WONG is the name under which works disc-jockey JL Magoya, artistic name of José Luis González Herrera. Born in Buenos Aires (Argentina) in 1967, of Spanish father and Argentinian mother.
From his tender childhood he showed interest in music, especially for THE BEATLES, a passion he shared with his brother Gigio, one year younger than him. At the tender age of 7 or 8 years, one of his favourite hobbies was to singalong his elder sisters records of THE BEATLES, playing imaginary guitars with a broom. His brother was John and he was Paul.
At the age of 9 he’s given his first guitar, with which he begins his musical apprenticeship. At 11 he gets his first electric bass, and by the age of 13 he’s got his first Fender (man!!). He started playing in lots of bands, and he got to know the small venues. At 17 he starts to study music more seriously, and begins attending classes at the Manuel de Falla school of music, in Buenos Aires. Along with other subjects, he studies double bass. At 18 he starts thinking about travelling around the world and knowing his father’s homeland.
Finally, two years later he heads on to Madrid with two bass guitars as his hand luggage. He travels around Spain and decides to establish in Madrid, where he meets Daniel Melingo, a well known Argentinian musician who had come to Spain with his band, ESCUELA BASILIO, to have a go at the other side of the Atlantic. Dani’s band needs a bass player, so he joins the line up.
In 1988 he stays one month in London by the same time of the Acid House explosion and the second summer of love. He comes back from Britain with a renewed vision of the musical world, and starts DJing at the Ya’sta club. Meanwhile, ESCUELA BASILIO change their name and are known as LIONS IN LOVE, they sign to a Spanish independent label and in 1989 they start recording an album which would be a landmark in the Spanish scene for its cosmopolitism and contemporaneity. He recorded a part of the album and left to London for three months, away from the band. When he comes back he finds Melingo as the producer of FANGORIA’s debut album. He helps him in this project and co-produces one of the tracks (“Entre viento y marea”). From that moment on he dives in the Midi and digital technology fields, almost inaccessible in that time.
He focuses on his work as a DJ, acting in many venues in Madrid: Hanoi, Stella, Falla, Villarosa and finally, in January 1992, he works as the resident DJ in Bocaccio’s afterhours. Times were different, and to get a place you had to be aware of many different styles of music: Acid Jazz, Funk, Soul, Disco, House, Techno and a long etc. In 1992 he started working at a friend’s studio, and in 1993 he tries to set up his own label Achtung, which only got to release three references. In 1994, along with other partners he sets up the Planet Studio, with the idea to teach as well Midi classes. During two years he records other people and teaches in the studio, besides of evolving his own musical ideas.
By the end of 1995 he meets David Alvarado, from LA based Bomb label, who is so enthusiastic with his music that gives him a contract. In June 1996 “JL Magoya 1” is released, and in September number 2 is out. In April 1995 he forms a team with his friends from Bocaccio and open the MidDay, pioneer in Madrid of club culture. From 1996 on he travels around Spain and Portugal, working as a DJ. He’s called for the Sonar 96, Art Futura 95 and 96, Espárrago Rock 97, Fimes 97 and many clubs in the country. The after hours shift and the Techno approach of MidDay make him project, along with his partners, the Dance section in the then closed Bocaccio club with a 100% House style and guest DJs.
During the 1996/97 winter he writes the pieces for his records in Boozo, Minifunk, the new maxi-single on Stereophonic Elefant Dance Recordings and the third one for Bomb, as well as an experimental house project called PÉNDULO. In 1998 WONG’s first album is released in Stereophonic Elefant Dance Recordings, after launching the clubs Stereo in Madrid and Deep in Marbella (south of Spain), as well as doing many DJ sessions all over Spain.
Discography in Stereophonic:
“Rambután” (ED-015 Maxi Single,1997)
“Wong” (ED-021Double LP/CD, 1998)