LEONEL CASTILLO
Mysterious cult figure, Leonel Castillo is the best-kept secret the Argentine electronic music scene has brought forward so far. An icon and at the same time virtually unknown, Castillo is one of the most prominent Latin American talents. A stylistic chameleon and an ultra talented jack of all trades, he is hard to pinpoint, and even harder to categorize. Surfacing wherever it takes the vanguard talent, he’s been releasing music as Leonel Castillo and under various monikers — Arnold Slab, Boeing or Unknown Artista are some of his aliases – on labels as diverse as the legendary Argentine label Estatus Discos, or Telegraph, Ilian Tape, Airdrop, Greener, and of course on his own imprint, Groovear.
Constantly reinventing himself, Leonel manages to present his musical talent in an even more refined context every time one of his sought-after releases comes out, it´s impossible to predict Castillo´s next steps. From remixing rock and pop giants such as Miranda! and the Babasonicos, to getting commissioned to remix Brandt Brauer Frick on !K7 Records or JT Donaldson on Classic, touring the States to djing at underground club nights in his local “barrio” while finishing off his new releases, the Argentine artist has neither limits nor criteria which makes him so uttermost interesting and universal. Ranging from deep dub sounds to futuristic funk reminiscent of the earliest days, his music radiates acid and old school house of the boogiesque kind, paired with rock-bottom grooves which resonate the ancient spirit of early day techno while remaining absolutely timeless.
Open-minded and heartfelt, his approach to production is autodidactic and free, without prejudices, which explains his pioneer status not only in his native country. Following the deep tidal waves of his first album “Beta”, it was his contribution to the “Post Office Special Argentina Madness” compilation on Telegraph, which introduced the fervent South American continent to the European electronic music scene. These spearheading talents had such an impact that the Montreal-based cutting edge music festival Mutek decided to venture out to the South American shores, and set up in Buenos Aires a local version of the festival. Mutek BA, with other subsidiaries in Chile and Mexico, would change the face of the local scenes, not only by unifying local artists but also validating their output, giving way to the professionalization of those longing to be recognized. Leonel Castillo participated in both of Mutek’s Argentine and Mexican editions.
After years of being Boeing, one of the most recognized talents of the Argentine electronic music scene, Leonel Castillo would celebrate his stylistic re-birth not hidden behind a guise but as himself. Humble and self-conscious, he would reinvent himself in a new context and format, embracing his roots and reaching out into the future: in 2005, he set up his own imprint, Groovear, as a net-label, which was to be distributed freely and to be downloaded via the web, an open-minded approach to promote independence and new tendencies without restrain.
Since then, the future of electronic music has become a global thing, with a lot of Argentines leading the movement, and although Castillo never was one to shout and scream to be recognized, he has evolved as an artist and eased into the idea of becoming an international talent. While Groovear now became a vinyl label, with a constant flow of releases in the works, Leonel Castillo is venturing out into the world to showcase his deep and sensitive sounds. If you are able to track him down that is.
