Madrid,
mid-80s, the Spanish capital lives a true musical explosion not known until
then. Amid all this maelstrom an unknown teenager enters a record shop to
invest their savings in an album, Standing on a beach of The Cure. Even he knew
this would be the first step of a long and costly steps it would take to be one
of the dj's essential for this country.
This fondness
for discs for personal consumption continued to expand with references Joy
Division, The Smiths, Sisters of Mercy, Fields of the Nephilim and the whole
Dark wave and gothic rock. Electronics came later, when he attends as a public
one of the historical moments of the Madrid electronics, EBM mythical nights in
the disco OH Madrid. We talk about 1989 and a risky developer decide to bring
the capital to the cream of European Music Body, in a few months pass by the
scene of this club: Front 242, Cassandra Complex, Nitzer Ebb or A Split Second.
Many of those attending these nights are definitely engaged in the hardest and
Oscar was one of them electronic. The collection grows and is no longer enough
to hear the solo albums over and over again, quickly arises the need to share
this music with others, virus dj attacks the nervous system Oscar, almost
without realizing the vocation is emerging and soon comes the first
opportunity: a friend who always appear in a small club gets sick and called to
replace him.
First contact
with the profession, and from below, without shortcuts, makes its way step by
step, decisively, firmly believing in every move he makes, putting all his
passion in music, no more. It will not be long until a standard is made in the
booths of the most underground clubs in Madrid, which beautifully embrace its
dark and sharp musical discourse, fueled by the best of European electronic
dance and the elite of the new wave and the riskiest rock. Thus end 80 and a
decade that will be vital for the development of Oscar Mulero as dj begins, the
best is yet to come and the first stone was called New World. It electrifies
the nightlife, clubs like Attica, Saratoga, Somersault, National Public Name 3
or bet on the European underground music and DJs who mixed. In that little
embryo techno New World played a key role, and DJs (Oscar, Yke and Yury) were
very important part in this. New World sounded thunderously, metallic,
precisely, the cabin was in the middle of the room and contact with the public
was total. The music was programmed open, without limitation, could sound as
soon as The Cult Front 242 or more underground disk new beat Belgian or German
trance. Club goers receive this musical message with passion and quickly become
unconditional. Word of mouth begins his work ...
The success
of the sessions in New World is rising and Oscar entered the studio for the
first time to collaborate on the creation of the official record of the club,
Nuclear Zone, an approximate distance, more like sonic counselor as a real
producer. The album goes on sale in 1993 and is a quite remarkable success for
the period, reaching included in various compilations national level. Seen in
perspective is a very consistent work with the style that prevailed in the
first 90 and the time has come to become a cult object on Ebay.
Like
everything in life, the New World experience has an end, the restaurant's owner
decides to sell and the mythical time of the square cubes signs his requiem.
Far from being the end of something, it is the start of something even bigger.
The Omen born, for some, the total club, formed by a team of luxury in every
aspect. In The Omen, every aspect was treated with thoroughness, DJs selected
the music using the whole range of styles at your fingertips, from liquids and
slowed early session until the final apotheosis and memorable. The club meeting
was conceived as a movie, always different, always moving, with the same
attention in the beginning, middle and end. Along with music and visual
projections contributed something new in the nights of the capital, no one had
seen before in the same cabin three courses and a computer. The combination of
light jockey dj's and provided a complete audiovisual experience. As for the
graphic image, the Omen flyers were true works of art, created to detail,
experimenting with fonts, formats and more futuristic materials, creating
branding and marking school. A curious fact in the info equal importance to
DJs, light jockeys and to the public relations it was, leading the team spirit
to every corner of the club.
During this
stage, Oscar definitely session marks its concept and style of constructivism
mixture, in which the discs become less important in themselves to become tools
of building something much bigger in the form of session. Musically, cosmic
sounds of European labels like Harthouse and Eye Q are mixed with the roughest
and abstract sonorities detroitiana or British influence, the first UR, the
first Tresor or the first Soma, added to better ambient and IDM for the opening,
with the entire catalog of Warp and Artificial Intelligence series as sonic
palette, plus music labels as risky as Apollo Records (downtempo subdivision
legendary Belgian label R & S) or Fax planeadora electronics Records. Omen
success quickly turns into a tourist attraction, with clubbers across the
country traveling to Madrid every weekend to enjoy the sessions. This involves
a change in the Oscar race, weight mutates resident dj traveler, starts out
regularly to expand the sound Omen throughout the peninsula, first to the north
and progressively in the four cardinal points. Oscar's intimate
relationship with roads and airports takes shap
But
unfortunately, the Omen also has an end, unwanted by anyone, in full media
explosion of designer drugs and weekends endless, as a victim of biased
information and unaware of the musical values of what we now call techno.
From this moment, Oscar Mulero will not be permanent resident anymore, Constant
requests for promoters, both in our country and in the rest of Europe,
implicating him in a constant tour weekend that will not stop for a moment
throughout his career.
In their
first European dabbling have the opportunity to share cabin and direct contact
with the best of world techno: Jeff Mills, Laurent Garnier, Derrick May ...
Oscar learns and synthesizes in his mental recorder new techniques, new sounds
and adds to its already extensive background, even he is aware, but is creating
something unusual, a total full dj who knows both teach and learn, not tight
and he sees his career as a constantly evolving closing stages and seeking new
goals.
1996 arrives
and with it the third edition of Sonar, a festival which by then has already
established itself as one of the most important in the world. For the first
time the Oscar Mulero name appears in the list of national squad, along with
other co-generation as The Frogmen, HD Substance or Resonic. Sonar 96 serves as
official confirmation of a scene hitherto embryonic, for the first time is
taken into account as something serious, like the germ of something solid. In
this edition Oscar measured forces with figures like Richie Hawtin, Garnier and
Mills not lose out. Outside our country begins to talk about his technique and
unique musical selection. Goal achieved and a closed stage.
But there is
life after Sonar and this accolade level provides even more work, more travel,
bigger festivals like the Members of Mayday, to result in 1998 in his first cd
session (and one of the first published in our country ) About Discipline and
education, published in the Catalan label so Dens, then closely linked to the
organizers of Sonar. At the time, the musical selection was quite advanced and
risky, with the best of Birmingham dry and industrious hand Regis or Surgeon
sound and best sound USA represented by Jeff Mills and Joey Beltram. The CD is
an absolute bestseller, one of the CD's electronic music best sellers in the
history of our country. If the name of Oscar Mulero was already known by the
underground and the most loyal clubbers, happens now occupy the front pages of
specialized and general media, he thanks the figure of dj is taken seriously in
media so far only saw it as one more workers in one night. As so often, opening
doors and marking paths.
But he is not
satisfied yet, a mission accomplished lens, non stop music. Still not feel
complete, the idea of producing his own music keeps you awake, the jump will
not be easy, but still decide to give, as always without looking for shortcuts,
from below, from the beginning. The objective is clear, if you want to work in
this form professional, travel the world and let you know beyond your borders
you can not sit still, you need to edit your own music, you need to DJs you
admire put your records, the world know what you're missing. To work, and not
just have to be aware of the latest music, there are now new tasks, we must get
the study material needed to make the music you have in your head reality. But
machines do not sound alone, the learning process is hard and sometimes
frustrating, you have to spend many hours in white to make the team something
that fits fairly to those who have in the brain.
And once this
first hurdle you have to have the time and the shamelessness necessary to
present it in public as demo, accept all kinds of opinions and make sense of
learning highly developed to constantly bring something new. If you have done
well all this will have a reward in the form of disk, and if it works, double
reward. Not all DJs are good producers and viceversa.Óscar has worked very hard
to match the level as DJ with animal studies.
His first
work is published in 1999 by a producer from Madrid experienced Groof, both
form the duo Quite Unusual Groof in the seal itself, with unanimous support
Brainwaves critical and sales. The baptism of fire gives satisfactory results
and provides enough courage to throw himself to his solo career. That moment
arrives in 2000, in the French label Kobayashi. First away game and first win.
The next step is clear, you can not rely on others to edit your music, create a
seal.
Said and
done, in the same 2000 born Warm Up and a couple of years later his rod Pole.
From this moment all efforts are focused on edit their own material either at
home or playing outside in the best seals techno planet, as CODA, Pure Plastic,
Tresor, Sheep, Tsunami, or Main Out, among others .. this will definitely
places on the world map editing techno nine maxis between 2000 and 2002. not
bad. Background work, gym, workout, you name it, now needed a hit, one of those
magical themes you never know when you go to compose, that many come to never
compose, that only comes when the coordinates are coupled with precision.
The moment
comes when Ben Sims ask for a demo Oscar for his label Theory, one of the most
powerful scene at the time, after a slow and costly comings and goings of
masters and demos between Madrid and London and hours of work study, Anaconda
is published in late 2002, this is their first international hit that puts
definitely in the all star of world techno producers, the disc is punctured and
charted by DJs most respectable of the globe and as a direct consequence career
Oscar Mulero soars exponentially. Signed for the prestigious German booking
agency Dynamix, sharing the roster with the best hard techno. Passport stamps
collapses airports of the five continents and their luggage visit since the
best clubs and festivals in South America, Europe or Asia. For most mortals
there is enough with this, to Oscar Mulero no.
To complete
his doctorate missing an album, a work concept. New challenge, not easy. In
2003 put back the monkey work, is enclosed in the studio with his package snuff
and necessary provisions and published on the seal Pure Plastic, under the
moniker Trolley Route, A Occhi Chiusi, an album of overall mental electronics
and danceable at the same time, with this album cycle is closed and maturity as
a producer is beyond doubt. Since then and until today his work as a sniper has
continued, both as producer and remixer in the world techno essential seals and
continuing with multiple performances tirelessly throughout the electronic
world.
A career
unblemished, without twists, full of work and dedication, with the same love
for music in the mid-80s made him buy his first vinyl and never lose hope, an
illusion that holds a future full of new projects and expectations, as the
release of their second album as Trolley Route, creating the new platform Zero
Oscillator Parties with DJ Dead, which unleashes his passion for all styles of
electronic music, combining tradition and future. In short, a complete artist
without which you can not understand the history of dance music in our country.
Written by Luis
Rozalén a.k.a HD Substance
