Guti is not a DJ or a producer. He is an accomplished musician and renowned live act who has played instruments in several different bands throughout his life. After 15+ years in the electronic underground, the Argentinian is drawing more clearly on those roots when he goes into the studio and jams. It's given him a renewed sense of purpose and set him on a mission to showcase El Nuevo Sonido Latino, which translates as 'the new Latin sound' and is the name of his new label. The aim is to release into the world some of the music he makes every day, the collaborative jams he hosts at home and to bring a different perspective to global dance floors.
Over the years, Guti has become synonymous with a groove-driven house and tech sound that has featured samples of native percussion and instrumentals. It has taken him to all the major clubs and festivals in the world and trend-setting labels of the day. He's put out a steady stream of well-received albums such as The Year Of The Conga on Cuttin' Headz and Almost Finished alongside Djebali on the Frenchman's self-titled label.
But when the pandemic trapped him at home, he found himself "getting out of the box" and jamming on his instruments at home and drawing on his Latin roots. It unexpectedly took him out of where he had been before and finding all new grooves. His aim now is to forget all the rules, lose himself in the moment and never repeat the same sounds. He makes music every single day at home in Berlin so what comes out depends on the mood he goes in with.
Since then he has been increasingly working with local musicians, getting them in his studio a couple of times a week and hosting impromptu jam sessions with bass, accordion and piano players. Playing with other people and sharing instrumental conversations is what excites him most and keeps him motivated to keep creating.
The new label El Nuevo Sonido Latino is a guerrilla project that comes from a place of love but with a desire to share Guti's culture and diversify dance music with authentic new sounds. It will host jam sessions featuring the many amazing musicians he works with, all unannounced and created live in the moment, which is when the real magic happens.
Guti is one half of Modal Tune alongside Sarkis Ricci, a jazz band that has brought expressive grooves and freeform melodies to stages at places like Caprices and that feeds back into his dynamic solo live show. It's a vibrant mix of recordings from his studio with live drum programming and jamming on keys that he assembles on the fly, a perfect mix of the electronic and the organic that reacts to the crowd and heats up the dance floor to boiling point.
This latest chapter in Guti's ever-evolving musical story draws on everything he has learned before. It's the sound of an artist refreshed and re-inspired, someone with a lifetime of musical skill and all new things to say with his instruments and machines. Guti is not a DJ or a producer, then, but he will make you dance in ways no one else does.