A fresh ‘coat’ of fun

From neighbours who hung out over dinner, recording podcasts and talking music to creating a whole new genre of “Forward Thinking” sound, Sergio Munoz and Israel Sunshine (Salazar) aka Fur Coat have come a long way. The duo originally from Venezuela, and now based in the city of dreams – Barcelona embrace the darkness within them to create a smashing set. “We always use the analogy of a fur coat with our music – You love it or you hate it. There is no point being in between. We are really tight to the name,” they explain. “Sergio is more of the synth and melody freaky guy, while I’m more into percussion and edition. Although we both have our strengths, we both work together in the studio to obtain the Fur Coat sound,” says Israel. Even before the Venezuelan pair met at a house party in their native Caracas in 2004, Israel was building a solid reputation as a DJ, and Sergio was successfully producing his own sounds (under the alias Delete) for various labels. “It was a mutual appreciation of food, movies, partying and each other’s work that saw us becoming close friends and cementing our relationship with shared musical passions for Latin, funk, soul, salsa and electronic influences like Giorgio Morodor, Larry Levan and Moodymann,” says Sergio who has been DJing locally since his teen years.

Their parents have always been aboard their career choices too. “Music has always been our life’s calling,” agrees Israel. After 10 years of playing music and producing it, sitting in studios and touring South America, Ibiza and Europe, “We think we’ve reached the point where we can say that we are making a living out of it,” says Sergio.

Like their parents, their wives understand the business and are often spotted on their gigs across the world, bringing a piece of home with them. “It’s a nice balance; we really enjoy spending time with them on tour,” say the duo who are looking forward to schedule a vacation at Ibiza or Tulum soon. Aside of being party people – freeing their mind, enjoying themselves and probably getting to know other people, these DJs are organic lovers and dig vegan food. “We also cook and love eating good food – something we do over the trips on our weekends around the world,” says Israel.

But now, all they are looking forward to is giving Bengaluru a night of pure madness. “We are very excited to visit India and meet all our fans here. We’ve heard Bengaluru has a fantastic night life and we are really attracted to India’s culture,” they say, getting ready to spin tunes alongside Rohit Barker, Nikhil Chinapa, Orbs and Zen (Blank). Parting words? “We have no big game plan. We think the key to success is just loyalty, doing what you love from the heart and with perseverance,” says Israel.