Having begun his career as a DJ in 1992, Telefunksoul has become omni-present figure in the local dj/electronic music scene in Salvador, Bahia as well as electronic music events around Brazil. His DJ sets and production covers a lot of ground – Dutch House, breakbeat, moombahton, dubstep, drum ’n’ bass, Brazilian Electronic Music, “black music,” nu-jazz and beyond.
Going deep into each sound, without fear of innovation and mixing. The DJ and producer with more than 20 years dedicated to the activity of djing and producing has taken its name to places more and more distant thanks to an indefatigable work of research and musical production.
When Renato Martins of Funk na Caixa sought him out to release some of his own productions for release on the newly formed Braza Music, Mauro also passed on other tracks from Bahia – LordBreu, Braunation, A.MA.SSA, DJ Mangaio and Lord Voodoo. Renato loved the tracks and they decided to put together an EP – Bahia Bass #1, which they thought was more apt than axé bass (cited by Bruno Natal in Globo in an early article talking about this new musical scene), as it encompassed much more than just axé, from the Reconcavo Baiano and other sounds from the interior and the sertão to a kind of “urban cyber” music….all of this being aggregated and mashed together in Salvador, whether it’s samba reggae, pagode, arrocha, samba de roda, axé music or whatever else – it all gets thrown in there… While the scene in Bahia has benefitted from some governments initiatives (financing a compilation on the culture of bass music in Bahia last year), for the most parts their work is completely DIY – from promotion, recording sets, remixing to producing festas.
Currently, Telefunksoul is one of the pioneers and greatest promoters of Bahia Bass, the electronic music genre that has as main characteristic the mix of world bass music with the musical and cultural repertoire of Bahia.