About
Alpacas Collective is a funk band based in Louvain, Belgium. The band runs on its favorite music from Lagos to Addis Ababa, from Augusta, Georgia to New Orleans, bringing it all back home in a way unlike any other band would. Funk is the basis, flavored with afro, jazz, boogaloo, soul and oriental sounds.
Live energy is generated by a stage-filling crew of eleven on drums, sitar, percussion, bass, guitar, organ and horns. Studio magic is conjured up with the occasional help of friends performing their signature tricks.
After finding their voice and soul on their well received debut album ‘Seven Wisdoms of Plutonia’ (October 2022), they are excited to release the second collection of Alpacas tunes one year after! From of the adventurous spaces of Plutonia , from where Alpacas Collective emerged, this gang of fanatic music lovers continue their trip through new places with new friends on the new album ‘Big Words’.
‘Big Words’, basically deepens those musical traces, takes the listener on a journey of discovery through a world of afrobeat, deep funk, hindustani raga mixed with psycho-dub and creole rap.
Besides their solo performances, Alpacas Collective have supported and helped warm stages for Budos Band, Poets of Rhythm, Mulatu Astatke, Lefties Soul Connection, Quantic Soul Orchestra, Cody Chessnutt and more. In the summer of 2023 Alpacas Collective went abroad for a first mini-tour playing shows in Zagreb (Klub Mocvara, Croatia), Tolmin (Sejeta Festival, Slovenia) and Munich (Import Export, Germany).
Frederik Kühn - percussion
Stan Hennes - drums
Steve Vandervoort - bass
Robby Swiggers - guitar
Joël Van Roode - sitar, bass
Jérome Swevers - flute, trumpet, sax
Marc Jans - trombone, sax
Alexander Dingens - sax
Jeroen Ollevier - keys
Sander Vos - percussion
Hans van Scharen - sax
“"While “Seven Wisdoms of Plutonia” continues a recent trend of bringing African flavours to jazz-funk groove, the enthusiasm in the performances makes this an exceptional and enjoyable example of that approach." ”
— UK Vibe
“"A mad batch of funky grooves, with a world's worth of influences in the mix – elements of African, Indian, and other styles – all wrapped around some mighty funky instrumentation at the core!" ”
— Dusty Grooves
“"Alpacas Collective sounds really impressive.....a group of musicians who made their mark somewhere in a shadow world that mere mortals like us don't know about." ”
— Da Music