Campo

Campo functions as a creative collective under the guidance of Juan Campodónico, the Uruguayan musician, producer, and composer whose approach fuses cumbia, hip-hop, alternative rock, and techno into a commercially viable global sound. Born in Montevideo in 1971, Campodónico passed much of his early years in Mexican exile alongside his family following the 1973 coup, returning only after the 1984 general elections restored democracy and immediately plunging into the city’s music community. In the mid-’90s he assembled the band El Peyote Asesino, whose hip-hop and grunge hybrid issued two albums that attracted notice beyond Uruguay before the group disbanded; Campodónico then concentrated on production work. Near the close of the decade he joined Gustavo Santaolalla to create Bajofondo, whose multiple well-received albums earned attention both locally and abroad. Roughly ten years into the new century, Campodónico and Santaolalla launched the Campo recording project, drawing on Bajofondo’s musicians together with Swedish singer Ellen Arkbro, Annibel Kerpel, songwriter Martin Rivero, and engineer Joe Chiccarelli. Operating under the name Campo, the collective issued its self-titled independent album on Bizarro Records in 2012.