Istmo Music puts El Salvador on the map

Istmo Music puts El Salvador on the map

24 October, 2008 | 6.02PM

• Written by: Beatportal
• Filed under: Music News: istmo records

There’s been a resurgence of Latin American electronic music output lately, and Istmo Records has been setting the pace in showcasing some up-and-coming hot talent in that arena.

Click through for an interview to find out exactly how.

So give us an update on Istmo Music and your big priorities these days in Latin America.

Well, we’re always working with our original vision of finding the best talent coming from Latin America and helping the world get access to them, and them to the world. 

We keep to international standards for the producers we sign to our label group, and also for those whose careers we manage in trying to get their music out to the world, or booking them gigs in and out of Latin America. 

In terms of artists, Heatbeat and Santiago Niño are very hot right now with their productions and remixing, and are big focuses for us.

Also we’re focusing a lot on our events and Istmo Nights which have dominated the scene in El Salvador.

What has been your focus or strategy with your events to lead the scene down there?

Well, they are another large way we give attention to the Latin American talent we find. 

We started our nightly event label, Istmo Nights, in May of 2006. 

Since then, we have booked and produced events with artists such as Marco V, Paul van Dyk, Thrillseekers, James Holden, Chris Fortier, John O’Callaghan, Steve Porter, Miguel Migs, amongst many others.

We always strategize to pair up big, international artists with some of the best DJs and producers we have found in Latin America, like Colombian Santiago Niño, Argentinian trance-duo HeatBeat, Ofo Nuñez from El Salvador, and Francis Davila and Alex Hentze from Guatemala, who are just some of our Istmo Artist team. 

These events are an excellent way for our artists to get recognition both locally and internationally, not only from the live crowd, but from everyone around the world who follows these big DJs we bring to El Salvador.

So where do you see Istmo Nights in terms of its growth within your region?

Really, from the beginning, we kept our focus on strong line-ups with a mix of big international names and our strongest regional artists, topped with amazing production and unmatchable sound - just an overall great concert/party experience. 

Now it’s safe to say we’re the most well known concept for EDM parties here in El Salvador, to a point where we have built up Istmo Nights to have a yearly festival to commemorate our artists and the continuing growth of electronic culture in our region.

What can the world expect next on the Istmo Nights’ agenda?

On October 25th, we’re having one of our biggest parties of 2008, and definitely one of the best line-ups that North and South America have seen this year for a nightly ‘trance’ event. 

Keeping to our founding principle of uniting other continents with Latin America through dance music, with our shows, we continue to bring together some of the best DJ-producers from different regions of the world that are devoting the most to EDM: Europe, North America, and Latin America.

Who’s in the line-up for October 25th?

Above & Beyond will be our headliner from London, accompanied by Randy Boyer of EnMass from the US.

OBD (aka Revnoise), a fabulous new techno producer from El Salvador is joining; Istmo label founder FerK, and perhaps an appearance by Heatbeat, the hottest name in Latin American Trance right now. 

Do you have a history working with any of these guys before?

We’ve booked the guys from Above & Beyond before, and want to continue supporting them for everything they do for the industry, with their labelsAnjunabeats and Anjunadeep, for the high respect they have earned from such a wide audience all over the world, and for the constant diversity and talent they and their labels keep bringing to dance music.

Randy Boyer is one of our strongest artists of this year on our main label, Istmo Music, with some awesome productions and remixes he’s put out with us.

HeatBeat we’ve been working in managing and helping build their career for the last couple years, and they’ve been signing big stuff this year within the Armada label group and Be Yourself Music, among some others.

As well, OBD (aka Revnoise) is an artist we’ve signed recently who is doing some great things in the techno genre, and is just another strong representation to the world of the talent coming from Latin America for producing Dance Music.

Any closing remarks?

It’s all about the music.  Our love for the music is what drives us, finding those hidden, extraordinary talents within our culturally-rich region of Latin America, and showcasing them to the world.

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