ABOUT
Gustavo Obligado
Gustavo Obligado
Gustavo Obligado (b. 1990, Buenos Aires) is a multifaceted musician, improviser, composer, and performer based in Berlin since 2020. He began his musical studies at the Manuel de Falla Superior Conservatory and completed the Postgraduate Course in Expanded Music at UNSAM in 2018.
Gustavo is active in a range of original music projects—including Arura, Falsx Conejx, Supernintendo Archundia, and Tripas—demonstrating his versatility across acoustic and electronic sound practices. His work integrates saxophones, clarinets, sequencers, samplers, and drum machines, spanning experimental music, free improvisation, noise, and electronic exploration.
He has released three solo albums—Phenomenas (2017), Phenomenas Vivas (2018), and Ulúlofono (2021)—and has performed extensively across Europe, North and South America, and Asia. With over 20 releases in his discography, his practice reflects a deep commitment to sonic experimentation and collaborative creation within today’s contemporary music landscape.
He also runs La Mona de Oro, an independent label that publishes emerging artists and curates live concert series focused on experimental music. The label also organizes the Sonic Exploration Festival, a platform for innovative and boundary-pushing sound practices.
Photo by Markus Mayer
EVENTS
Showcasing 8 Projects
English: Arura is an ancient entity that predates our existence. It materialized in Berlin in 2020 through the manifestation of two individuals, Gustavo Obligado and Sebastian Erdmann, hailing from a distant place known as Argentina. In this manifestation, Arura utilizes us as mere conduits, channeling its essence through electronic instruments.
Español: Arura es una entidad atávica que existe desde antes que nosotros. Se manifestó en Berlín en 2020, tomando la forma de dos seres humanos provenientes de un lugar remoto llamado Argentina, conocidos como Gustavo Obligado y Sebastián Erdmann. Arura nos guía, somos meros vehículos que ejecutan instrumentos electrónicos.
Photo by Miguel Ángel Gutiérrez
English: It’s an exploration that navigates between the analog and the digital, seamlessly blending the acoustic with the electronic. The outcome is articulated through voices intricately interwoven and processed, giving rise to soundscapes that traverse the dreamlike, the contemplative, and the industrial or post-industrial realms. This richness is elevated by incorporating instruments from diverse cultures worldwide, crafting an experience intentionally detached from specific references of place and time.
Español: Es una exploración que navega entre lo analógico y lo digital, fusionando de manera fluida lo acústico con lo electrónico. El resultado se expresa a través de voces cuidadosamente entrelazadas y procesadas, dando vida a paisajes sonoros que transitan entre lo onírico, lo contemplativo y lo industrial o postindustrial. Esta riqueza se potencia al incluir instrumentos de diversas culturas alrededor del mundo, creando una experiencia que evita deliberadamente anclarse a referencias específicas de lugar y tiempo.
English: Emiliano Salvatore and Gustavo Obligado, Berlin-based musicians, seamlessly fuse improv and composition with electric guitar and soprano saxophone. Their real-time processed sound creates abstract soundscapes with melodic harmonies, rhythmic motifs, noise, instrument preparation, and extended techniques, crafting a resonant space that intrigues the listener.
Español: Emiliano Salvatore y Gustavo Obligado, músicos con base en Berlín, fusionan de manera fluida la improvisación y la composición utilizando la guitarra eléctrica y el saxofón soprano. Su sonido procesado en tiempo real da lugar a paisajes sonoros abstractos con armonías melódicas, motivos rítmicos, ruido, preparación de instrumentos y técnicas extendidas, creando un espacio resonante que cautiva al oyente.
Photo by Ana Iramaina
Sanchez is a project that originated during Berlin’s winter lockdown, evolving home sessions into a space for collective musical exploration. Amid the challenges of public performance limitations, the project crafted a distinctive improvisational language, blurring lines between electronic and acoustic, and redefining the boundaries of music and noise. Sanchez not only represents a musical endeavor but also serves as a quest for identity for three Latin Americans navigating life in Berlin.
Español: Sanchez es un proyecto nacido durante el confinamiento invernal en Berlín, donde las sesiones en casa se transformaron en un espacio de exploración musical colectiva. En medio de las limitaciones para actuar en espacios públicos, el proyecto desarrolló un lenguaje improvisacional único, difuminando las fronteras entre lo electrónico y lo acústico, y redefiniendo los límites entre la música y el ruido. Sanchez no solo representa un proyecto musical, sino también una búsqueda de identidad para tres latinoamericanos que se desenvuelven en Berlín.
Photo by Borja Martín Andino
In my solo set, I use saxophone along with a real-time sampler/sequencer, which includes both live recordings and samples of the instrument itself, as well as effect pedals, extended techniques, and preparations. This combination allows me to expand the sonic possibilities of the saxophone and create atmospheric compositions where the instrument merges with electronic textures. The sonic landscapes explored in these compositions are titled phenomenas, as they are ephemeral manifestations aimed at capturing the complexity of the wind.
Photo by Paloma Guzman
SNA formed in 2021 by OBRIGADO and VNNTX is an intense electronic duo dedicated to making the audience dance. With synthesizers, drum machines, sequencers, key tar, and real-time vocals, their set captures the live experience. Supernintendo Archundia fuses Electro-house and Big Beat, infused with ’90s rave influences, adding Techno, DnB, and Acid-house for a dynamic performance
Photo by Kiremico
I collaborate closely to enhance ideas in various fields where sound and music serve as experiential elements: Recordings,Sound Installations, Video Art, Film Music, Theater, Performances, Custom Artistic Projects, among others. I’ve had the privilege of working with artists from different disciplines, undertaking projects that explore the intersection between sound and various forms of artistic expression. My creative approach adapts to the specific needs of your project, in addition to meeting the technical requirements outlined in each case.
Photo by Ana Iramaina