Mas Ricardo - 1997 SOAH 07 House Progressive

Ricardo Abenojar, a.k.a. mas Ricardo, has been rocking the Swiss Party and Club Scene with his magical Techno and House DJ sets since the early nineties. He set high new musical standards, especially at the After Hours whose fame spread quickly beyond Switzerlands borders. It was during that time that he and his friends cooked up the idea of establishing a party organization  the famous Tarot family was born. They started with a lot of idealism and passion, and step-by-step, with hard work, they built a strong foundation for a massively successful enterprise that prevailed in the techno scene. Mas Ricardo started out by spinning in a small bar in Zurichs lively Kreis 4, also known as the workers quarter. He quickly achieved fame as DJ and not before long the owners of the legendary Roxy Club in Zurich offered him a spot as resident DJ. During that time the Tarot crew started organizing their first parties, and watched them grow into full-blown mega events. Mas Ricardo, being on the organization team as well as doing gigs as DJ, was on the forefront of all these parties. His name soon got huge recognition, in Switzerland and abroad. The first ever After Hours in Zurich were presented by Tarot in May 1992. After a couple of months they moved to a new location, the Oxa Club, and their fame spread like a whirlwind throughout Europe. Resident DJ mas Ricardos striking trance and techno style had a huge impact on the scene. His killer mixing skills as well as the careful arrangement of his sets left an enormous impression on many young DJs and more than one strived to copy him. Mas Ricardo wasnt only fascinated by trance and techno but always had an immense love for house. And it was with house that he made his mark in the music business during the past years. His vivid interest in music pushed him constantly to improve and work on his skills and over time he became a highly acclaimed and much respected DJ. All over Switzerland mas Ricardo has been warmly welcomed as either resident or guest DJ. And it didnt take clubs from other European countries very long to catch on and book the great Swiss vinyl virtuoso as well. During the past couple years mas Ricardo and his studio partner Thomas Noser released many successful CD compilations and noteworthy productions. In addition, he collaborated on several music productions that were released by such labels as Zurichmusic, DJ Beat Records, EMI Electrola, Planet Vision Records Frankfurt, Global Ambition Records Stuttgart, TBA or the Tarot label. Mas Ricardo is happily married to Manon (also a very active DJ) and is the proud father of their daughter and son. Ricardo, originally from Madrid, is one of Switzerlands 10 most important DJs and there is no doubt that great things can be expected from him and his family in the future. This year, though, the successful artist took his workload down a notch. He pulled out of Oxa, that he co-founded, in order to be able to spend more time with his family and to pursue his own career. In the past couple months he has been concentrating on developing his own Live-DJ-Sets and finding innovative ways to incorporate new technologies. He also doesnt only play strictly house anymore but mixes it up with fresh progressive and techno.

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