The Ethiocolor band is a fusion of folklore music with a modern twist consisting of musicians and dancers. Founder of Ethiocolor Melaku Belay states ‘our vision is to see how we can bring our musical heritage in a very creative way without losing the sense of identity’. Ethiocolor is a cultural traditional band consisting of Kirar (a kind of lyre), Bass Kirar, Washint (flute), Kebero (traditional drums) and Massinqo. This band, leading by the traditional dancer Melaku Belay, is the cream of the crop of cultural musicians and dancers of the country. All of them share the common priority to represent the traditional styles in an accurate, lively and new way, as well as to spread their music all over the world.
In Addis Ababa you can find Ethiocolor most Fridays at the Fendika Azmari Bet, a small club owned by the leader of the band, the mercurial dancer of modest demeanour, Melaku Belay. He brought himself up from orphan street kid in Addis Ababa to become Ethiopia’s most internationally renowned dancer, busy with collaborations (tours with Dutch post-punkers The Ex and Ethiopian sax giant Getatchew Mekuria), solo performances and workshops around the world, while at home he runs the club and supports a school for street-kids.
The first ever 360 VR panorama music african video
Selam Sounds in cooperation with the Stock Town Films is behind the Ethiopian group Ethiocolors new music video created with the innovative 360 ° VR technology. The innovative video was recorded at the National Theatres roofs in central Addis Ababa in Ethiopia created the dynamic 360 ° panoramic perspective for seven separate shots with a GoPro camera. Senay Berhe from Stocktown Films, one of the filmmakers behind the release has previously won the Grammy for best Swedish music video and now his putting his creative hands onto Ethiopian music video.
The App “Ethiocolor” is developed by Earth People and is now available for Android on Google Play and soon for iOS. The app is given the opportunity to experience the music video together with the unique 360 ° technology. The user will also be able to listen to the album, share content via social media and sent to various distribution channels.
