LET'S PUSH THINGS FORWARD--from cumbia to dubstep and all points in betwen, Daleduro has the buenos aires electronic underground on lockdown

TEXT: SHAWN REYNALDO (FREELANCE JOURNALIST LIVING IN BsAs)/PHOTOS: GENTILEZA DALEDURO

In a city where punchi punchi is king and many club-goers care more about looking fashionable and getting wasted than hearing quality music, doing something different is not easy. Sitting in his Villa Crespo apartment, Daleduro (aka Milo Schnitman) is anything but the typical club-going fashionista. The 23 year-old Buenos Aires native laments the current state of the city’s nightlife. “Certain clubs are not taking care of their Argentinian customers,” he says. “From one week to the next clubs will double or triple the price at the door and the bar. I understand they’re running a business, but many people can’t afford those prices.”

To be fair, Daleduro has rarely fit in with the tastes of mainstream Argentina. “I’ve never been influenced by Argentinian artists,” he said, although he does admit a childhood affinity for local rapper Jazzy Mel. While most of his friends gorged on rock nacional and whatever “alternative” rock sounds were coming from the United States and Europe, growing up he fell in love with hip-hop, drum n’ bass and the notion of sample-based music. Armed with childhood piano and bass lessons and a few stints in ill-advised teenage bands, at age 16, Schnitman struck out on his own, performing live shows at house parties with a drum machine. Eventually adding turntables into the mix, his career as a DJ and producer had begun.

Within a short time, Schnitman found himself dabbling in genres unfamiliar to most Porteños. Over the years he has produced and spun hip-hop, acid house, breaks, drum n’ bass, reggaeton, cumbia and probably more styles that he neglects to mention. His current favorite is dubstep, a lo-fi, bass-heavy and often discordant breed of electronic music that emanates from the British underground. Schnitman proudly proclaims, “I am one of the only dubstep DJs in Argentina.” When asked how he managed to latch on to dubstep, an obscure genre even in its place of origin, Schnitman traces his love to a 2003 trip to London.

At the time, the first Dizzee Rascal album was being released and was “everywhere,” according to Schnitman. After hearing Dizzee on the radio and seeing posters and billboards plastered around the city, Schnitman gave in to his consumer impulses and bought the album. “I bought the album and went crazy,” he says. The remainder of his trip was spent soaking up the grime scene that had birthed Dizzee Rascal. With its DIY sensibility and mix of hip-hop and electronic sounds, grime was an inspiration. After returning home, Schnitman saw Dizzee perform in Buenos Aires in 2004 and continued acquiring grime music, either online or via expensive international record orders. His passion does not come cheap, as records often cost between $30 - $50 pesos each, depending on the size of the order. Yet his acquisition continues unabated, even as grime has morphed into dubstep and artists like Skream and Digital Mystikz have taken Dizzee Rascal’s place as his key inspiration. He has also delved into dubstep production, creating tracks for the two albums he plans to release later this year. These original dubstep tunes are already finding their way into his DJ sets, with surprising success.

“The last time I spun at +160 (the weekly Tuesday night drum n’ bass party at Bahrein) was only the second time I’ve done an all-dubstep set. That was the most dancing I’ve ever seen for dubstep in Buenos Aires.”

Despite his unabashed love for the genre, Schnitman is quick to point out that he is much more than a dubstep DJ and producer. “There has never been a time in my life where I was only involved in one kind of music.” Daleduro is also a key figure in the burgeoning cumbia scene. “I first starting messing around with cumbia three years ago when I met Villa Diamante,” he says. “Before Villa Diamante I had not heard cumbia in the clubs.” Given the prevalence of cumbia at club nights like Zizek, where Villa Diamante is a resident, Daleduro is not the only one excited to hear cumbia make the leap from the villas to the clubs. Although cumbia has been a part of Argentinian music for decades, Schnitman points to groups like Los Pibes Chorros, Damas Gratis and the rise of cumbia villera as the turning point. With lyrical themes outing a lifestyle of crime, drugs and poverty, cumbia villera’s appeal was obvious to the average Porteño youth. “It’s like gangsta rap. I enjoy it the exact same way that I enjoy artists like Snoop Dogg or Dr. Dre.” Although the initial attraction may have been ironic, cumbia rhythms began to appear in Daleduro’s production and DJ work. He finished his first cumbia track, “Dale Cumbia,” a little over a year ago and continues to experiment in the genre. However, Schnitman is clear that he has no desire to be some sort of pseudothug cumbia poser. “Traditional cumbia has been around a long time and there are a lot of proud cumbieros. I am not a cumbiero, and I do not pretend to be a villero either.”

Daleduro is not the only cumbia aficionado lacking in villero cred. He’s taken notice that a surprising number of foreigners have begun to show up at underground nightspots throughout Buenos Aires. “Until recently, foreigners never came out to ‘cool’ club nights in Buenos Aires.” He attributes this trend to something he calls the “M.I.A. phenomenon.” Schnitman explains, “ever since the M.I.A. album came out, people from the United States and Europe are searching for the next third world sound. Brazil and baile funk are still the main focus, but some of that attention has come to Buenos Aires.” Regardless of who is listening to cumbia, Schnitman remains skeptical that it will remain a key component of the underground music scene in Buenos Aires. In his mind, this new breed of cumbia is just another trend, likely to be discarded when the local tastemakers move on to the next cool thing. Oddly enough, although the hipster crowd is far from embracing some sort of villero lifestyle, Schnitman feels that cumbia will last longer if the music stays more raw and true to the spirit of cumbia villera.

“Some of the new cumbia that’s coming out is more experimental and I think people are starting to get bored. The music is better when it’s more ‘street’ and made for the dance floor.” He also sees cumbia mixing particularly well with drum n’ bass, citing the work of Mendoza duo Fauna as especially promising.

So although Daleduro will continue his work in the world of cumbia and dubstep, his efforts won’t stop there. After all, the name Daleduro translates to “do it hard” or more colloquially, “make an effort” or “be constant.” With all the projects he is involved in, Schnitman is truly living up to his DJ name. Princesa, Buenos Aires’ own reggaeton starlet, has enlisted him to produce her next album, for which he promises to deliver a less polished, more raw dancehall sound. Daleduro also helped produce the recently released Villa Diamante album, a collection of mash-ups that combines the underground sounds of Buenos Aires with more established hip-hop, R&B and dance tracks.

When not holed up the studio, Daleduro also keeps busy running an internet record label called Blackside Inc. with partner DJ Loder. Dedicated to releasing “anything but rock” from South American artists, Blackside Inc. offers free downloads of all its releases through the label website, www.blacksideinc.com.ar.

On top of it all, this month Daleduro is launching a new club night called Break Da Rules. Dedicated to breakbeats, Break Da Rules is the new weekly Tuesday party at the recently reopened Buenos Aires nightspot Cocoliche. Schnitman is the resident DJ, although he will be spinning under the name Groove Dealers, his assumed identity in the world of breaks. Daleduro has always been a busy man, so you can expect to be hearing more from him in 2007 and beyond. W.