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Complete Version of the documentary "Basscelona".
The limited version was aired in Spain by the first time
in "La 2" channel of national tv on June 20, 2012,
in the section Puente Aereo of the program Ritmo Urbano.
Electro-welcome!
what is Electro and what relation has with the Hip Hop?
Brief summary... Electro is a term derived from the electro-funk concept.
We might say that this musical electronic style is based on the syncopated
and "arpeggiated" patterns of the funk.
Now is playing Planet Rock
from AfriKa Bambaataa, which is considered to be the first published of Electro-funk record.
Actually in that moment was just a Hip Hop song.
a rap song.
Here is the relation.
From that moment and for several years the style of production that was done
for the rap, we can define it today as Electro.
The appearance of new electronic instruments facilitated to
the young producers and DJs to create music for the MCs
without needing those expensive recordings sessions of a band, but also
clearly they'd been influenced by the sound of these machines.
These circumstances gave shape to the music of the Hip Hop with this particular
way of evolving the sound of them 70's.
But a few years later the sampler appeared in the life of the producers
and changed again the aesthetics of the rap getting back the organic sound of
its origins on funk. Here is the key moment, where great quantity of musicians
did not want to leave that synthetic sound
and besides was left by the majority of the MC's, many DJ's
and Hip Hop consumers, kept it alive during a time.
Today we can say that the combination of Electro with the disco music from the 80's
generated the musical "Dance" patterns that are into big success now, offering
first the house, later the acid and in consequence the techno and all his derivatives.
When we made "Planet Rock", when we got
into Electro-Funk style of hip hop, we was really trying to reach
the Black, Latino and the punk rock whites.
But I din't know that "Planet Rock" was going to cause
some type of chain reaction. "Planet Rock" became the sound
that sparked a lot of other music categories
coming out from the Electro-Funk: The Miami Bass to the Latin Freestyle,
Latin hip-hop, to the house music, hip-house, techno.
(Afrika Bambaataa, Yes Yes Y'all - 2002)
When the hip hop came to Spain in a massive way, in 1984 the electro-rap
was the thing,
was the musical style of all the elements of these culture.
Was the music that was coming associated to any video any movie, then
we knew them for the sounds into the song until we start to
discovering the names, mainly across the Street Sounds
that are those who introduce the name Electro.
I like to think that the term Electro came especially from
those famous records that were released in
England and were called Electro.
Were, Electro 1, Electro 2, up to the twentysomething.
There, there was compiled the music that exist in that moment and had that
typical sound we are talking about.
When we started to rap slightly later, some of us still had an
important dreg
and we still represented this sound in small ways.
Though already it was not at the forefront, - I believe that we have persisted with Electro
across the years
because also it was the soundtrack of our teenage era,
of a very strong movement that was the Breakdance.
That sound was with what we had grown, we had begun,
had danced breakdance,
Had been going to paint graffiti with that music
and were continuing. We could not just leave it
But already in that time, rap was produced with a totally different style music.
When you have 14, 15 and 16 years
any style of music to that you listen every day
constantly, remains impregnated in you.
and in this case for us was Electro.
In the 90's it begin the times of recycling into the hip hop.
concepts like "Back To The Old School" were listened quite often.
groups as Jurassic 5 were born,
that get back to the essence of the rap. The same thing happened with Electro,
that, besides it seemed to be missing at the end of the 90 turned out to be a hidden
gem in something that is called
"underground" culture.
Is the moment of Model 500, of Metroplex,
Underground Resistance.
All this techno sound that had sucked from Kraftwerk.
Are those who had seen Krafwerk's tours
in The USA and they started to produce Electro songs.
In the north of Europe mainly they started to listen these songs
and started to do
an Electro that after a while, they started taking
from the Electro Body Music, from D.A.F.,
from Front 242, from the acid to that they were listening with the Acid House at that moment.
They did a more European sound. Was born an Electro, nearer to what
Kraftwerk began. They moved away a bit from the hip hop.
There has been this sound
that has taken later to the Electro-Clash with ***.
In Spain there was a key moment
that was the release of this record in 1998 but it is fair to say that a
fistful of artists were kept active in this genre during the whole decade.
Here in Barcelona
in the 90's we had still
in our mind that sound, thast why many demo-tapes from that
time had a clear influence from Electro.
We were into the rap world
But the seed of the Electro was there.
In the year 1993 I did several mix-tapes,
even a groups compilation from Barcelona
of Electro style of music that was called Electro Hop. Probably in any other country there was been
a proper release (record) but at this moment in these circumstances it was like a demo
in tape format.
But as I said before in 1998 it was made official and this genre took seriously finally.
From this moment the things changed
and although practically the 16 artists who appear on this release were
In the hip hop culture, it is from here when this musical style becomes emancipated.
Discs are published and it is listened by the radio being named by the first time
here, like Electro.
I begin
in the middle 90's. We buy an Atari,
we buy a synthesizer and a sampler and some second hand drum-machines
and started producing, well to learn how to produce basically.
Our background does not come from the hip hop. It comes more from the Electro Body Music,
from the sinister,
from the Gothic
or from the electronic-gothic. We incline ourselves towards Electro. When we discover it, it was
like... thank you!
I know the Electro after the hip hop movement. It was rap. They were electro
bases but with rhymes above. Later already
the thing was deriving a bit more to the electronic music and then I started listening
more European Electro. - At the 21st century the new Electro was living a
world highlight moment completely freed from hip hop.
although most of those producers
had or they have had a relation somehow. - I knew the Electro across
hip hop and the breakdance.
It was only the first contact. I was going to buy paint to a shop
called Bunker because I was a graffiti writer and there, they were selling records
of Electro, hip hop and such.
I started to become fond there. When I started to DJ it, it had left from hip hop already.
It's a time where some Spanish producers began to leave the country
and where some musical frontiers broke briefly
having the Electro, some space in breakbeat festivals or in festivals as the
famous Sonar in Barcelona. Part of this moment were led by the specialized DJ's,
not only by the musicians, although this great time didn't
lasted too much and immediately we returned to the mysterious world of the underground.
To DJ It, I began at the end of the 90's. There was good scene in Belgium.
Many small parties with a very undergrounds sound. I started Deejaying in the year 1999.
Started Deejaying hip hop and Electro.
I remember that my first record was the Planet Rock,
the very first one that I mixed.
Later already I began in other electronic styles without leaving the hip hop and the Electro.
Well, I started DJ Electro in the Nitsa's Neon room, which was my dŽbut as DJ.
What happens is that there we were mixing Electro with something that also
was calling Electro but that actually it was not
in the year 2001.
But really it was in the year 2003 when we create
our Electroclub collective and then it was like something more purist, since
very underground and related to Electro.
Before, you were going to a party and there was any style without classifying
the name of the party. Now this is missing.
Electro
has to become free and look for its own space.
Here in Barcelona the electronic movement has been very marked by techno and house and this it has been one
of the reasons for which it is more difficult for the people to understand a syncopated
sound like the Electro. Now I believe that it's founding its space.
Every time there are more people than understands it.
Even young people who is getting fond enough. I start to see that there is space in the clubs
to do parties. - It has it space, but it has
a reserved space. It is like the jazz and the rock.
The rock artists respect the Jazz music. Many artists from the techno have done
Something with Electro. When you speak with a DJ older than 30
all they have DJ Electro in some moment or keep some reocords, or know it...
They know all the classic. It does not have a big club scene
because it is true that is a genre that its not presented
in a commercial way, but the people have respect for it.
Today Electro is an adult. It has a scene distributed all over the world.
Survives for many reasons and one is the good use
that it makes from technology.
The producers love their machines. Them are their instruments.
They like
the particular sound that has a machine over another one
but they can evolve and use different ones or new technologies.
The important thing is to have this intimate relation with his expression tool.
On January 1, 2010 we throw a forum
about electro, only electro. Exclusively to speak and to take advantage of
producers knowledge out there, Around Spain. It have allowed to join
people that we did not know with
new artists, veteran producers and consecrated ones
and do a team with a very strong cohesion in the whole Spain and part of
abroad because some of them have been
connecting to this group of the "Contactados". Because people do Electro,
maybe in their garage, for 20 years, alone. Now they are not alone.
Also it has been traditionally very near to the science fiction or to the
natural sciences as the astronomy
the physics or the robotics, being a source of constant inspiration.
I believe that it goes together with the science fiction
because the aesthetics. Also with the sounds because the science fiction
movies used those
analogical synthesizers and those sounds. But it is not the only theme. There can be
robotic subjects
conspiranoia, also quantum physics or quantum mechanics,
the space in general, inspires very much. - More real problems as the poverty,
the massive industrialization,
the destruction that we are doing with the nature, all that also is a source of inspiration
and reason to protest. - To inspire anything can be used, a good day, a bad day,
a rainy day,
a love, a person.
It continues being an underground scene but it is very faithful to a
bunch of principles that keep it alive after 30 years.
Every time there are more people that discover it and that consume it and seem that we are
coming to an age with which both potential audiences, the one from electronic
music and the one from hip hop, are prepared to understand it.
You had to cross many other musical styles before to arrive to Electro, and remain in it.
I believe that it is a music easy to listen and easy to dance.
Here in this country I believe that we are be very used to 4X4,
but I believe that it is possible to teach the people that this music can be danced,
t is possible to listen when you take a shower, for what you want. You have a big range
of styles or sub-styles that you have for everything.
It is complex because it is rich, because people do music for themselves,
to share, to teach what they are capable of doing
and then they are able to work very much their songs, those are not tracks to burn
or one track of transition. They are songs.
There is a lot of information, a lot of work in the songs. It is a worked style but not complicated.
The music from the club or techno is not that different from
the Electro. There are many styles of techno that do winks to Electro.
What happens is that the people swallow them without knowing really that they are listening Electro.
Electro can work out in a club and actually do.
The live shows can be played in any club
that is not of commercial house music place
because there is show, there is big sound and there is a lot of energy on the stage. It works
if we put it between other styles. There are so many things to show from Electro
that you have to be capable of changing from a style to other one
with what Electro offers and with it you can DJ an entire party.
For it, there are all the humors, all the possibilities and the worlds in the Electro.
The sound of the electro
is quite based on the old sounds. The Electro producers likes to have
the ancient machines. You look for this sound and only this machine has this
sound because every machine gives you his special color.
Normally the Electronic live show is already cold. You only need to freeze it putting one guy
in front of the screen of a computer and a controller. It is almost like to play a CD.
For the public I believe that it is more pleasant to see a person who is using
a few machines and these machines are really sounding, instead of
a computer and touching the pad with the finger or with a controller.
Is good to see one or two persons playing, moving over the stage and
seeing that they are touching buttons, singing with the vocoder... or without it. That there is a bit more of movement.
We like to see the machines, to see how they touch them,
what they do with them, in the same way as we like to see photos from someone else studio.
Is more a spectacle, but also it teaches us that he is someone like us.
With a software surely you can do exactly the same thing
and even have better sound but he will be presenting his production, will not be
sharing with us... The sweat over the machine and I make it like that and
its done for you at this moment.
I hope that your curiosity has been excited, so for those that want
to expand their musical tastes
with an elaborated, expressive
and passional music, here I leave you this possibility of a new exploration.
Long life to Electro!