Fluchtpunkt Techno?

Abstract

The term “conexión chilena” is regularly used in print media and internet articles to describe a group of DJs, some of them very successful, who fled as children with their families to Europe during the Chilean military dictatorship (1973–1990) and have become part of the growing EDM scene there since the 1990s. Names that are often mentioned in this context include Matías Aguayo, Andrés and Pier Bucci, Luciano (Lucien Nicolet), Martin Schopf/DJ Dandy Jack, Paula Schopf/DJ Chica Paula, Ricardo Villalobos and Cristian Vogel. Based on interviews and the analytical study of selected tracks by three of these artists, this article explores the question of the role that the “conexión” actually played. On the one hand, this question is applied to the work and career of the artists themselves, especially in light of developments in Chilean memory culture. On the other hand, it is applied to the early internationalization and transatlantic exchange in the field of techno and EDM. (Vorlage)