FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Music

Miami's Futro on One Year of Retro-Futurist Revelry

Celebrate by copping an exclusive bootleg

Sometimes, the best thing that can happen in an artist's life is a happy accident.

Take for instance Futro, the monthly party-within-a-party, as featured by Miami's Slap & Tickle weekly at Bardot. For one Tuesday of each month, S&T is turned over to international house heads Oscar G and Lazaro Casanova, giving fans a unique chance to get up close and personal with the home-grown superstars, as well as giving the duo a chance to flex their musical muscles.

Advertisement

It's about to enjoy its one-year anniversary on July 22, and quite the celebration is in order. They've squeezed a lot of fun moments and memories in these first 12 months. And even though Futro has been highly successful, they've just been kind of winging it.

"I think our approach is sometimes too organic," Oscar said. "It is what it is. I don't think it's worth changing."

"Nothing about it was forced," Casanova said. "We have been making music for a long time since we've known each other – with each other, remixing each other – and we never at one time thought like 'hey we should have a name for this.' It just kind of happened."

The impetus of Futro is kind of confusing. They both release solo tracks under the title, and there's a collab track called by the same name. It's what they call their weekly internet radio show, Mondays from 4 pm to 6 pm on Klangbox.fm, and of course, it's the monthly.

Regardless of form, the ideology is simple. Futro is where future and retro meet. It's the ever-present connection between house music's foundations and everything that's to come. The live approach is an exercise in zen, being in the moment, never knowing what the other might drop. But don't just assume Oscar G is the guru. Even though he's the '90s-era veteran, he swears Casanova is the classic master. "He always turns me on to stuff from back then," Oscar said, "I'm more focused on things kind of in the future."

Advertisement

Fans get the chance to see the 305-gone-worldwide homies do their thing in a relaxed and intimate environment. It's the pair's passion project, and it brings out a playful side they don't often get to exercise.

"When I get to play in a smaller room like that and with people right in front of you, it's a lot more intimate, and I think it leads you creatively, music selection wise, to do other things," Oscar said. "When we do this party, we'll play hip hop stuff, disco things, and old electro things. That doesn't usually happen much in my other gigs that I do. I think that's what makes it kind of cool for us and keeps it fresh." That, too, was kind of an accident.

"The first time we did it, we had no conversations about how we were going to do it," Oscar said. "We showed up at Bardot and (Santiago Caballero) was playing. We kind of stood there in the booth like 'What do you think? Two to three records each?' And that's how we did it."
That's still how they're doing it 12 months later, but they're using this milestone as a platform for change. Besides releasing a new bootleg, recorded specifically to celebrate the Futro birthday party, the collab is launching a mixcloud site where fans can finally catch replays of their beloved mixes, both from the monthly and their radio show.

"I guess one year put things in perspective for us that maybe we should get a little bit more organized," Casanova joked.

Additionally, the party is going full Miami and handing out delicious cafecitos, just in case you were thinking of getting tired and passing out before the 5 a.m. last call. The first 100 fans through the door will also get a free beard. It's rainbow colored.

"I can't believe it's one year. I kinda feel like we just started doing it," Oscar said. "I look forward to it every month. I don't see it going away anytime soon."

And here it is, the exclusive bootleg in advance of the Anniversary on July 22nd at Bardot:

More Miami:
Lockah Nerds Out on Classic Miami Bass Jams
Telescope Thieves Makes Booty Jams for Sadboys
14 places to Go in Miami That Aren't Ultra