Ofo Nunez

Ofo Nunez & Istmo Music featured on Dj Times Magazine

noreply@blogger.com (Dj Ofo Nunez) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 14:34:00 +0000

Thanks for such a great review Jim!

Published in the July 2009 issue of DJ Times Magazine
Volume 22 - Number 7
By Jim Tremayne

San Salvador, El Salvador—Just a week after thousands of electronic dance music enthusiasts slogged through two star-studded days of Ultra Music Fest in Miami, a party with fewer pretensions and perhaps a little more passion launched a second round of fun on the Central American isthmus.

Dedicated to the spread of DJ and electronic culture in Central America, El Salvador’s Istmo Music—a music label and event company—presented Istmo Music Fest 2.0., and the reaction was more than a little heartwarming to those a little jaded by the global scene.

Held this past April 4 in a nondescript mall plaza near the capital city of San Salvador, the event showed DIY attitude from the organizers, who forged skillful alliances with sponsors Red Bull, Smirnoff Ice and Taca Airlines, among others, and a keen strategy to market its label and events. Seeing their work left no doubts about their dedication to the region’s electronic artists and their on-the-ground connection to local tastes.

Its 12-hour festival presented DJs and artists from seven countries—El Salvador, Columbia, Argentina, Honduras, Guatemala, Italy and the United States—and attracted nearly 3,000 fans. Considering the country’s general lack of nightclub support for EDM, its minimal radio exposure—reggaeton rules the clubs and airwaves—and its near-shocking dearth of internet penetration (less than 10-percent in homes), that’s no small thing. It was hard to leave El Salvador unimpressed with the surprising vitality of the audience, the passion of the performers and the vision of the organizers.

Highlights? Plenty. It went like this:

FerK (aka Istmo principal Fernando Kriete) warmed up the early-afternoon audience. Then, during an early set from Santiano Niño (Columbian via Guatamala) and Alex Hentze (Guatamala), who call their act Shit Happens, the still-arriving crowd caught a tight live set of experimental electronica—techy, with trancey moments, but no cheese. Warped filters and brain ticklers.

(OK, trainspotters, their live setup: two laptops running Ableton & Reason; a Pioneer DJM-800 mixer; Korg Nano Control; Korg Nano Pad; Edirol PCR-M1 MIDI Keyboard controller; and a Midiman Radium keyboard.)

Balto from Honduras followed. The organizer of SunJam—one of his country’s two festivals—opened with an edit of Danny Tenaglia’s “Music Is the Answer” before transitioning into a sharp set of minimal techno, but nothing too menacing. Francis Davila next hit the decks, starting tough, then getting trancey at sundown. Unsurprisingly, the party really began to cook.

American vocalist Lisa Pure then gave the show an infusion of female energy. Before she even hit the stage, she got plenty of adulation from fans in the front, taking pictures, signing autographs. But when she sang the opening lyrics to “Lost,” the 2007 global hit she fronted for Roger Sanchez, the place went batty—turns out, it was No. 1 in El Salvador. The audience was thrilled to have a star in its midst and she delivered with a sassy performance and more than a little New York swagger. Crowd singing, hands in the air, a perfect time for a PA.

Another American, this time Connecticut DJ Randy Boyer, wowed the crowd with his energetic electro-tinged set, which included his trancey mix of Oasis’ “Champagne Supernova.” Italy’s Giuseppe Ottaviani followed, carrying the trance ball and offering some breaks. Crowd still bananas, further working itself into a lather, trippy evening visuals in full effect.

Argentine trance duo HeatBeat (Agustin Servente and Matias Faint) was next and the youthful showmen quickly connected with the crowd, stepping to the lip of the stage and exhorting the audience along. Crescendos crashed, dancers hit the stage and the place went up for grabs. A real peak moment.

Not to be outdone, El Salvador’s Ofo Nuñez finished off the night with a set of plaza-wrecking techno, a more furious brand than Balto’s set—certainly more Chris Liebing than, say, Troy Pierce. Whew.

By the event’s end, I’d become further curious about the Central American scene and its DJ culture. There are few things more exciting for DJs than seeing a nascent scene emerge—more opportunities, a fresh fanbase—so I caught up with some of the festival participants upon returning to the States. It went like this:

Balto, Honduras

Your reaction to Istmo Music Fest? Very impressed with the amount of people, the very good organization, the vibe—great party. The energy of the crowd surprised me, especially the reaction to specific tracks. This showed that the audience knows the material.

Your highlight? For me, just getting a very positive reaction of the crowd. Even having an early time slot, I really enjoyed it. It gave me a chance to try a different kind of set, a lighter one. Very pleased!

Describe your festivals in Honduras. We have two types of festivals. At Modular, which is in Tegucigalpa the capital, we get around 1,000 people. We have an international DJ joining the local DJs. It’s mostly tech-house, techno and minimal. This is the third year of Modular—excellent response. The SunJam festival is held in Utila, one of The Bay Islands in the Honduran Caribbean. It’s once a year with DJs from all over Central America join an international guest DJ. The location is magical. We get about 1,500 and you can find people from all over the world.

Tell me about EDM’s growth in your part of the world. Each year more people go to the events. People are hungry for fresh entertainment and they are happy to have an alternative—not just the typical commercial and tropical styles of music. Here in Honduras, most people who listen to electronic music prefer techno, house and their sub-genres.

Which DJ or producer are you most impressed with now? I am influenced by artists like Xpansul, Massi DL, Tim Xavier, Samuel L. Sessions, Mark Broom and Paco Osuna. I enjoy their production style—solid and groovy techno—and also by their constant pushing forward in the genre.

In your country, what gets young people interested in DJing? I think it comes from the new options that electronic music gives us, always evolving and renewing itself—seeing the personal styles of each DJ who visits our country helps. It keeps people interested.

Ofo Nuñez, El Salvador

How was the festival for you? Incredible. I had a really great time watching all the DJs rock it out for two hours each, listening to all the high-quality music that was being played. Also, watching the crowd have a hell of a time dancing and screaming to their favorite DJs was surreal. It was intense.

Anything surprise you? It’s uncommon to see big festivals of electronic music in El Salvador, as it’s in its early stages of development and on a road of progressive growth. But watching how the venue started to get packed during the sunset hours until the venue was completely full was really comforting.

Your highlight? When I took the turntables after HeatBeat, an amazing high-energy packed trance act. I was about to close the festival with some techno music that obviously would be going at a much slower BPM. At first I thought that probably the crowd wouldn’t react that well to it, as they would feel the BPM difference, so I tried to get the most high-energy techno I could find. To my surprise, the crowd reacted amazingly well—they kept dancing until the last track was played at almost 4 a.m., and they wouldn’t leave after it was over. They still wanted more!

In Central America specifically, explain the popularity of electronic dance music? The popularity of EDM has been evolving through all Central America. Each country has developed its own scene and its own perspective on dance music. You can see a great deal of electro and minimal on Guatemala, a high dose of trance and techno here in El Salvador, a much larger fanbase of techno in Honduras and each country is getting its electronic music dosage and experimenting with different genres.

Which DJ or producer impresses you? Chris Liebing. His productions have managed to keep the high energy techno feeling going, while keeping his sound very fresh and up to date. This balance is hard to come by. Some producers have decided to follow a slower, more minimal path. But his productions have tremendous impact on the dancefloor.

Where do DJs shop? We have one or two stores, with very limited gear for sale. Also, due to the shipping taxes to get the gear to El Salvador, prices at these stores are ridiculously high. For example, a $300 CDJ unit, something that probably already has a newer more equipped model on the world market, would be around $700 dollars or more in our local stores. These high prices force DJ/producers to order all their gear from the USA where you can save yourself those few hundred dollars and get the newer models.

How do DJs get started in El Salvador? By doing these events, like the festival, young people start to interact more with the music and become motivated. They start organizing their own small parties at small venues and now we’re beginning to see more young DJs here with a fresh take on music.

Santiago Niño, Guatemala

How was Istmo Fest for you? Awesome crowd, awesome music, awesome organization.

Your highlight? I really enjoyed Ofo Nuñez and Giuseppe Ottaviani.

In Central America specifically, is electronic dance music gaining popularity over other genres like hip-hop or reggaeton? You can’t compare hip hop or reggaeton with electronic music—two different types of music and cultures. EDM comes from the underground and it should stay that way. It shouldn’t compete with mainstream music in any level, so we don’t need to be worried about that.

In your estimation, which electronic genres are most accepted in Guatemala? Genres come and go. Before, it was house, then electro. Now I think techno is taking over. I guess trance will have its time, so it’s really a question of trends.

In Guatemala, were do young people get the DJing spark? Here, people start DJing because of the influence of the events. They begin as part of the audience and then get more into the music. Some feel the need to become DJs.
Which DJs or producers are you most impressed with now? I’m really into what John Digweed is playing on his radio shows. It’s really interesting. You can appreciate the musical side and dance to it at the same time—very deep stuff.

Randy Boyer, USA

Your general reaction to Istmo Music Fest? One of the most amazing experiences I have ever had. There’s nothing better in the world than having thousands of people vibing to your music—electronic dance music is by far the universal language. I don’t know any Spanish, but I still connected with everyone at that festival through my music.

The crowd was really going off, especially during your Oasis remix. That’s what it’s all about. This type of music is so special because it really brings everyone together no matter where you are or what language you speak. I feel blessed to witness this. My gigs at both Istmo Fests have definitely been high points in my career.

Your gig highlight? Playing the new track [“Happy Ending” by HeatBoyer] I produced with HeatBeat that week, and having Agustin and Matias come on stage and rock out next to me with thousands of people smiling, dancing their asses off.

Which DJ/producers impress you now? HeatBeat, Super8 & DJ Tab, Kyau & Albert. HeatBeat just has this unique style. It reminds me of my own style, which is a really hard-hitting, electro bass-heavy sound—real serious trance!

Your view of the Central American electronic dance scene? I’ve only been to El Salvador twice, but it’s definitely more in the mainstream in Central America than the U.S. I have to say that I have noticed on my own Facebook account that I have so much support from everyone in Central America. I think it’s going to keep growing, especially for the Istmo artists. By the way, the label is amazing, always proper releases, and marketed is top notch. Istmo is definitely a huge player in Central America and I hope they continue to do what they are doing and influence their region locally and throughout the world.

HeatBeat, Argentina

Your reaction to Istmo Music Festival? An amazing night, one of our best gigs in 2009 so far. The crowd is really euphoric in El Salvador, and the vibe that you feel over there is amazing—pure Latino style!

Anything surprise you? Fernando Kriete (FerK) did a great job on the decks. Also, Ofo Nuñez from El Salvador did the closing set, and he spins some amazing techno.

A highlight? With Randy Boyer, we played our collaboration that we produced together in those days before the festival in El Salvador. It was a blast! All the people were jumping, screaming and dancing.

Which DJ or producer are you most impressed with now? John O’Callaghan—he’s top notch, one of the few producers that always tries to innovate, tries to do something different. This is what the trance scene needs, people unafraid of changes.

How is Central America progressing with EDM? Especially in El Salvador and Guatemala, the scene is getting stronger day by day. Good promoters are turning this part of the world into a “must-go” point for all the global DJs’ schedules.

Lisa Pure, USA

Your reaction to the festival? I had an amazing time. The vibe was incredible. The fans were so enthusiastic and really got into everyone’s set. They stood out in my mind as one of the best crowds I’ve ever sung to across the globe.

Which DJs most impressed you? I have to give props to Randy Boyer. He truly worked the crowd and they loved him.

The highlight for you? When I arrived at the festival there was a crowd of people that were screaming out to me. I went over to say hello and take pictures with them and to thank them for supporting me. One girl said to me, “Lisa, you have no idea how important you are to us here.” That will forever be in my memory. I’m truly thankful for all the success I have received worldwide, but when fans reach out to you and say things like that, well, that makes me keep pushing forward and never give up.

Giuseppe Ottaviani, Italy

How was Istmo Fest for you? I was really excited to play there—it was my first time in San Salvador. Amazing crowd and very good reaction. I had so much fun playing and I can’t wait to come back.

Anything about the event surprise you? In the middle of my set, some people in front of the stage started to make a kind of “dance competition.” They were dancing one against the other in the center of a circle made from the rest of the people. Crazy. I’ve never seen anything similar on an electronic dance festival.

Which DJ or producer are you most impressed with now? I like Santiago Niño a lot. Also, John O’Callaghan. He just released his new album, Never Fade Away, which includes a track called “Liquid Fire,” a collaboration between him and myself. We also made a second collaboration track called “Our Dimension,” which will be released on my album coming up on VANDIT Records around end of August.

Francis Davila, Guatemala

How was Istmo Music Fest for you? A really good event at a good venue, with an excellent sound, setting and organization.

What impressed you? I was really impressed about crowd in general, because everyone is so young and they are really open to different genres. They always have good support for artists in the region, which is great.

How does EDM rate in Central America, relative to other genres? It is very likely that reggaeton is listened to by a bigger percentage of the population, but it is not a solid scene or a movement. Electronic music has been built through the years, and people recognize and support local DJs and producers.

Which producer are you feeling now? I love Gui Boratto. He has a special sensibility for the music he makes.

How’s the DJ culture in your country? We have two or three international DJs every month and lots of parties with local DJs in small bars. Sometimes even three international DJs might even be on the same week. There aren`t any specific electronic music clubs, but there are different types of venues where you can make events.

What sounds do Guatamalans like? Trance is heard a lot, especially because people in general tend to hear artists that are played in the radio and they lean towards pop. But I can say techno has had a good moment in Guatemala. We`ve been visited by artists like Richie Hawtin, Paco Osuna, Marco Carola, Adam Beyer and more. This says a lot about the people`s preferences.

Fernando Kriete (aka FerK), El Salvador

What are the goals for Istmo Music, the festival and label? To unite our region through music; to provide a successful platform for the finest Central and Latin American talent to be able to develop sustainable careers; and to provide the ultimate musical entertainment experience for our followers.

What’s the strategy for the festival? To make it the finest festival for EDM in all of Central/Latin America, without having to “import” a concept. It’s a festival with internal growth—regional and local talent—drawn from the love and passion for music. It’s a vibrant, organically growing culture. The success, so far, of our festival shows some promising beginnings.

Hope you guys like it:
Here is the link to the original Article:

Dj Times: Global Stop: Central America

Thanks for your support,
Ofo Nunez

Live @ Ultra Music Festival

noreply@blogger.com (Dj Ofo Nunez) — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 17:17:00 +0000

Greetings. I am really excited to announce that I have been confirmed for playing at the Ultra Music Fest this year. One of the most amazing news I have heard in a long while! I have to thank Istmo Music for all the effort and support they have provided. My eternal thanks for Istmo Music!

Head over to Istmo Music's website for the official release of this announcement.

Ultra Music Festival returns with its 11th installment of this famous and huge festival again in 2009. Surrounded by never ending parties, conferences, workshops, djs, producers, promoters, label executives, etc has made ultra one of the largest electronic music festivals in America.

They have finally released the full line-up for each of their stages. Francis Davila and Heatbeat, two other Istmo Music artists, are sharing the decks with me along with about 15 other djs that are also playing on the UMF Collective Stage on Friday March 27th. 2009.

The lineup for both days is amazing, having Prodigy, Richie Hawtin, Carl Cox, Luciano, Loco Dice amongst many of the top tier names playing on March 27th and 28th (Friday and Saturday) on this version of Ultra Music.

On this 11th installment of Ultra Music Festival the lineups for each stage will go as following:

You can look at the lineup by clicking on the image or just reading the lineup in text:

View Larger Image

FRIDAY, MARCH 27

Main Stage: Tiësto, The Black Eyed Peas, Bloc Party, David Guetta, Deadmau5, Santogold, The Ting Tings, Steve Lawler, Sneaky Sound System, Perry Farrell, The Whip, Rye Rye.

Bayfront Live Stage: Pendulum, Roni Size Reprazent, Rabbit In The Moon, BT Live, Shiny Toy Guns, Kevens.

Carl Cox & Friends Stage: Carl Cox, Richie Hawtin, Luciano vs. Loco Dice, Tini.

Amnesta Ibiza Arena: Swedish House Mafia (Steve Angello, Axwell, Sebastian Ingrosso), Benny Benassi, Tiga, Dirty South, Busy P, Josh Wink, Chris Lake, Mar T.

Biscayne Stage: The Bloody Beetroots, Riton, L.A. Riots, Surkin, Para One, Rory Phillips, Patrick M, RioTGeaR, Clayton Steele.

Ultra Satellite Radio: Goldfish, Noel Sanger, Christopher James, Jonathan Allyn, Stan Kolev, Scot, Jason Knight, Josh Wetherington, Lance Blaise, Mr. Rodger, Jose Mata, WePlayHouse, Jason Brown, Bret Talley, Moebleakah.

Eco Village: Kinesis, Ryan Nathan, DJ Cadence, Jesney, Chilly, Turner & Heit, Metaphysical, DJ Don L, DJ Coca, Eros, Stars of Nasty, Sub Guys, Locklear, Jared, DJ Ed Whitty, DJ Manus, Aaron Underwood, Emmanuel Potetsianakis, Antares Guerena.

UMF Collective: DJ Dennis Sebayan, R.O.R., Randy Seidman, Carlos Mendoza, Autonomous Bass Heads, Bat Juice, Hil Huerta, The Pro Gram, Dark Ice, Ariel G, Vicious Jenna G, Surgewave feat. MC Jumanji, Metem Psychosis, Boogie Man, Orep, Franccesco Cardenas & Luke Hunter, Rodrogo Vieira, Crissp, Roland Clark, Rafy Nieves, Lee Kalt, Marcos Carnaval, Afrobeta, Pedro M, Francis Davila, Heatbeat, Ofo Nunez.

SATURDAY, MARCH 28

Main Stage: The Prodigy, Paul Van Dyk, Armin Van Buuren, Booka Shade, Above & Beyond, Fedde Le Grand, Infected Mushroom, ATB, Kaskade, Markus Schulz, Alina, Francesco Rossi, Nate Campbell.

Bayfront Live Stage: Deadmau5, Cut Copy, Simian Moblie Disco, Crystal Castles, MSTRKRFT, M.A.N.D.Y. vs. Tiefschwartz, Boys Noize, Hercules & Love Affair, The Presets, Late of the Pier, Kraak & Smaak, The Bloody Beetroots, Heidi, L.A. Riots

Carl Cox & Friends Stage: Carl Cox, Erick Morillo, Moby, Pete Tong, Elio Riso.

Mid-Park Stage: Roni Size, Planet of the Drums (AK1200, Dara, Diesel Boy, J. Messinian), Andy C and MC GQ, Goldie, Ed Rush and Optical, Subfocus, Evol Intent, Chase & Status, Nosia, SS, Circle K & MC Collaborator, Djunya, Ill Collaboration, Juan Basshead, Bass Nacho & Human, Marcus Visionary.

Biscayne Stage: BT Laptop Symphony, Stanton Warriors, Hybrid, Bassbin Twins, DJ Icey, Freestylers, Baby Anne, Soul of Man, Atomic Hooligan, Drumattic Twins, 2020 Soundsystem 4X, Johnny Dangerously & Storm, DNF, Peoples.

Eco Village: Mad Hatter, Gino Fuentes, Tony Masters, DMP, Brian Dawe, Vinny From Da Bronx, DJ Ology, Eran Hersh & Darmon, Trance Miami, Psychedelic Sunset, Roe Revolution, Trans Overload, Third Ear Syndrome, Elnadiv, Baby Sean, Inbal, Man Manchine, Psy-Fi, Psyev, Anada Shake, DJ Yallon, Complex, Shaka B

Day Glow Arena: Flash Brothers, Trent Cantrelle, David Solano, Steve Smooth, Granite & Phunk, Cato K, Scott Boy, Lucho, Proxxy & Lantern, Black Coffee, DJ Misha, Nelly G, Velvet Angels, CC Rock, Go Go Craig, People From Venus, KCIS, Bass Nacho, D.Min, Tony Estrada, Tango02, Pacman, Fly ID, Chris Samba, Louis Marr, Ultrahipnosis, Nakita, David Moses, Manbearpig, Deranged, Supreme 1, The Devil From Acapulco.

UMF Collective: Seasunz, Rabbit, Jimmie Page, J Luv, Richard Frailoi, Darin Epsilon, Parantula, DJ Dadon, Aleksus Sanchez, DJ Pat Pat, DJ Ideal, Alexander Orue, Sean K., Metro, Minimal Fox, Nitin, DJ OS2, Matt C, El Nino, Mephisto Odyssey, Steve Nice, DJ Hyro, Joshua Binczak, Ryan Moralis, Cilly C, DJ Samer, 'Evrydaydowners', Baby Joel, DJ Miki Mayhem, DJ Endo, Dyzko, Fat Jo.

Ill be posting more information on the festival as soon as I get it.

Thanks for your support and hope to see you at the WMC and Ultra this year.

Ofo

Links: Istmo Music's website for the official release of the WMC announcement

Events: WMC 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Dj Ofo Nunez) — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 05:03:00 +0000

Its that time of the year where Miami becomes one of the hottest places to be if you want to party and watch probably all of the djs you ever wanted to hear for 5 days in a row, on endless parties going all through the week non-stop.

Resident Advisor has come up with an incredible day to day (might as well say night to night) guide to this years Miami WMC Parties. As I said before they are endless. They have compiled probably one of the most complete guides I have seen. Check it out by clicking on the image above or by clicking HERE.

Hope you guys find it useful.

Ofo

Image: Resident Advisor.net

Ableton Live 8 New Features

noreply@blogger.com (Dj Ofo Nunez) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 19:28:00 +0000

Recently I have browsing around trying to find out more about Ableton's new release of their famous software Ableton Live 8. There is a tons of new feature but two I'm really excited about is the Looper and the Multiparameter Manipulation.

I thought about writing some of the features that got me really interested in the new version, but I found a video from Ableton describing each of the new features, so I might as well just post the video so you can be more entertained and more informed, rather than reading countless paragraphs of text.

There is also a new Warping engine that comes with this new Ableton Live version, I know for sure producers are going to have a lot of fun playing with this, for live situations, I guess we'll have to see if djs start using the new tool or if they are still going to remain using the old classic way. The new Warping engine is explained on this following video, for your viewing pleasure:

One final thing I would like to add would be about the Share Option in Ableton Live. Now you will be able to create music with others via de Internet. Its still coming out in Beta, but the possibilities are endless. Now you will be able to share Live Sets through the net with other producers, label execs, from the comfort of Ableton with this new technology. You can bounce songs with someone, get previews, share sets on facebook, myspace or any blog. This looks like something any ableton user is bound to start using. Watch the following video for more details:

Hope you have become as excited as I am to get our hands on this amazing software. If you absolutely need to read more about it, heres the direct link to the features of the new Ableton Live 8.

Ableton Live 8 Features

Cya Later

Ofo

Istmo Nights February 20th 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Dj Ofo Nunez) — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 17:26:00 +0000

Really glad to announce the following Istmo Nights on February 20th. Looks like its going to be one amazing party for all the Trance Lovers in El Salvador. Ill have the honor of being part of the lineup, where I'll try to inject some dark techno into the opening hours of the party. Hope you guys are able to make it and have fun at the event.

You can buy the tickets online just by clicking the following link.

Buy Tickets Online for Istmo Nights / Compra en-linea tus tickets para Istmo Nights

See you there!
Ofo

New Things on the Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Dj Ofo Nunez) — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 17:14:00 +0000

Well I just added this Twitter thing on the blog to keep updating it more in a concise way. So if any of you guys has twitter you know where to find me. I also added some small music players on the website with two sets, they are not recent, but ill try to post up more recent sets in this following days. In the meantime, hope you enjoy both sets.

See you guys Later,
Ofo

Welcome Back

noreply@blogger.com (Dj Ofo Nunez) — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 02:18:00 +0000

Well after a huge failed attempt at trying to get a Website going... I have come back to this Blog to keep it up to date. Its amazing how much programmers take to actually build a website. Guess Ill just use this, its easier and no problems.

Well I almost havent updated in one year. So ill be posting a Looking Back post on the next few following post to summarize 2008. Right now I gotta finish some shit so I can keep up updating this.

For all of you guys that got lost... welcome back. For the ones first time here wondering what the hell is an Ocotber 4 2007 post doing as one of my recent ones, I apologize, that will change soon.

Thanks for your support.
Welcome Back,
Ofo

Mickey Franco, Ofo Nunez w/ Richie Hawtin @ Selekto Guatemala

noreply@blogger.com (Dj Ofo Nunez) — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 02:41:00 +0000

Hey how is everyone doing today! Some great news on this post. Selekto, a Guatemalan Event company has been delivering amazing events with an amazing lineup of djs for this year. Djs such as Adam Beyer, Paco Osuna, Maro Carola, Damian Lazarus among many others have delighted Guatemala thanks to Selekto. To close 2007 off they are announcing one of the best parties of the year. Richie Hawtin will be playing in Guatemala on December 22. 2007. I am also proud to announce Ill be warming up the event for him. Mickey Franco an amazing local dj from Guatemala will be in charge of playing before me opening the night. This looks to be the party of the year in Guatemala and I am sure its going to be the best. So I'll see you guys there.

Thanks for your support,

Ofo Nunez

Next Gigs Announced

noreply@blogger.com (Dj Ofo Nunez) — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 23:08:00 +0000

Hey! Hows everyone doing today? Hope everything is going great! Well, I have to apologize for not updating it seems that on some weeks everything becomes so hectic around here that I have barely enough time to post on my blog. I can't keep on saying I am gonna try to update as soon as I can because I have no idea what thing is going to consume my time tomorrow, but, I swear ill try. Ha!

Well some pretty good parties have been announced lately, which I know as a fact that all the techno/minimal lovers will absolutely go crazy with theses announcements.

To start off in chronological order. The first party that has been officially announced is Carl Cox. On November 7th. I am betting that this party is probably going to be one of the best parties of the year for sure. Carl Cox surely knows and has a vast experience on handling perfectl, massive amounts of people, and from experience I know that this is going be one of those amazing nights.

Here is the flyer for the party. You can also check it at Carl Cox's Website.

The next party announcement is one that I am really excited to announce, and I know for sure its also going to be a hell of a party! Smackdown has been able to put out 3 amazing parties during this second half of the year, and now, its time to announce the following party with our first international guest, which needs no introduction since she has been topping of charts and have become icons in the minimal/techno scene. Its an honor for smackdown to announce:

Friday December 21st 2007
Smackdown Presents M_NUS
Magda

Ill keep you guys updated as more information is available as the dates get closer.

Have to go right now but Ill try to update more later tonight, just wanted to let you guys know what is coming ahead for the end of this year.

Thanks for your support,
Ofo Nunez

Event: Smackdown September 22.07

noreply@blogger.com (Dj Ofo Nunez) — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 17:46:00 +0000

Greetings! I know I haven't been updating my blog for a while, but I've been stuck with a lot of work from college and its been hectic. Anyways I'll try to update some few things this weekend. To start off we have just announced the next date of the famous Smackdown party. Again no cover charge so that everyone is able to go, dance and have fun with the local DJs Jaime Escolan, Roberto Moreno and me.

Roberto Moreno, one of the best local DJs in El Salvador is leaving us to go pursue his career in Audio Engineering in Barcelona, so this smackdown is the farewell party from the Smackdown crew to Roberto. Best of Luck in his career plans!

Its going to be a fun party and we will be announcing some great news that day. Dont miss it out and see you there!

I leave you now with the flyers for the party:

Smackdown

Place: A.live
Date: September 22.07
Lineup:
Jaime Escolan
Roberto Moreno
Ofo Nuñez

Thanks for your support,
Ofo Nunez

Video: Ofo Nunez @ Ultra Club. Tegucigalpa. Fri Aug 31.07

noreply@blogger.com (Dj Ofo Nunez) — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 03:56:00 +0000

Hey people how is everyone doing. I just got back from the small Honduran mini tour. Ill be posting more pics, videos and information on the next post when I have resized all the pics. The trip was amazing and there was some amazing response from the crowd! Both places Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula are in the process of expanding the scene. I would like to thank the promoters of Sunjam Utila Festival and Modular Clubbing for booking me. Had a great time and hopefully next time I see them will be for an event here in El Savador.

I leave you here with a video from friday's gig at Ultra club in Tegucigalpa. Honduras. The place literally went nuts. Great flashbacks from this video. Hope you guys like it.

Thank you for the people that attended the party hope you guys also had as much of a great time as I did.

Thank you for your support,
See you later,
Ofo Nunez
www.ofonunez.com

DLA Coverage: Ofo Nunez

noreply@blogger.com (Dj Ofo Nunez) — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 17:07:00 +0000

Greetings! Hope everyone is doing fine and having fun! I jsut returned from my trip to Guatemala in which I played on the Winterparty with a lot of the upcoming talents in guatemala. Had a fun time and had a great response from the crowd. Thanks Guatemala for your support. Ill try to get the pictures that were taken so I can post them here.

Another thing I would like to point out is that Dance Latinoamerica, the electronic music website authority for South America has published several news articles from my gigs in Guatemala, Honduras and the awaited party with Carl Cox on November 7th. I am in deep thanks with Dance Latinoamerica for taking the iniciative of reporting Central American news about artists and upcoming events.

I leave you now with the links so you can check them out. They are in spanish since its a latin american website. Ha!

DLA Link: Ofo Nunez Visits Honduras
August 31st.07: Ultra Club, Tegucigalpa, Honduras
September 1st.07: Amnesia Club, San Pedro Sula, Hondura

DLA Link: Carl Cox Visita El Salvador
November 7th.07:
Carl Cox
Ofo Nunez
Quiño & Jaime Escolan
Walter Dj

Dimensions 008: Ofo Nunez & Raffa Verdial Today!

noreply@blogger.com (Dj Ofo Nunez) — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 17:33:00 +0000

Its that time of the month where Dimensions goes on air on the famous Online Radio Station, Proton Radio. For the first hour is a set I recorded at the Istmo Music Nights party with the Thrillseekers, really technoish music. Our guest mix comes from a great friend from Honduras, Raffa Verdial. Ive had the chance of sharing the decks with him in the past in San Pedro Sula, Honduras and on the famous Sunjam Utila Festival. Giving a great dose of electronic beats ranging through the different spectrum of the house/minimal genre he delivers an astonishing 2 hour set for today's guest mix.

Proton Radio: Dimensions Show Link

Hope you can tune today at 4pm El Salvador time/6pm EST on Proton Radio for a 3 hour dose of Dimensions. To learn more from our guest mix today I leave you with Raffa Verdial's Biography.

Thanks for your support,

Ofo

Dimensions 008:
Host Mix: Ofo Nunez
Guest Mix: Raffa Verdial (Honduras)

Rafa Verdial got involved in music early on at the age of 12. Learning to play electric organ and playing drums for his high school band. Always showing interest for music in general he was very much influenced by 80’s New Wave Bands and 90’s Grunge and Alternative Rock Bands. His interest in electronic music came by listening to bands like: Depeche Mode, New Order, Duran Duran, INXS, and some others.

In the 1999 at the age of 20 years his interest for Electronic Dance Music awakens, listening to commercial artists and djs like ATB, Stardust, Dirty Vegas, Royksopp and a few years later interested in more underground genres, like House, Progressive House and Techno listening to djs like Sasha, Ferry Corsten, Deep Dish, Steve Lawler, Danny Tenaglia , to name a few.

As a DJ he gets started in 2005 playing at small clubs like Yoda Bar and Modular Micro club in his home town, San Pedro Sula and in Tegucigalpa , shortly thereafter in other cities and clubs in Honduras and Central America.

In 2006 he’s invited to participate in events such as the Empire Music Festival 2nd Edition in Guatemala, Mask Party @ Club 1201, Midnight Mansion Venue in Tegucigalpa, Global Deejays World Tour and Luna y Sol, amongst others.

He’s actually the resident DJ @ Coco Loco’s Monthly Full Moon Parties in Utila and plays at all the hot clubs, venues and private parties in Honduras. In addition, he has been called upon this year (2007) to play at what is considered the most prestigious venue in Central America; Sunjam Utila EDM Festival 11th Edition, which takes place annually in the beautiful island of Utila, Bay Islands, Honduras.

Participating in these events has given him the opportunity to share turntables with national and international DJs such as: Osman Gamez, Balto Pinto, Luis Maier, Dj Nina, Francis Dávila, Ofo Nuñez, Jason Jollins, Roberto Moreno, Jaime Escolan, Keko, Pako, Andrés Castaño, Rebekah Teasdale, Baby Anne, Christopher Lawrence, Global Deejays and some others.

His sets are characterized by high energy, inviting crowds to the dance floor. His style covers genres like Tech, Progressive, Electro, Electro-Techno and Techno.

Videos: Ofo Nunez Live @ Sunjam

noreply@blogger.com (Dj Ofo Nunez) — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 15:56:00 +0000

Hey! Hows everyone doing today? I just wanted to share with you two videos from my set in Sunjam Utila Festival that took place on the island of Utila in Honduras. I uploaded one and found another one uploaded by another user on Youtube. Hope you like em!

Ofo Nunez Next Gigs Announced

noreply@blogger.com (Dj Ofo Nunez) — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 21:12:00 +0000

Wuz Up! Well I just got confirmed to play the following dates:

August 25th:

Tantra Club

Guatemala City, Guatemala

Lineup:

Ivan Garzza (Guatemala)

Casta (Guatemala)

Frankz Gallardo (Guatemala)

Ofo Nunez (El Salvador)

Santiago Nino (Colombia)

Also got confirmed for a 2 day small Honduran mini tour. Playing:

August 31st:

Ultra Club

Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Lineup:

Ofo Nunez (El Salvador)

Balto (Honduras)

September 1st:

Amnesia Club

San Pedro Sula, Honduras

Lineup:

Balto (Honduras)

Lu Maya (Honduras)

Jay Pierelli (Honduras)

Ofo Nunez (El Salvador)

Raffa Verdial (Honduras)

Hope you guys are able to attend so we can have a great time partying!
See you there and thanks for your support,
Ofo

Ofo Nunez @ RA Dj Profile Page

noreply@blogger.com (Dj Ofo Nunez) — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 18:34:00 +0000

Greetings, sorry its been so long since I last updated my blog but I have been having a few technical issues with my powerbook which needs some repair parts to arrive so I can repair it. Ill try to post the Sunjam pictures and videos as soon as I can. But anyways, I just wanted to let you guys know that I have been added into Resident Advisor's Dj Pages, and wanted to ask for your vote on it, since it would really mean a lot to me.

Resident Advisor has been one of the most advanced portals in the electronic scene providing latest news, image galleries, events and podcasts from the world scene. If you haven't seen it I strongly recommend you log in and enjoy the website.

You can reach my profile and vote by following this link:
DJ Pages: Ofo Nunez

Related Link: Resident Advisor (http://www.residentadvisor.net)

Thanks in adavanced for your votes and support,
Ofo

Ofo Nunez Top 10 Chart: August 2007 Featured in Beatport.com

noreply@blogger.com (Dj Ofo Nunez) — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 02:57:00 +0000

Link: Ofo Nunez Beatport Chart for Aug. 2007

Greetings! Well to my surprise today I found out that Beatport has featured my top 10 for August 2007 on their charts website. That made my day! Check it out if you want. You can listen to my top 10 directly on the player or follow the link above to head on to my chart page in Beatport. Hope you enjoy them.

Thanks
Ofo

Video: Ofo Nunez @ Thrillseekers. El Salvador

noreply@blogger.com (Dj Ofo Nunez) — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 16:59:00 +0000

Greetings! Well I am back from Sunjam had an amazing time such a great vibe, everything went excellent! I am collecting all pictures, videos and anything I can get my hands on so I can do a formal review on my next post. Right now I just wanted to post two videos I got from You Tube. Someone recorded some videos from my set on Thrillseekers here last month so I'll post them here and hope you enjoy them. I ll try to post the Sunjam review later on today or tomorrow! Hope you guys enjoy the videos!

Tech: Daft Punk's Live Equipment

noreply@blogger.com (Dj Ofo Nunez) — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 03:25:00 +0000

Daft Punk probably hosts one of the most amazing stages I have ever seen. A huge pyramid, amazing light show and a gigantic screen is just what the naked eye can see from the publics point of view. But many people never get to see the booth from up close and they wonder what exactly do Daft Punk use on their live stage pyramid. Like the small article states I always thought they where using some laptops but I guess they are more into hardware than anything else. Take a look at the image provided by the website Musicthing from Daft Punk's booth.

Here is a hardware list of what appears on the image:

"4 x Moog Voyager racks, 2 x Behringer BCR2000 controllers, and possibly 2 x Lemur controllers in the middle (DP endorse the Lemur). Presumably there's also some computers somewhere, but there don't seem to be any keyboards involved at all. "
-Musicthing.co.uk

All I can say is impressive!
Here is a direct link to the article: Daft Punk Equipment
Website: Musicthing.co.uk

Here is an impressive video from their live concert in Summercase Barcelona! Enjoy it!

Hope you enjoy some hardware geekiness! Ha!
Peace
-Ofo

Opinion: Is deep house becoming the new trend on the scene?

noreply@blogger.com (Dj Ofo Nunez) — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 00:38:00 +0000

Well first of all wanted to express my apologies on the missed gig for Coaltepec Pre-Party due to a medical procedure that was done to me this past week. Really wanted to be there but the doctor forbid it.

Anyways I stayed home and found out this article from Resident Advisor, stating that there has been a recent uprise of deep house in germany. A lot of minimal producers are shifting on releasing a more deep house approach.

They might not sound exactly like their American forefathers, but a new breed of deep house producers are shaking up Europe, writes Ronan Fitzgerald for Resident Advisor.

Check it out if you can, ill leave the direct link at the bottom.

Month to Month: Germany goes Deep
Website: Resident Advisor
Author: Ronan Fitzgerald

Peace
Ofo

Dimensions 007: Esteban Howell

noreply@blogger.com (Dj Ofo Nunez) — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 21:25:00 +0000

Hey wuz up people. Today is Dimensions 007, I recently had an operation and could not do much of the show. But I got an incredible guest mix from Esteban Howell in Costa Rica, personally one of my favorites in Central America. Hope you enjoy it.

Dimensions 007 Featuring 2 Hour Guest mix of Esteban Howell:
Today at 6pm EST.
Exclusively on Proton Radio

Hope you enjoy it,
Thanks for your support,
Ofo Nunez

Here is Esteban Howells BIO:
House music, deep and techy, electro and minimal are some of the sounds of the musical esthetics that you may listen in one of the most interesting and charismatic sessions of Central America's Underground. Esteban Howell is an artist dedicated to the music and its abstract mission.

Influenced by new aged, world beat sounds and dance tunes of early 90s, along with his music studies in piano and keyboards, Esteban was striked by underground dance music in 2000, and he decided to try out the dj experience. In 2002 he joined forces with dj Spyral forming duo Spyral and Howell. The Promotion Bookings residency gave him the opportunity to play along truly masters, as he was invited by Club Vertigo to perform on the Official opening event and the Yoshitoshi "InHouseWeTrust3" World Tour, collaboration that eventully made him part of the club talented residents and the Audiodrop Collective. In 2006, along with Loic Hervot, Esteban Howell starts the BOH project, opening new way for electronic music expression in Costa Rica.

Esteban Howell's passionate sessions are well known in Central America, as he has shared decks with Francis Davila, Tom Sawyer, Tiny Toon, and collaborated with Central America's rising labels, like Istmo music, along with Ofo Nunez and Fernando Kriete. He has also played with Dubfire, Steve Lawler, Sander Kleinenberg, Felix Da Housecat, John Digweed, Hernan Cattaneo, Danny Howells, James Zabiela, among other talents.

A session with Esteban Howell will take us through to memory paths between sound and feelings that we have always felt around and inside us, being part of our lives and our soul enrichment. A space to enliven the hearing in a speech of a strange and elegant talent, who, ate the same time, goes on frontal contact with the crowd in a creative and discreet manner.

Reviews and Photos: Smackdown @ Alive

noreply@blogger.com (Dj Ofo Nunez) — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 16:37:00 +0000

All I can say is what a party!! The vibe, the crowd, the place, the sound and the music was excellent! The night started out with Jaime Escolan delivering a really nice minimal set filled with glitches, screeches and pops really nice groove he gave out an amazing set warming the crowd and making them dance since the first track! It was time for Roberto Moreno to step on to the booth and he totally wrecked the place apart with some sick sick music! He played from around 10:30pm - 12:45 am totally tearing the club with an excellent selection of tracks, later it was my turn around 1 am I had control of the decks and booth, the crowd's response to minimal techno was fantastic. I had so much fun, it was one of those parties where you know the dj as well as the crowd can enjoy themselves and try out new stuff that on other parties we normally wouldn't. Anyways, I played for about 5 hours something from 1 am to about 6:30 am, its rare to see a party down here that would normally last until broad daylight, some of the parties last until about 4 or 5 but never daylight, so it was fun breaking the standard and partying all night long! HA! Well here are some pictures of the night, hope you enjoy them. This photos are courtesy of Rodolfo Ruffatti who has been taking nightscene pictures of the parties for so long and I guess nobody had mentioned him. Amaazing photographer always trying to get the right frame! Thanks for the pictures!

Links:
Roberto Moreno: Visit his MySpace
Rodolfo Ruffatti: Users can see his photos at deviantart.com link here.

Jaime Escolan warming things up with an excellent minimal set.

Roberto Moreno delivering a nice load of minimal/techno

Roberto Moreno

Really cool pic from Moreno, the place was packed!

Jaime Escolan (Dj) and Gerardo Ramos partying hard.

Smackdown Crew: Jaime Escolan, Ofo Nuñez, Roberto Moreno and a cold ice local Beer, Pilsener!

My turn on the decks.

Getting it on! Ha!

Really dark and gloomy vibe!

Me again!

Ofo Nuñez

Crowd going wild!

Next gigs:
Coaltepec Pre-Party @ Code Thrusday July 26th.
Sunjam Utila Festival @ Utila, Honduras. August 4th.

Thanks for your support and hope you enjoyed the photos ill post more as soon as I get them.
Ofo

Event: Today Smackdown @ Alive!

noreply@blogger.com (Dj Ofo Nunez) — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 17:58:00 +0000

Hope to see everyone there tonight!
Thanks for the support,
Ofo Nunez

Video Recommendation: Colores. Electronic Music in Latin America.

noreply@blogger.com (Dj Ofo Nunez) — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 08:27:00 +0000

Greetings! Well its been an incredible productive night, been working on some music stuff for tomorrows gig, it seems that we are going to have a really great crowd. We are at Abe Saca's house listening to some new fresh banging tracks off from Beatport and some CDRs. Today browsing off through the web I came across a video that normally I could not find anywhere else. People around the world normally ask whats going on with Latin America and its electronic music scene? In my opinion since all this minimal hype has started ive tend to see a lot of really great South American producers start showing up more and more on the spotlight in the world's scene and I am guessing and hoping that that tendency is going to keep expanding for the next following years. =)

Anyways relax, sit back and enjoy the 22 minute video.

Article: Electronic Music in Latin America
Source: Beatportal
Author: Terry Church

"Check out this insightful and inspiring 22 minute documentary about the current state of electronic music in Latin America. Mil Records produced this film to highlight the talented artists and DJs that hail from the continent.

The documentary was produced to coincide with the label’s first compilation of electronic music from Latin America, ‘Colores’ (out now).

In the film, Pepe Mogt, Ramon Bostich and other renowned local artists talk about ‘Colores’ and the state of dance music in Mexico, Argentina, Chile and the other South American countries."

Opinion: Jeff Milligan Interview

noreply@blogger.com (Dj Ofo Nunez) — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 07:01:00 +0000

Yo! Well I decided to stay home tonight and catch up on some music buying at Beatport. Its amazing how big that store is, I spend countless hours robotized by so many releases, labels, artists, charts, genres its absolutely never-ending! I always end up with like 500 dollars on the cart and then cut off like 90% to get the really good worth buying tracks. But well, finished off early, started reading and came across something that really catched my eye. Normally I just put one question that I found interesting but from this interview I found some answers to some questions that really boggled my mind so let me know what you guys think about this:

Interview with Jeff Milligan
Full Interview Link
Interview by: Higher Frequency

"Since 1999 Jeff Milligan has brought the world the best in Minimal/Techno/House through his label Revolver Recordings Canada. Drawing influence and inspiration from Detroit, Chicago, Toronto and Montreal, Jeff has established himself as one of the pioneers in the scene, not only in Canada but the world over. "

- Higher Frequency

HigherFrequency :Nowadays there is an overload of new labels coming out. Is there any difference between starting up a label now compared to when you started Revolver in 1999?
Jeff Milligan : I think that there is a massive difference in starting a label back in 1999, compared to 2007. Almost a decade of internet and other technological innovation and development has passed. The end of the nineties was essentially the end of the outboard studio as a laptop revolution took hold and the budget to record music dropped. The tools and resources to promote and release music have also improved and developed exponentially in just the past few years. And of course, it goes without saying, that digital distribution has changed the way we look at music and it's ownership. Record labels don't have to invest very much money in releasing a record anymore. Overhead has almost disappeared in comparison to a decade ago as there is way less risk in the failure of a non-physical product as the market goes digital. The only drawback is that labels have now become far more numerous and the market is flooded with a load of craptop techno so it's harder for the great records to outshine the hundreds of mediocre ones.

No different than the past one could argue, but there were more records released in the world in the past 24 hours than there are minutes in the day to devote to searching for, or listening to new stuff. It used to be, that a labels exclusivity would fuel it's popularity and sales would increase naturally over time, as the catalog grows, but funny, now there seems to be as many one hit labels as there are artists. I actually think that record labels are going to become less and less about the business of releasing music, and will take on some other primary purpose because it's only going to become easier for artists to simply release records on their own. All a record label really does is provide infrastructure for an artist to get his/her music into the world and I think most artists are starting to develop the capacity to manage this personally. The power of record labels will continue to decrease and will slowly evolve into some other primary business service that they provide for the artist.

I do have to agree with his statement as its true that Netlabels are becoming more and more popular as technology increases. From my point of view it has a positive side and a negative. A positive meaning that with the rise of so many netlabels each artist can manage to get more and more exposure, the negative... millions and millions of tracks that make it harder and harder to find those good, awesome quality tracks that we all djs seek for days and days.

As Jeff states "Netlabels will become less and less about the business of releasing music and take some other primary purpose." I think this is where the fun part begins, releasing digitally has become so fast and easy that labels now have to offer an added service and really focus primarily on marketing before the track or release gets lost on the millions and millions of lined up releases on the digital stores. It will not be long before netlabels begin to offer another service for the user as well as the artist.

"All a record label really does is provide infrastructure for an artist to get his/her music into the world and I think most artists are starting to develop the capacity to manage this personally."

Artists have the capacity of getting their music into the world and there might be so many services of this kind where an individual can sell his tracks. But this is where I would disagree on with that statement. A label builds up a reputation with strong releases thus builds up a fan base and some loyalty of followers to their specific sound. A label opens up channels of marketing and different channels of exposure to their releases and the artist. An artist could do the same but it would take him double or triple time to produce, play, manage the relationship with the stores, market their tracks, sell their tracks all by themselves they would need some help to really focus on the stuff that matters. As the saying goes "You cant do everything by yourself." So indeed labels would have to add some added service to the artists and as technology grows the artists will be able to manage things by themselves, but would all of this turn them into a 24 hour workoholics?

The second thing I wanted to point out that got my attention from that interview would be this:

HRFQ : Back in the day you were working will Richie Hawtin at Plus 8, what do you make of Minus’ current popularity?
Jeff Milligan : Well i must first clarify that we didn't work together much. I did a DJ project for +8/Definitive a decade ago, but i was never working for +8. The crew I was a part of in Toronto were the people who were promoting +8/Minus parties and Richie and I played together many times, but that's as far as we worked together. Nowadays, every five minutes someone is praising or shitting on Minus cause they are the benchmark of the minimal labels so everyone either wants to tear a strip off them or suck their dicks (except Magda's of course ;)), nevertheless, all this press space about Minus everywhere I look could be used for stuff that isn't getting attention. Nonetheless I have a few viewpoints about Minus' success. I'm a big supporter of the label and Richie Hawtin was a major influence for myself and others from Montreal to Detroit back in the day and still is. In Canada we have very deep roots in minimal techno, spanning well over a decade so we can brag and say we are quite seasoned and educated towards the genre. I think this can be somewhat due to Richie Hawtin and his affiliations and the early exposure he afforded this music to us locally as he was a primary instrument for this music's popularity, especially back home in Canada, way before the global minimal explosion. But many of the artists that sprang from this nineties generation of techno were making the more stripped for stripped sake style of "minimal" a decade ago and are somewhere new now, artistically speaking, and certainly don't fit into the cookie cutter framework of today's rehashed incarnation of minimal.

Minus has been around for a really long time, much longer than many minimal labels so they have some seniority and influence. Their releases sound much different in style than the minimal techno that eventually emerged from Montreal or Toronto as Minus is much more of a Detroit label as far as style, affiliations and influences, than it is a Canadian one. Most other notable Canadian producers tended to create more sampledelic, melodic styles that are much more musically sophisticated. Ironically, most of the producers were dramatically influenced by +8's early years. Because Minus records are pretty simple to copy, they have the blessing and curse of being the most popular and accessible sound, the one that all the bandwagoners are trying to sound like, and doing so with some relative success. The genre has been cheapened a lot, but it's not Minus' fault. Minimal techno is prime time on a Saturday night now in most cities in the world and there's no reason that the people who believed in this music can't live off it. There are some good records on the label and some that aren't my thing, like any other label, nonetheless i'm a supporter since day one. The underground music scene is a fragile and naive place where strong business minded artists can rule easily. I don't mean to trivialize, but in my opinion the main reason for Minus' popularity is due to the elaborate campaign behind the continued brand development of Minus, and not so much because of the records themselves. Minus is a really strong brand, like CocaCola. When you are this huge you can put out incredible records that define the music of the future or crap in a paper bag, light it on fire, proclaim it's the best thing since peanut butter, because it doesn't matter. Most people will buy it and think it's the best either way. And play the record enough, and eventually it makes it into everyone's heads, whether it's good or not. People have little time to scrutinize what they believe is the status quo's consensus on what is considered the best product.

Maybe throwing Starbuck's or whatever big corporation in there is a negative association, but I'm just trying to make the point that there is little difference between the decision making effort of someone buying broccoli to someone buying music. There are some extremely intelligent music fans out there but a large % of the people who go to a club worked in an office or a bank all week and they want to spend time on weekends relaxing and letting loose, not being an informed music afficianado. By no means am I trying to draw the comparison of Minus to Starbuck's, I'm just saying that any label could release a brilliant record, or a crap record, but anything with massive promotion will at the very least be marginally successful. $ and promotion can make blue the new red, black the new white and Minus have lots of money to put into promotion, running a tight, well-oiled business. Richie Hawtin has made Plastikman/+8/Minus coffee mugs, mouse pads, slipmats, stickers and t-shirts. Over a decade of merchandising. There must be at least 100,000 Plastikman slipmats on turntables all over the planet and I think I have personally slipped a record on at least 1000 of them.

Point being that there are hundreds of labels, artists and DJs worldwide that are releasing amazing stuff that gets little to no attention because they lack the branding or spin since they aren't business savvy... or are unfashionable... socially retarded... don't have a publicity machine behind them, or lack a good photographer. I mean, everyone heard of Thomas Edison but no one heard of Nikola Tesla. Any successful brand will be copied, cheapened and disposed of. Eventually there will be backlash against minimal from the audience, not just the industry, and the criticisms won't be incorrect when they call this genre empty, simple, unmusical and boring as it's becoming moreso every day. Sadly, the artists who were doing the really innovative stuff, will suffer the same unfounded criticisms. What will be really interesting is to see the musical direction that labels (not just Minus) take after the minimal hype is all dried up.

First of all, as he explains that M_NUS is a marketing monster that has taken years and years of hard work, releases, artist, time and patience is exactly what I was trying to point out on the first question. Yes an artist, may indeed manage to manage all of his stuff by himself but put a solo artist selling 4 EP's against a big strong old label like M_NUS and I bet that amounts of tracks sold by the artist won't even be close enough to what the same 4 tracks would do if sold by M_NUS. Pointing out a necessity for labels and marketing until another technological advance is made.

I am seeing a trend on most interviews on people suggesting and expressing their distaste for minimal music and its death. Could it be due to the overpopularity of the genre suffocating people all over the world? A lot of the music that's sold in the digital stores under the minimal genre could well be fit under a lot of other diferent genres. Why is it there then? Could it be the minimal hype's fault that everybody is looking for that specific genre and labels are just labeling their tracks minimal to get more attention thus more sales? In my opinion this is one strong reason. What do you guys think?

Well this came out really long...again. Thanks to the ones that took their time to read it. If you have any comments on what you think of all of this don't hesitate to write up a comment here to discuss it.

The link for the full interview is way up under the image. If you would like to know more about Jeff Milligan's work, production, label or bio visit up hist site at:

http://www.jeffmilligan.ca/

Take care and thanks for reading and sorry for any typos HA! =)
Ofo