Oliverio Sofía is a DJ and producer widely known for forming Soundexile, alongside Baunder. This duo, which arose from the union of two friends who had already worked in the music industry for more than a decade, have had important collaborations with Hernan Cattaneo.
Their music has been released on labels such as Hacienda Records (home to New Order), Traum, Sudbeat, Lost & Found, Natura Sonoris, Hope Recordings and they have played at the best festivals and clubs in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, Spain, Belgium, United Kingdom, Greece, Japan, Korea, and China. As DJs, they apply a basic principle: if the music has a beat and creates a reaction in the crowd, then the genre is not important.
On this occasion, outside of Soundexile, we talked with Oliverio about his new projects and he told us about his participation in the new special edition of Isolation. Join in on our chat below.
Electronic Groove: Hello Oliverio! How are you? It is a pleasure to have you here with us. What a year, right ?! How did you get through this pandemic? Were you able to take advantage of your time?
Oliverio: How are you guys? I had stages, at first, I made an ambient EP, remixes with Hernan Cattaneo and Soundexile, I took the opportunity to fix the house, the studio … Then after 90 days, I started to get impatient. My children were already affected by not being in contact with friends and globally I saw that there was no search for an intelligent solution. In addition, in Argentina, which is where I live, we had the longest quarantine in history … Then I had COVID, nothing serious, but it had been 20 years since I even had the flu, so it was something weird. And, luckily, later I traveled to Barcelona, where my family lives. I think if I hadn’t made that trip, the whole thing would have had irreparable mental consequences 😉
EG: We know that you already had the pleasure of playing for the public again but in a drive-in format. How did that feel? Was it your first experience doing something like that?
Oliverio: I had never been to a drive-in. Not even to see a movie as a child. I have to say I didn’t have much faith in the format, but people like us had been in need of live music for so long, so it was amazing. Everyone talks about the COVID vaccine, but nobody talks about the vaccine against not doing what you love. Furthermore, artistic performances or performances were considered ‘non-essential’… That speaks volumes about the world we live in.
Join the Isolation livestream with Oliverio and Borella this coming Saturday, December 12, at 9pm Barcelona / 3pm Miami / 2pm Bogotá / 4pm Buenos Aires by clicking here.
EG: How do you imagine the immediate future of the electronic scene will be like?
Oliverio: (Mmm) there is no certainty of anything for me. We are governed by idiots anywhere in the world, I think Scandinavia could be the only exception … New Zealand too, but they are places with few inhabitants and a high cultural level.
EG: We are very excited about your presentation in this special edition of Isolation. How do you feel about the concept of streaming? What can we expect from your presentation?
Oliverio: About streaming, I like the thought of doing something different from what I do in a club. For example, the first one I did for Chile’s La Feria was with only productions where I had participated, there were tracks that were 20 years old and others that were 1 year old, doing that in a club is impossible … In this particular one, I will be mixing other styles such as breakbeat, for example.
“Everyone talks about the COVID vaccine, but nobody talks about the vaccine against not doing what you love”
EG: Speaking about music, are you currently working on anything? Can you tell us about it?
Oliverio: Yes, I’m working on all the things we couldn’t do this year (laughs). I can’t speak much about it, because there are more people involved.
EG: We know that you will be participating in the Sudbeat Bootcamp in January, held in co-participation with Aulart. What can we expect from this initiative? Who is it aimed at?
Oliverio: Each of us will give a specific module. I’ll show how I work on the beats and groove section, which also has a ‘harmony and mixing’ part, for example. It’s also interesting for me since I’m going to see how other producers who are in the label work, but I have no idea how they work in the studio, so even I will learn something for sure ;). The idea is that it helps them to expand the ways of doing things so that they know that there are different ways by which you can reach a better result than you had. Anyone with knowledge of DAW can participate, although it will be Ableton-centric.
EG: You mentioned the ‘Beat & Grooves’ module. Can you tell us what that is about?
Oliverio: As I was saying previously, in addition to the drums and basslines, I will also go through concepts of harmony and mixing. You can also see the difference in how I work with specific plugins or hardware, or how you can experiment with a small modular.
EG: Have you been a teacher long? How did you get into teaching?
Oliverio: No, I do not consider myself a teacher nor do I want to be one. I am not dedicated to teaching. Yes, when a musician, producer, DJ, or friend asks me for some advice, I give it to them and I never hold back anything. I like to teach everything I have learned, I do not keep anything. I really don’t understand people who don’t want to teach how they do things, it seems to me, in addition to being selfish, a thing of tremendous insecurity.
EG: What can we expect from you for this upcoming 2021?
Oliverio: I wonder what I can expect from 2021 😉 I hope it’s traveling and playing live. I will never stop making music.
EG: Thank you very much Oliverio! It has been a pleasure! See you this Saturday at 12 in our Isolation!
Oliverio: See ya! And thank you guys!
Join the Isolation livestream with Oliverio and Borella this coming Saturday, December 12, at 9pm Barcelona / 3pm Miami / 2pm Bogotá / 4pm Buenos Aires by clicking here.
Follow Oliverio Sofía: Facebook | Instagram | Soundcloud | Spotify
Follow Soundexile: Facebook | Instagram | Soundcloud | Spotify
