Domi Delgado
From Unearthing The Music
Domi Delgado (b. May 1962 in Costa Rica) is a Spanish musician, best known for his work as part of DePicnic and El Humano Marrano.
Biography
During his childhood, Domi Delgado moved often, first from Costa Rica to New York, and then to a small town in the Canary Islands, Tarajalejo, on the island of Fuerteventura, following his father's professional activities in the banana trade.
He began studying the guitar at an early age. He was briefly a student at the university of La Laguna, but was expelled due to his poor conduct.
In 1980, Domi Delgado founded a punk band, Familia Real, in Tenerife, which combined the seminal influence of the Sex Pistols with darker tones reminiscent of the Birthday Party, Gun Club or Magazine. During their almost three year long existence, they recorded a sole single (released in 1982), as well as several music videos and demos which circulated on cassettes in limited quantities.
During the first half of the 1980s, he was also active in an editorial capacity, creating his own micro-label, Yerk-23, which released live recordings and demos by punk band such as Familia Real, Farmacia de Guardia and Skalectric. He also created two fanzines "Caos e Idioteces" (10 issues) and "80 Miligramos" (3 issues), covering topics beyond music including literature, poetry, fashion and others.
After the dissolution of Familia Real, Domi Delgado created a new label, Superproducciones Manolito on which he released, in September 1983, a self-produced 15-track cassette, "Música para subnormales", under the name El Humano Marrano (The Swine Man). The tape was entirely composed by him, and he played almost every instrument used. With the exception of two tracks recorded in the studio, the disc is an extremely playful and unclassifiable series of lo-fi miniatures, exploring very varied musical directions: from dub to techno experimentation through synthetic pop sometimes tinged with oriental or African influences. In "Música para subnormales", Domi Delgado notably gleefully uses drum machines, synthesizers and effects, and is somewhere between PIL, Stephan Eicher's Noise Boys and the Young Marble Giants.
Towards the end of 1983 he moved to San Sebastian in the Basque Country, where he joined members of the local scene to form a new project, short-lived project, DePicnic. The group recorded what was supposed to be an EP, but ended up reduced, for lack of funds, to a single which nevertheless retained its maxi cover. Released in 1985 by Superproducciones Manolito (and the whimsical Fundación Delgado de Donosti), "El verdadero sonido tortilla" is a small pearl of minimalist synth pop.
Around the same time, he also collaborated with fellow Canarian artist José Mesa, better known as Mataparda, on the album "El monte de la soledad" (released in 1985).
Discography
- Destruye / Depresión, Royal Family, single, Canary Records, 1982 - Reissued in 2008 for the label Los 80 pasan factura.
- Música para subnormales, El Humano Marrano, cassette, Superproducciones Manolito, 1983. Reissued in 2015 for the label Los 80 pasan factura (CD).
- El verdadero sonido tortilla, DePicnic, single, Superproducciones Manolito, 1985.