Niños del Cerro is a Chilean indie rock band from La Florida, Santiago Metropolitan Region, active from 2012 to the present. It consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Simón Campusano, guitarist Ignacio Castillo, drummer José Mazurett, bassist Felipe Villarubia, and keyboardist Diego Antimán. The band is cited as one of the most important groups in 2010s "pop de guitarras", a Chilean indie rock scene.

They released their debut studio album Nonato Coo on November 10, 2015, through the independent label Piloto, which earned them the Best New Artist award at the Pulsar Awards that year. On August 31, 2018, they released their second album Lance. On October 13, 2022, they published their third album Suave pendiente.

History Simón Campusano founded Niños del Cerro in 2012 alongside Ignacio Castillo and other friends while attending a school near San Ramón Hill in the commune of La Florida, Santiago Metropolitan Region, Chile. Of the original members, only Campusano and Castillo ultimately remained, with José Mazurett joining on drums and Felipe Villarubia on bass in 2014. During this period, they uploaded their first two songs to SoundCloud—including "La pajarería"— and, according to Campusano, recorded a couple of extended plays that were ultimately left unreleased.

On November 10, 2015, they released their debut album Nonato Coo through the independent record label Piloto. Piloto was tied to several similar acts in southeastern Santiago, including Patio Solar, El Cómodo Silencio de los que Hablan Poco, Paracaidistas, Las Olas, and Amarga Marga. This wave of bands came to be known as "guitar pop" (or pop de guitarras), characterized by young musicians playing in their backyards with a jangle style.

On April 11, 2016, Niños del Cerro was nominated alongside other groups from the scene for Best New Artist at the second annual Pulsar Awards, winning the award a month later. That same year, they were featured with the song "Nos vemos cómodos en este frío" on the compilation album NMC: pop de guitarras en Chile, which brought together the scene's most prominent bands. During this period, Diego Antimán joined Niños del Cerro as keyboardist, they released a physical version of Nonato Coo with a concert at the Sala Máster of Radio Universidad de Chile, and gave their first international performance at Lima PopFest in Peru.

In 2017, Piloto's label operations froze following the publication of the investigative report "Cuando ella habla, escucho la revolución" ("When She Speaks, I Hear the Revolution") by journalist Javiera Tapia, in which several women testified about sexual abuse and gender-based violence within the scene and the label. While Niños del Cerro was not implicated, the label and several associated groups were restructured or parted ways. In early 2018, the band left Piloto and joined the roster of Quemasucabeza. According to journalist Rodrigo García Soriano, this marked the point where bands like Niños del Cerro "began taking the path toward professionalization."

In May 2018, their participation in that year's Primavera Sound in Barcelona, Spain, was announced. As part of the festival, they performed on June 1 at the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona and the following day at the Parc del Fòrum. On August 14, 2018, they announced their second studio album Lance for late that month. On August 31, they released Lance on digital platforms and as a free download on Quemasucabeza's website. The album received significant media attention, leading to their first Latin American tours. On December 7, they performed Lance alongside the rest of their discography at Matucana 100 Cultural Center. Two years later, they released a live album of the concert for free titled No va a pasar el tiempo en vano, featuring 12 of the 18 songs performed that day.

In January 2020, the group released the single "Durmiendo en el parque" as an advance single for their first EP Cuauhtémoc. On March 20, they published Cuauhtémoc on digital platforms. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Niños del Cerro premiered the EP live via Quemasucabeza's YouTube channel on June 27, which also featured cover versions performed by artists including Diego Lorenzini, Medio Hermano, Dolorio & los Tunantes, and Maifersoni, among others.

In 2021, Niños del Cerro parted ways with Quemasucabeza, and in April 2022 independently released the single "Tentempié", along with the tracks "Miel" and "Mi modesta ceguera personal", as lead singles for their third studio album Suave pendiente. On October 14, the group released Suave pendiente on digital platforms through Sello Fisura. Prior to its release, they issued several promotional singles, including "Sulamita", "Mamire", and "Esta enorme distancia". Shortly after its release, the album ranked as the third-best album of the year on the review platform Rate Your Music. On April 29, 2023, they presented the first CD edition of Suave pendiente with a concert at Club Blondie.

In July 2025, Niños del Cerro released the single "Tembló", announcing a new album for that year. In August, they released "Canto al Mediodía"—produced by Yaima Cat and recorded by Yaima Cat, Emanuel Irarrázabal, and Daniel Ruiz Quintana—as the album's second single. They later revealed that the album would be titled Alma Tadema, with a CD release scheduled for Saturday, October 4, at the main campus of the University of Santiago, Chile, following the release of the final single "Seis de Enero" on the last Friday of September.

Musical style Niños del Cerro's music encompasses genres such as indie rock, indie pop, and neo-psychedelia. According to Nicolás Merino of Expectador, it was in 2018 with the release of their second album Lance that they "shifted their sound toward neo-psychedelia." Prior to that, their debut studio album was described as indie pop, with touches of dream pop and post-punk. Outlets have also highlighted the incorporation of Andean music and Chilean folk elements in their music. The band members themselves have described the style of certain songs as "elusive pop" (pop esquivo) and "samba punk".

According to Juan Carlos Hidalgo of Revista Marvin, their live performances "boil over with fragments of post-rock, pop flashes, math rock passages, and moments where they sound almost like an Andean Animal Collective." They have also influenced subsequent Chilean indie bands, such as Candelabro.

Members Current members

Simón Campusano – lead vocals, guitar (2012–present) Ignacio Castillo – guitar (2012–present) José Mazurett – drums (2014–present) Felipe Villarrubia – bass (2014–present) Diego Antimán – keyboards (2016–present)

Discography

Studio albums

Nonato Coo (2015) Lance (2018) Suave pendiente (2022) Alma Tadema (2025)

EPs

Cuauhtémoc (2020)

Live releases

No va a pasar el tiempo en vano (2020)

Singles +YearTitleAlbum / EP2014"La pajarería"Nonato Coo2015"José de los Rayos"2017"Contigo"Lance2018"Flores, labios, dedos""El sueño pesa" (featuring Chini.png)2020"Durmiendo en el parque"Cuauhtémoc2022"Tentempié"Suave pendiente"Sulamita""Mamire""Esta enorme distancia"2025"Tembló"Alma Tadema"Canto al Mediodía""Seis de Enero"

Awards and nominations YearAwardCategoryNominated workResult2016Pulsar AwardsBest New Artist 2018Índigo AwardsBest Independent ArtistNiños del Cerro| 2019| Independent Album of the Year 2023Pulsar AwardsAlbum of the YearSuave pendiente| 2026Best Rock Album

References

Bibliography

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