Focus on Argentina: Seph (interview on Beatportal)

Tell us a little bit about the scene in Argentina. What are the main clubs in your city? What styles are popular? What local DJs and producers should we know about? Where do the parties take place—clubs, underground venues, chiringuitos?

The general dance scene is massive, very popular. In Buenos Aires the main clubs are Pacha, Cocoliche, Crobar, although there are tons of underground parties all the time...All styles are popular, with electro and progressive house as the main ones, it actually depends on what parties like Creamfields or SouthFest promote as the sound people should dig. Techno has always been big also, and now the “minimal” craze has been established in the scene. There is a very cool “deep techno” scene that grows especially in clubs like Cocoliche. Porteño (this means, from Buenos Aires) DJs and producers you should check out: Pablo Denegri, Qik, Jonas Kopp, Dilo, Sebastian Cohen, Gurtz, Mekas, Udolph, they are all are part of my circle of friends. Don’t forget Lega, probably the most talented IDM-er of all of us… Oh, Pinkler and Reche, great glitch-dub artists…

How about the history of the scene? What was it like in the ‘90s, and who were the pioneering Argentine DJs?

Well I’m too young to have a very solid point of view on this (in ‘99 I was only 12 years old), but Ill give it my best shot!

I’d say that the most important DJs back then were the group Urban Groove (Diego Cid, Miguel Silver, Luis Nieva, Magoo, Jam-On, D-Jason, Inspecteur, Gustavo Lopez) and others like Alfonsin, Ro-K at big clubs like El Dorado, Paladium, Moroco, Ave Porco, etc. Techno and electro-pop were the main headers in this (very popular), although trance was big also, but I have no insight on this. I’m guessing house was in some clubs also. I think Radio La Zeta was a key factor also. There were also bars like Oval, that had more ambient or “electronica” and of course trip-hop music. By mid 2000s we had great DJs and artists like Simbad, Franco Cinelli, Nico Purman, Leonel Castillo, Gustavo Lamas, Flavio Etcheto. They were a very crucial influence on the rise of the new generation of minimal techno cats, owls and bats like the ones I have mentioned in the previous answer plus Barem, Funzion, Jorge Savoretti, Violett, the alter ego of D-Jason (Sr. Replicante), and myself.



Tell us a little bit about yourself: what’s your own music like? Where do you play? Do you have a residency or regular party? If so, what’s it like?

I guess it’s techno, although it has been catalogued as funky minimal and tech-house before, which I don’t mind. There’s elements of electroacoustics (now more than ever, especially in my latest album “Alquimia") and glitch. I have a residency in Cocoliche, probably the only club in Buenos Aires which I recommend checking out before any other—that is, if you’re into the underground vibe. I’ve been around the world a bit already and I still think that Cocoliche is one of the better clubs in terms of attitude, music and people. It’s the only one over here that takes constant risks by putting new and different kinds of sounds. All framed around the backbone of deep techno and house. Don’t expect to hear any trumpets…

How did you discover electronic music, and how did you come to make/play it yourself?

Actually the first thing that got me thinking about how sounds were produced electronically was Michael Jackson’s music and all of the other late ‘80s and ‘90s pop music. I was still very young anyway so I actually didn’t have a clue until I moved to England for four years, getting into hip hop and urban beats. But the biggest triggers were the Chemical Brothers and Kraftwerk; it was from there that I jumped to deep techno/house DJs (Satoshi Tommie) and electronica artists like Bjork, Autechre and Aphex Twin, until finally landing on Plastikman, Robert Hood and Ricardo Villalobos’ Alcachofa album. I guess they are the strongest influences that got me into this.

Of course another major factor here was meeting my friends Pablo Denegri, Mekas and Qik, who pushed me enough to gain confidence in my own music. We have known each other for a very long time now and it was together (or on the same line) that we started our first serious projects, and until this day we constantly collaborate with each other. Barem and Dilo also convinced me to sequence my live sets and pull out some tracks…

How connected is your city’s scene to other scenes in South America? Do DJs from Chile, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay etc. often visit, or are most out-of-town guests usually from Europe and North America? Do you travel much within South America?

International guests are usually from Europe and North America, for sure. I’m not so sure how the DJ exchange is between all of the South American countries, but people are mostly interested in artists from Chile, Argentina and Uruguay. In the other countries there isn’t a big producer/DJ scene, although they are developing quite fast, and I’m sure there are good things cooking up right now. In my case, I play often in Ecuador, more than anything. I see great enthusiasm in Colombia like in Brazil a few years back. In the latter I’ve been to Sao Paolo (D-Edge), Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte… I’ve also had gigs in Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.

Argentina suffered a major economic crisis 10 years ago. What was its impact on the dance-music scene?

Actually I’m a little bit too young to have enough experience to compare the pre and post-crisis scenes. One thing is for sure though, it was at exactly that time (2001) that the dance culture had a huge boom, with the scene becoming increasingly more popular, hooked on DJs like Satoshi Tomie and Hernan Cattaneo, who got big promotion through the first editions of big dance festivals. Again, I really can’t say much about this as I might be mistaken on a few things. But a few years later we had the Cromañon tragedy (a rock nightclub that had a fire and hundreds of people died) and its consequences have a fresher place in my memory. Of course there was a very strong repressive response from the state, so big clubs and parties came to a halt and shut down, but, as a natural consequence to this, the underground received a massive expansion, with small circles of artists and people gathering here and there. Because of the innate nature of the underground, one can only recall his own perspective on a specific part of the “under”, and in my case it points to the parties me and my friends made in places like Aula Magna and Ayachucho, which were made at our homes but with great music and lots of people.

Obviously South America has one of the world’s richest musical traditions. How would you say that has affected Argentine dance music? Would you say your own music has a South American influence or identity?

Sound-wise there isn’t a really heavy Latin feel in the general Argentine sound, although you can hear clearer influences in music from the likes of Funzion (aka Alejandro Mosso) and Jorge Savoretti. But percussion is essential in a lot of our music, and you could say that it’s due to our Latin roots. People have told me that some melodies from my tracks have a tango attitude, in a dark melancholic way, and this might happen also in other Argentine electronic music. And I guess another crucial point is the use of real instruments (guitars, piano, congas, even flute sounds) in some of our music. Those are the main ideas I can relate to a South American sound. But I think the Argentine techno identity (at least the new generation’s) has to do with something else. It’s about experimenting more, with more focus on sound design and weirder grooves—a lthough it’s different between from one artist to the other. Also, a key item in defining the Argentine sound is the constant and nearly obsessive collaborations.

Enough about music: tell us some destinations that visitors to Argentina should visit—and what we should eat when we’re there.

Okay here we go: Argentina is a very, very big country; you can see a very solid and extensive variety of landscapes, climates, and fauna. A typical attraction is the Iguazu Falls, which I’m sure is a wonderful experience. Around these jungles you will probably see the yaguarete, a smaller variation of the jaguar. To the north you have deserts with fantastic rock formations like the Puna, Valle de la Luna, Talampaya and the Quebrada de Humauaca. Get ready for warm temperatures! Then of course you have the whole Andes mountain range that goes north to south on our west border with Chile. As an example, Mendoza is a great place to go to (wine!), and also the area around Bariloche. We’re talking about snow, skiing, etc. More to the south you have our world famous glaciers, the penguins and whales, and on our east side a bit more to the north we have tons of excellent beaches…

Be sure to try all of the different empanada variations all around the country! If you are a meat-eater, get ready for some real action. There are tons of parrillas (steak houses) everywhere you go, and expect always great, great quality. I never get tired of saying that the Argentine meat is the best in the world, with all of the different cuts there are: lomo, bife de chorizo, churrascos, mollejas, chorizo, tira de asado, colita de cuadril, and tons more. I’m going crazy here…

Places to eat in Buenos Aires: La Cabrera is a nice parrilla in Palermo, and so is Cabaña las Lilas in Puerto Madero. For a less fancy but still good (honestly) parrilla, check out Parilla Peña, my personal favorite. For good pizza, check out Morelia, Almacen de Pizzas, Filo, Pizza Piola for thin and crunchy pizzas (thank you Dilo for his recommendations), but also Los Inmortales, El Cuartito, La Continental, La Americana or Guerrin for a more classic, down-to-earth and humble experience. Be sure to write down La Continental’s delivery number, it will be your savior! All of these places also have great pastas and milanesas, which is an Argentine version of the wiener schnitzel, but with veal meat. Check out the neighborhood San Telmo, there are tons of restaurants, and an interesting one is Origen, dedicated to more organic and balanced menus. And if you’re still hungry dont miss out a dessert (with dulce de leche!) at any of our ice-creameries like Freddo, Persicco.

Source: Beatportal