ArtistInfo

Mozzarella

Band,
Musician of Rock and Pop

Mozzarella, rock band from the late seventies and early eighties based in Quito, Ecuador. The beginnings: After a bit of wandering around the small seventies rock scene from Ecuador, the original members are Oswaldo Valencia (drums), Andres Jarrín (guitar), Antonio Alarcón (guitar) and Wellington Flores (bass), coming out of small bands, with which the group called "Hechizo Fuxia" is formed, a group that for the first time experiences its own compositions such as "El Puente" and an unpublished song that is called Mozzarella, never printed on records, and referred to a certain favorite culinary delight by the musicians of that time Later with the entrance of Sebastián Maldonado (piano) the band acquires greater musical orientation and begins with the difficult challenge of proposing national ROCK music, adopting the name of Mozzarella. The musical world of the late seventies, basically not changed in only one aspect, "the passion and difficulty to maintain a group of free personalities, together", because it takes their spirit of freedom to produce art and at the same time Certain submission to remain in a single group to achieve identity and sound. Faced with these difficulties and never with the wind in their favor, Mozzarella loses two of its members Antonio Alarcon and Andres Jarrin. Mozzarella manages to complete its members again with the inclusion of Wagner Dávila in guitar, a rather classical musician, who helped in the musical formation of the band; For the same reason before exposed after a year of permanence Wagner leaves the group, as a result of these variations of guitarists, the base of bass, drums and piano that will be fundamental for the group in the later part is consolidated. The almost unexpected arrival of American-Ecuadorian musician Gary Huff (guitar and voice) complements the group and defines the training that would achieve "what little or much" that you public, consider that this band did in his time. Conformed finally as a quartet, with Sebastian, Gary, Oswaldo and Wellington, the band submerges in the dark and difficult ways of rock composition, sacrificing false success, comparative with bands that based their good performances through covers. Little by little the musical scene of that time was knowing the unpublished themes and giving them their support. There were many performances, good, some very good and very few bad, that is to say everything, you could highlight concerts in the former Republica cinema, Teatro Bolivar, Coliseo de Quito, El Tornado, San Gabriel cinema, and in general all nightclubs in the capital, later of Guayaquil, Cuenca, Loja, Atacames Riobamba, etc, etc, shared the stage with bands from Colombia and USA, including Miami Sound Machine. After this work that was quite hard and with the acceptance of the Quito public especially, the band takes its first steps in the showbiz of the time with the recording of their first single "Sound Check", in an acetate of 45rpm, that put in evidence the strength that the group had. The success of this first work prompts the band to create and produce their first album "In Vitro", considered one of the best works of Ecuadoran rock, self-produced by the band its musical quality was guaranteed in Miami, Criteria Studios, by the engineer of recording Pipo Lasso, the support of almost all the radios, especially the longed for radio music, and others .... personalities of the contemporary scene. From the album "In Vitro" emerges the second single "Tantas Cosas" blues-rock that was declared the song of summer in 1981, the theme "Cruisin" very accepted by metal fans and a series of compositions that give birth to the nascent heavy Ecuadorian metal. Mozzarella lives with his album his golden age, awakening at last the interest of the national record companies for future works. As explained in the beginning, again, maybe because of the success in this case, the band breaks down again, ending with the loss of Gary Huff, whose scheduled release allows them to record their second album in JD Feraud Guzman and the time of the entrance of two very important musicians, Claudio Duran and Felipe Teran, with whom the second work of the mozzarella is completed, "For Export" With the band changed and with a new album to promote, even with the partial presence of Gary, the band works nationally, but unfortunately this last album does not had the same reception from the public, it would greatly notice the absence of the original spirit of the group, despite being very interesting compositions, the criticism of the time used to heavy metal proposed on the first album, also was a bit hard with the group, and with the new members, who ended up retiring, after verifying that the sound could not be completed live, for many reasons, that today it does not make sense to remember them. Mozzarella makes a last attempt to stay alive and achieves the integration of Patricio Tobar with what you get to provide more concerts and think for a while that Mozzarella would overcome his "bad chronicle" the incompatibility of characters between musicians, and even more difficult musicians for rock, despite the well-known talent of Patricio, the band ends up being silent. The departure of Sebastian Maldonado from the band marks the beginning of the end .... little by little, like when the sun goes down, the shadow of the magnificent Pichincha was enveloping the band from Quito that finally broke up in the early '85. Remaining only his musical legacy in the memory of those who lived and enjoyed that time. In the middle of 87, the 4 Mozzarella musicians would meet again and they composed two hitherto unpublished songs "Sueño Azul" and "Crisis", subjects that to the lucky ones that we know them showed us again of the strength and communion that exists among these 4 Ecuadorian musicians, now dedicated to other tasks and spread across the USA, Ecuador and England

Members

	Sebastián Maldonado voc, p, org, syn
	Oswaldo Valencia dr, perc
	Wellington Flores b, voc
	Claudio Durán g
	Felipe Terán voc