Funky Platonik Brings Beats to Costa Rica

Funk, reggae and house music fuse together to create the Funky Platonik.

The eight U.S. college students who make up the band are leaving the northern cold behind to fly south to Costa Rica for a different spring break experience, debuting abroad their new beats at a few of San José’s top musical venues.

The band members, all undergraduates at Berklee College of Music in Boston, have been playing together for about a year, said Costa Rican Alonso Zayas, the group’s drummer and manager.

“I knew about the venues and the music scene here, so that helped me get this set up,” Zayas said of the group’s 10-day tour.

Hailing from Japan, the United Kingdom, Taiwan and the United States, the band members joined up in college and infused their cultural influences into their music. Soul-funk group Jamiroquai and reggae icon Bob Marley are two of Funky Platonik’s primary influences, according to Zayas.

The group is set to arrive in the country today, and will start jamming at Jazz Café in the eastern suburb of San Pedro March 20 at 9:30 p.m. Performances are also scheduled March 22 at 9 p.m. at Grappa Live in Santa Ana, southwest of San José, and March 23 at 8 p.m. at the Eugene O’Neill Theater in the eastern neighborhood of Barrio Dent.

For tickets and information, call Jessenia Araya, the band’s promotional manager in Costa Rica, at 847-9335.