Biography

Kantera was formed in 2020 with the aim of bringing together Malta’s traditional folk genre with modern ones. Its musical style is based in an encounter of instruments coming from the folk scene with that of electronic musical instruments, to create a unique sound — a music of the present that speaks at once to the future, and through the past. In terms of style, Kantera’s songs are built around lyrics in the Maltese tongue that touch upon social and cultural themes of the moment as well as ones from past eras, not least through the use of Maltese proverbs and the input of gifted vocalists and musicians from Malta and Gozo. The sound of Kantera is shaped by a range of instruments. These include the piano-accordion, keyboards, saxophone, aerophone, mandolin, violin, electric and base guitars, Malta’s traditional flejguta and żafżafa instruments, percussions as well as lead and backing vocals. The Kantera style has been conceived to draw younger and adolescent audiences closer to Malta’s folk and traditional sound — and this by means of a unique fusion of both instrument and lyric in our songs. Kanters is a space of music where the past melds into the present — once more, it comes to life in those moments we experience as we journey through the sounds of modern folk.