There aren’t many completely independent bands that can boast of selling out a 600-person capacity venue, but Fernando’s Kitchen can. Other successions include headlining the Tapas Fantasticas Rioja Festival in South Bank, London for four years running, performing on the main stage at Rhythms of The World in 2009 and also at the Royal Opera House bar. Busking around Cambridge and London for several years, they have a prestigious reputation and an extremely large fan-base from all over the world. Referring to their music as ‘Nu World Fusion’, they have blended influences from several musical traditions to create their unique sound. The musicians who make up Fernando’s Kitchen are from all over the World; Argentina, Spain, South Africa, Italy and Greece, all united in London where they gradually joined together. Sebastian and Heidi met each other on the south bank in 2005. Both were busking on the south bank and they decided to team up and play music together. For the first few years they started out as a Duet, the first year they played mostly jazz standards and pop songs with Sebastian on guitar and Heidi on vocals. Within a few months they became the best of friends and fell in love. Very soon they had made friends with almost all the buskers and many of the homeless people who live in the streets in central London, along with several other people. After a year of many daily hours of performance on the street, Heidi’s Voice needed a rest and Seb bought her a cajon from Spain to play while resting her voice. With the bit of drum kit experience from before, she found it very natural to play the cajon. That was when they started writing their own music together, and Fernando’s Kitchen was born. Once they had a clearer idea on their music and what they wanted, other musicians and instruments were added to Fernando’s Kitchen as well as a renewed focus on vocals. They have sold thousands of CD’s and literally millions of people have seen them perform due to busking. All of their songs were developed mostly during very regular busking performances for the first 5 years, the last 2 years they have spent doing more gigs and spending more time at home working on their music and perfecting their sound. |