Sidestepper takes Latin rhythms to a unique encounter with dub and electronic music, where drum & bass, dancehall and hip-hop meet with their Latin counterparts, uniting electronic and Caribbean trance in a timeless, irresistible dance party.

Founder Richard Blair was a rising young UK producer, working with Peter Gabriel’s Real World sound factory and numerous major stars when he took a fateful detour to Bogota, Colombia in 1992.  Thinking he would spend a few months there, Blair remained in Colombia for three years, revolutionized the local music scene, and then returned to the UK under the nom-de-club “Sidestepper” – and proceeded to transform London’s percolating drum ‘n’ bass club culture as well.

Signing to Chris Blackwell’s Palm Pictures label, Blair lined up a collective  of Colombia’s most lethal singers and players, such as Chocquibtown vocalist Goyo and Carlos Vives songwriter/Bloque vocalistIvan Benavides, doing for Latin music what Bristol prophets Massive Attack had done for jungle andhip-hop.   Sidestepper’s three classic Palm releases, More Grip (2000), 3AM In Beats We Trust (2003), and Buena Vibra Sound System(2007) won the band broad critical acclaim – and legions of loyal fans in all corners of the globe.

For the past decade, Sidestepper has toured around the world , playing such prestigious festivals as Coachella, Glastonbury, Roskilde, WOMAD, and the Hollywood Bowl World Music Festival, as well as gigs too numerous to mention in the Americas, England, Spain, France, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Norway, Corsica, Singapore, and beyond.  Their live performances are unforgettably vivid, infectious and celebratory.

Richard Blair now lives full-time in Bogota and continues to perform with Sidestepper, as well as producing other artists.

Sidestepper’s current band members are:

Janio Coronado: Vocals

Erika Muñoz: Vocals

Edgardo Garcés: Vocals

Teto Ocampo: Guitar

Pedro Ojeda: Drums

Juan Carlos Cuello: Percussion

Richard Blair: Bass and bytes