Welcome to Montevideo, the colourful beach-lined capital of Uruguay, South America, where its music is rooted is an accumulation of Folk and Rock. However, nestled in the outskirts of the capital, is Phonoteque, the hub and spiritual home to an underground scene which embodies a deep passion for music. The scene began in the mid-90s, taking influence from American House and Techno, before transitioning into a more European sound of Trance inducing, Minimal Techno and Tech House. The tribal-esque drum patterns originate from the Candomble rhythm which was introduced by African slaves in the colonisation period in South America. “The rhythm was always part of our blood and experience”, explains Fabricio, a DJ notorious within the Montevideo scene. “I think that everything is connected from the root to the things that happen in the present”.
A whole scene of people Montevideo live and breath music, spending all of their time listening, buying, and dancing to obscure underground sounds. Obtaining music is something that the western world very much take for granted having access to purchasing music both online and in record shops. However, for Dance fans and DJs in Montevideo, this is not an option. “Setting up a store in Uruguay is crazy, so you have to live without that or move to Europe.” Instead, they are forced to order records from sites such as Juno and Discogs, and this comes with a hefty price tag. Since the records are shipped from thousands of miles away, they can take up to two months to arrive, so DJs must purchase wisely - “there is no time to make mistakes”, says Fabricio. However, others within the scene choose to venture over to Europe to cities such as Berlin, London, and Amsterdam, specifically to shop for records. One of Phonoteque’s residents spent three months doing just this in 2016, digging for tracks with that signature minimal, percussive, spacey sound.
Uruguay’s Dance music scene is not entirely underground and minimal-esque. Punta Del Este is South America’s answer to Ibiza, serving as a “tourist resort for millionaires”, explains Fabricio. “There is no soul, no nothing, only people with money and a fantasy vibe of summer that you sell on television. To be honest, it disgusts me.” Contrastingly, Montevideo “was never about wealthy people”, but instead attempts to be completely authentic. Although there is a very strong homegrown scene within Montevideo, some DJs choose to move elsewhere, most often in Europe, in order to maximise their global success. Due to the sheer passion that the local scene shares towards digging for records and mixing them, they are collectively incredible DJs, rivalling and exceeding many of their western peers.
However, when living in Montevideo, they do not receive the exposure that they deserve, only reaching levels of success within their scene. Fabricio moved to Barcelona in 2018 to expand his creativity and to be “closer to the discs”, whilst his peer, Nicolas Lutz left Uruguay in the late 2000s, and has since become a globally appreciated artist, notorious for his deep selections and tight mixing. Other DJs beginning to receive acclaim since moving to Europe are Omar and Z@p. Could this mean that the mad sounds of Montevideo will expand into mass exodus?
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