, I found myself being exposed to people and languages around the world. These factors made it easy to connect with people from all walks of life and inspired me to create music and multi-cultural collaborations that shines a light on our collective humanity.

What inspired you to get into music?
Mike: My family are all classical musicians, so playing an instrument wasn’t unique in my household. That being said, my path to find more creative outlets in other styles and to start improvising, singing and composing, was a search to find a more personal connection to the music I play.

Pati: I have two sisters, so we would play all the time imagining we were doing shows, playing music, dancing, sometimes competitions! We would take the living room floor lamp and use it as a spotlight! It was evident for my mom that we were curious about expressive arts.

Christylez: My mom was a DJ, so I grew up with a lot of music from her generation, my grandmother’s generation, etc. I would always hear original music in my head and tried to do the best that I could to get into a more material format, but I was very limited as a child in elementary school. Later, I would go to the prestigious, Duke Ellington School for the Arts, where I majored in Visual Arts. It was there where I was doing raps daily and hanging out with the musicians soaking up the things that they were learning in their major. Hip-hop is just amazing and fun, I discovered from older hip-hop mentors that it’s also a beautiful tool for educating each other so I was more attracted to that part.

Can you tell us about your name, Biribá Union? What is the origin behind it?
Mike: We originally bonded over our shared love of Brazilian music, so we loved drawing on that with the word “Biribá,” which is a Brazilian sugar apple. “Union” also captures our whole philosophy of collaboration, so that’s where the name came from.

How would you describe your sound/genre of music?
Mike: Sometimes it is easiest to list some of our backgrounds, classical, jazz, hip-hop, Brazilian, go-go, but honestly, we co-write all of our music together now, so it’s really become a very personal amalgam of the things we love, which manifest as a mixture of songs, instrumentals and raps, some of which heavily feature songwriting and others lean on improvisation on our instruments.

Patricia: Adding to Mike’s answer, I think this trio is a very specific and “out of the norm” combination of instruments so we have a lot of creative freedom to bring out the sounds we are imagining.

Your music is so fun! Who are some of your biggest inspirations for your sound and storytelling?
Mike: We love jamming together to find our sound — just playing off of each other without an agenda. Sometimes we draw specifically on music we love, but mostly we’re just inspired by each other!

Patricia: Correct! Sometimes I feel super inspired by Chris’ beatbox grooves, or Mike’s textures in the cello , so I want to add to that from my instrumental approach, but typically I end up playing not only bass as “it should be played” but filling other roles, like chords, rhythm, etc. because there is space for that.

Christylez: In the hip-hop realm, Slick Rick, is a big inspiration for storytelling! I love a good narrative in rap (see Chilling for the Wifi).

We love that you have some unique sounds! What do you love the most about your respective musical instruments of choice?
Mike: Cello is obviously the greatest instrument, and I love that I can express any musical role with the cello melody, bass, chords, accompaniment, lead, etc.

Christylez: It seems that I choose many instruments, so I give a little bit of details about them. Beatboxing is such a natural and organic vibe because it’s using breath to keep the pulse of the entire band. An added bonus is NOT having to carry around tons of drums and equipment. Guitar allows me to express moods and emotions harmonically. Rapping for the voice allows me to make a connection with people.

Your debut album “Passing Go” was released on July 10, but you have been releasing promotional songs for it since April with “All the Stars Say.” How did you go about planning the roll out for this album?
Mike: We really enjoyed making four contrasting music videos for the singles of this album, and we were committed to trying to show all the different sides of what we do through the singles and videos, including our instrumental compositions, pop songs, jazz improvisations and rap, etc.

Speaking of “All the Stars Say,” this is such a fun song. Can you tell us the back story on this song?
Mike: This song is about staying connected to the one you love despite distance, with the simple acknowledgement that now matter where we are on Earth, we’re all still looking up at the same stars!

Your music videos are the best! From roller skate rinks to ice cream trucks! What inspires your videos?
Mike: We love having fun with the videos, and using them as another creative outlet to help share our music. We have band conversations about what kind of theme would benefit each song, and then we make sure to have fun with each other on camera!

As the founder of Play for the Vote, Mike, why did you decide to start this project?
Mike: Music has the unique power to bring people together. Elections are a uniquely divisive moment in our culture every few years, so I want to use music to help unite us during those tense times.

Why are democracy and voting rights important to fight for now more than ever?
Mike: It’s always important for the people to be heard. I don’t mind being outvoted as long as everyone gets an equal chance to participate.

What can we expect next from you short term in your career?
Mike: We’ve already got more writing retreats on the calendar, and we’re excited to compose some new music together this year!

To learn more about Biribá Union, please check out the links below:
Website: BiribaUnion.com
Instagram: @biribaunion
Facebook: @BiribaUnion
YouTube: @BiribaUnion
Twitter: @BiribaUnion

Photography Credit: Titilayo Ayangade

Biribá Union is Bringing Back Real Instruments and Cultural Diversity to the Music Industry