29.10.2020
20:08
Juan Carlos González was one of the most important founders of the genre in the country and was part of groups such as Decada2 in 1985 and María Bonita
October 29, 2020 Share on FacebookShare Share on TwitterTweet Share on WhatsAppShare
The musician was one of the great precursors of the electronic musical genre in Mexico and an active collaborator of various media (Screenshot: Twitter @ decada2)
This Thursday the death of the musician Juan Carlos González, better known as Mateo Lafontaine, who was one of the most important founders of the electronic music genre in Mexico, was reported. He was part of groups like Decada2 in 1985 and María Bonita.
The causes of the death of the 58-year-old musician are still unknown. The one who reported the death was his brother, the nickname Mario Lafontaine, to whom he dedicated a tweet with the following phrase:
Rest in peace 1962/2020
The also singer had already commented that Mateo was in poor health due to an illness, but he never clarified what led to the death of the also participant of groups like “María Bonita”. In fact, some users suspected that the cause of death was the same COVID-19, although no information has been given that can be considered reliable in this regard.
Mateo Lafontaine was part of several musical projects such as Old Fashioned (1982), Volti (1983), Pale Silhouette (1984), Maria Bonita (1984), Decade Today ( 1985), Decade 2 (1985), Club Soda (2000), Dix Dix ( 2001), Nobody was There (2011).
Mateo Lafontaine was one of the great figures of electronic music in Mexico (Photo: Twitter @ museodelchopo)
The brothers produced a program on the radio broadcast “Mix 106.5”. In addition, they collaborated for the ADN40 channel, where they took up rock music and underground electronics, as well as talked about issues related to the contrast of musical eras. They also argued about the change in music through modern elements and that led to contemporary electronics.
One of the great interviews with the musician and publicist was made by Jorge Pedro Uribe Llamas, who asked him about the beginning of his taste for music. Carlos revealed that it was thanks to the reports of Patrick Schmidt, who made coverage for artists like Kiss and took up rock narratives that were not so well seen at that time.
Another thing that most impressed Mateo Lafontaine was that Patrick himself had his own band where he experimented with musical genres. It was then when he began with curiosity towards the electronic genre, where a break with the traditional emerged. For them it was powerfully striking to see that no instrument was needed, but it was the detractor so that many others did not appreciate it.
The taste for music began when he saw the texts of Patrick Schmidt, who took up rock songs and who amazed him with their descriptions (Screenshot: Twitter @ decada2)
On social networks, thousands joined in messages of support and comfort for Mario Lafontaine, some of the messages read the following:
“Teacher. There are no words. I’m very sorry but the voice … of Decada 2 always remains in us ”posted by user Mr. Moolight; “Aaaay not the only decent thing on open TV and they say goodbye to us, but there whoever says surprise me in 2021 because I do not answer for me, this was low DNA hit 40 and now?” user Lulu nehuatl nimexike wrote.
Robert Proco himself, another of the great pioneers of the synthesizer and who was also a close friend of Mateo, posted the following message through his Facebook account.
“What a sad day. My first meeting with Mateo was in the magazine Sound a photo of his project María Bonita, the image was disturbing he dressed as a priest, a couple of years. Later I learned about his recent project Decade 2 because of the space we had in Sintonía Pop, through a tape that he had obtained. But it wasn’t until 1999 that I managed to talk to you on the phone to invite you to participate in the Aviador Dro covers album, we spent about 2 hours talking, you sent me several tapes of your Uranatia project. Then I went to Mexico City and we met in the bars of La Condesa before its boom. A very special, hyperactive and creative person. Very grateful to be able to bring you to Tijuana with your Decade 2 project, a pending and long-awaited appointment, “he wrote.
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