Madero Group Artist Sampler: Blockbuster tracks from great producers

Published: January 25, 2012

‘Madero’ may be a made-up word, but to its inventor Jamie Minotti, it holds great significance. When naming his new organization, Minotti, who founded the high-powered talent agency The Madero Group back in 2005, channeled the Italian word for ‘moderation’—a word he’d often heard his grandfather use throughout his childhood and the term that best describes what he’d like to see in San Diego’s music scene.

Minotti, who recently spoke to the San Diego Reader about Madero Group, said much of San Diego’s alternative music scene focuses on indie rock over other genres. Although Minotti wants to see moderation in San Diego’s style and coverage, his agency’s roster and the events they produce are far from moderate.

Back in the day, Minotti teamed up with Who is Guy Grand Productions to produce Xingolati, a cruise ship music festival that featured a diverse lineup, from alternative rock band The Flaming Lips to dubstep king Bassnectar (then known as DJ Lorin).

In 2009, Minotti co-founded Ocean Beats, which brings cutting edge electro artists to venues around San Diego. Madero Group represents many of the artists showcased through Ocean Beats’ events, like Ana Sia, Eliot Lipp, and VibeSquaD.

Last summer, nearly 1,000 people attended each day of Madero Group’s first ever two-day River Beats Festival in Colorado, which featured Madero Group’s entire roster. Minotti plans to make it an annual event.

Madero Group’s roster includes a small but diverse array of talents, from tech-house and funk producer SuperDre to multi-instrumentalist David Starfire, to Dark Party, an electro dance project and collaboration between producers Eliot Lipp and Leo123. Minotti and his team appear to forego quantity for quality and variety, opting to produce memorable live experiences that feature unique electro acts instead of sticking to the San Diego norm – and so far, Madero Group’s method is bringing its artists a great deal of success.

Ana Sia - International Profile