The „King of Spain“ Oscar Mulero joined the latest Wechselstrom party this weekend in Vienna at <>< Grelle Forelle Club. Oscar Mulero’s DJ career has been as prolific and long lasting as the development of dance music. As a key figure in this evolution, Oscar has always absorbed new trends and kept his finger on the pulse of electronic dance music, from the end of the 80’s right up to the present day. It is impossible to understand the phenomenon of this DJ in Spain without taking into account his tireless work behind the decks for more than two decades.
hennesy.cc met the tough and smart guy for an exclusive interview in a hotel in Vienna in the 8th district.
Oscar Mulero im Exklusiv-Interview mit unserem Redakteur
What was your impression in Grelle Forelle on Saturday and how did you enjoy your set? I really enjoyed it because I heard a lot of good things about the club and all my expectations were 100% fulfilled.
Most important thing for me is that the technical conditions are alright and I can do my job properly and according to these I really enjoyed the gig. I felt really comfortable playing with a good, very clean soundsystem.
You even extended your set by almost an hour?
Exactly, what happens when all the things are doing good, the sound grows and the conditions are fine time goes fast. I was playing 2,5 hours and no one came to me, it was like keep on going.
I had the impression you tell a story with your set, you kind of begin your set with sounds, bassline and it grows until you play proper Techno.
You get more intense at the end yeah, that’s what I think a DJ is supposed to be.
I’m not very fond of festivals, of course I like to play at festivals but I grew up as a DJ in clubs. I was made in clubs so I used to play inside various locations, so I am very used to longer sets and it is something that you can do when you have like a few hours to play. You play at a festival you just have one hour. This is difficult for the crowd to realise what the DJ is all about, when they see him for the first time. I prefer clubs because they are more familiar and give you the chance to play longer sets and doing this kind of telling a story.
How do you see the development of Techno in 2016? (in Vienna there is kind of an renaissance regarding partys, DJs – every week a big name such as Adam Beyer, Terrence Fixmer or Rebekah)
The way I see dance music, is a cyclic thing. In 1995 or 1996 Techno was quite popular with all these specific sounds and then came these electro class and then came Disco and then came Minimal and then Techno.
Of course I have the same kind of feeling but there are new tools in studio in terms of making the sound better. For people like me we have been in Techno for many years.
Yeah, you are a DJ for over 25 years now?
These days the Techno is getting so important – for me and all the other guys we are waiting for the time when Techno is on again, we feel like 10 years younger then.
Some people tell me: „You are so amazing the way you mix and play…“ and I say: „Guys, that’s what I have been doing for the past 25 years!“ So now Techno is popular again but I never move from my place and did not forget how to deejay.
Do you have any club you still wanna play in the future?
I play in many clubs, there must be more interest in clubs. I played two days ago in the Grelle Forelle, I heard good things about it and expectations were 100% good, so I hope I can play in more clubs like these.
Is there any new album planned or a mix CD for Tresor records again? There is a couple of Solo EPs that are gonna be released this year on my own label Polegroupand an album is planned for 2017. I am working on dancefloor not solo Techno, kind of slower tempos. It is getting apart from Dance – more focussing on listening.
Where do you get your influences? Do you have any favorite artists or you get your inspiration from nature and sounds? Of course I have got my musical influence but whatever happens in my life and in my city every day such as I woke up and read the news, meet friends is as well an influence for me.
So today I have been to many museums in Vienna, so all these things reflect my mood and at the same time it effects me in the studio, so probably one day I sit in the studio and a certain mood makes me play a certain sound. I have my heroes in a musical way but many things influence my work; not only 20 musicians or genres like New Wave, Punk, Rock,… I have been listening to over the years.
And you can include this music as well into electronic music?
Exactly!
How is the Polegroup going to develop in the future? Do you have new projects, remixes you want to do, artists you want to include?
Actually it is spreading, we just signed two new artists for the Polegroup platform – one of the guys is Jonas Kopp, so we are taking care now of all his bookings and dates and the second one is „Filter“.
Both guys are from Argentina, we know each other of course long time ago. It is more familiar, in some way Argentina and Spain have a lot of things to do.
That’s the two new guys we just signed, at this point we really feel like complete and strong enough. We are not really thinking about getting more artists. If we have a certain number of artists we can take good care.
Regarding releases we just had the third volume of a CD-compilation called „Unload Landscapes“ which is a Mix CD, the idea is that the track releases are unreleased stuff, so we ask the producers or artists please send us music that is never going to be released. We want to listen what is not gonna be released and use it as tracks for the Mix CD. What is important for us is that we make the people listen to the stuff that we do and that we are not going to far with the unreleased material. Sometimes these are demos or first recordings. This is something really interesting we are all about, that’s where the name of the compilation comes from. Apart from that a few tracks and remixes are going to be released soon.
So the last time you have been to Vienna is like 14 years ago, how do you see the city, what has changed?
I’m surprised that it looks more organized, it is different than in Madrid. Madrid is also a big city but it runs so fast, here it seems more organized and harmonic. I really enjoyed my two days here.
Have you already been to Graz – the second biggest city of Austria, where you will play at Springfestival in May 2016?
No, I don’t know but I am really looking forward.
Thank you for your time, I got a lot of feedback from colleagues as I am DJ myself and they told me that you played and excellent set and thank you for that. They really enjoyed it.
How is the Polegroup going to develop in the future? Do you have new projects, remixes you want to do, artists you want to include?
