Helado Tropical und Helado Negro

The son of Ecuadorean immigrants, Roberto Carlos Lange was born in South Florida in 1980. Negro cites the tropical heats and hurricanes mixed sounds of various Latin American cultures of southern Florida as inspiration for his future sound. Pounding bass beats from passing cars, boom boxes bouncing down the block, and late-night parties called “peñas” provided a foundation for Lange’s sound and unquenchable curiosity to try and create music from any object that he deemed feasible. This multi-instrumental nature has translated into an endearing and interesting live show.

An incredibly visual artist, Helado has recently collaborated with prominent visual and sound artist David Ellis to create sound sculptures and visual/sonar instillations all based around ideas posed in his music. Often surrounded by ominous figures dressed head to toe in silver streamers, like glittering abominable snow men, they add to the overall atmosphere of tracks such as 'Are I Here' with it's obvious Latin influences as Helado plucks at a sound board creating varieties of tones.

A real must see artist for anyone with interest in music production or the merger between music and art. The ingenious nature in which Negro sources sounds that make up his rich tapestry of tracks is really intriguing and the song maker's unique tones make the entire show a delight.