You’d be hard pressed to find a dance music artist that reps Miami harder than Oscar G. A true house music don, Oscar has had a long and healthy career on New York’s own Nervous Records, releasing a crate of singles and his first (and only) full-length, Innov8, back in 2008. Now with a new label in the works, appropriately titled Made In Miami, Oscar is looking to give shine back to his fellow South Florida musicians and possibly drop another full-length, sooner rather than later, we hope. Before he blazed through a sunset performance at the Nervous Records pool party, we got a hold of him for some questions.
This is the first year that Winter Music Conference and the Ultra Music Festival are going down on different weeks. What’s your take on that? Most DJs I’ve spoken to like it.
Oscar G: I think this could have been a good accident, you know? I don’t think anyone planned on this but people adjusted to the moment. I played Wednesday night and I did a bunch of panels yesterday during the day and today I’m doing this Nervous party, so I haven’t been to anything, but my parties have been awesome. I do a weekly here called Tropicasa, which is in a little venue, and I do a live fusion thing with Cuban music and house music.
With live players?
Oscar G: Yeah. We basically do like an hour to an hour and a half of original music. I play loops and digital bits and keyboards and then I have a piano player, a percussionist, a guy on guitar and vocals. For the conference, we had DJ Chus join us too. It was a crazy night. This party here is great because it’s the first time I’ve been able to do this with all Miami artists, which for a long time, the conference would push us aside. For years I’d just play on other parties during the conference, but this year we got to do this and it’s been really good.
You mentioned triggering samples and loop for your Tropicasa sets. Have you worked more of that into your regular DJ sets?
Oscar G: 100%. At this point, I basically play with Traktor and MIDI controllers. I still use CDJs, but more like an instrument than how I used to. Now I trigger samples with it and I do percussion parts with it. For the most part, I use Traktor because it’s a lot more of a creative endeavor. Before, I think DJing was a lot more about programming. It still is, that’s always number one, but it was all about that. Whereas now you can be a part of the process. You’re creating music on the fly.
Tell me a little bit about Made In Miami.
Oscar G: There’s a great, vibrant scene here and a lot of times I feel like it doesn’t get enough credit, or as much as I’d like it to. Me on my own, I’ve been lucky enough to achieve some success and travel all over the world, but I’d also like it to be a community thing, and Made In Miami is an idea based around that. I’m actually starting a label right now called Made In Miami that will feature Miami artists, both up-and-coming and established. I’m partnering up with Mike (Weiss) from Nervous and we’re doing that.
Who are some of the artists you’re trying to put on?
Oscar G: I already have a couple tracks from DMS12 and Lazaro Casanova, who I actually collaborated on a track with. Pretty much everyone on this lineup, with the exception of a few guys, has tracks lined up for this.
Are you dialed into the Miami hip-hop scene right now? That’s really popping, too.
Oscar G: I’ll be honest with you, when I started DJing, that’s what drew me to it. I was 12 years old, hip-hop was breaking out, and I was all about it. To this day I still love it. I wouldn’t say I’m connected to it, musically, these days, but I was in a Pitbull and T-Pain video recently. They asked me to come by and do a cameo for “Hey Baby.” There’s camaraderie between us. I’m actually gonna start sharing a studio space with Pit, so who knows! definitely
What does Miami mean to you on a deeper, more cultural level?
Oscar G: I was born and raised here and I’m in love with this city. I think a lot of people, when they think of Miami, think of Miami Beach, which is a beautiful place and everything, but Miami Beach is a whole different city in itself. Miami is the city, and it’s very rich culturally. I’m Cuban-American, both of my parents are Cuban, and that’s a huge part of my everyday life. Musically it’s a huge thing, too. That percussion-driven thing and traditional Cuban music is a huge influence to this day. I think just being around that my whole life—the food, the Cuban coffee and that whole thing—is a big part of it. It’s a very diverse place, and when you play here on the regular, there’s nothing like it.
Word by Rich Thomas. Photos by Graham John Bell.
