“Okupas” sounds again: this is how the music of the Argentine cult series that is revived today on Netflix was made

It was a television phenomenon when it premiered in 2000 and now, 21 years later, it has reaffirmed its cult series status with its relaunch on Netflix. “Okupas” is the name of the Argentine fiction created by Bruno Stagnaro, which tells the story of four marginalized youth who take over an abandoned house in a Buenos Aires in crisis.

A stark but at the same time endearing story, which drank from the remarkable Argentine independent cinema of the 90s, and which had as its protagonist a very young Rodrigo de la Serna (“Motorcycle diaries”, “The paper house”). Innovative production due to its intense rhythm, its particular use of lunfardo and the ability to create characters with whom to identify.

Reviving “Okupas” on Netflix did pose a problem, however: the indiscriminate use of songs that did not pay copyright (from the Beatles to the Rolling Stones) had to be solved with a new musicalization. And for this project, Santiago Barrionuevo (or Santiago Motorizado), leader of the Argentine band He killed a motorized policeman, was summoned, who has been in charge of composing all the new songs that the 11 remastered episodes of the series are dressed in.

“It was something that I took with great enthusiasm – confesses Barrionuevo about his work in the renewed“ Okupas ”-. First because they proposed us to re-record seven songs with the band (He killed…) and then because, already alone, I had to compose 45 songs to replace other scenes. There was a pressure there to keep up, but I always had the approval of Bruno Stagnaro, who is the person who knows the most about the series ”.

A confessed fan of “Okupas”, Barrionuevo admits that he had very much in mind the soundscapes of the series, after having watched it over and over again from the VHS cassettes that he recorded himself from the television. “Bruno only told me to respect the essence, but not to support myself so much in the music that was there. Let him do something completely new if he wanted to. That frees you up, and it’s more fun to be able to move a little bit ”, explains the musician.

This is how the composition of almost 50 songs began, ranging from rock – the genre that is most familiar to him – but also include cumbia, electronic music, salsa, folklore, and even a tango, which he acknowledges was one of the main challenges. “In the series sometimes small fragments of each song appear, but I decided that I would compose and record them in full. I was so enthusiastic about the plan that I got into it ”, he says.

“I had always fantasized about composing in other genres, but I couldn’t do it. Maybe to make a cumbia, for example, I needed a why. AND ‘Okupas’ gave me that why, gave me the context to create a cumbia that is playing on a radio in a bar during some of its scenes “, Barrionuevo adds about the album entitled” Songs about a house, four friends and a dog. “

From that adventure arises a theme like “Tonto corazón”, the cumbia that he recorded together with Vicentico. “I became close friends with him during the pandemic,” says Barrionuevo. Once he wrote to me on Instagram because he saw that I was going to play soccer and that’s how we started playing every week. In one of those I told him about what I was working on and he loved it, he came to record, he was very attentive. For me, Vicentico is the best Argentine singer, an idol of all time, so it was a dream come true ”.

The work on the musicalization of “Okupas” occupied almost all of Barrionuevo’s time in times of COVID-19. “The truth is that it saved me from the pandemic”He confesses, while acknowledging that if he had continued with the usual rhythm of life and work, between concerts and tours, he might not have been able to focus enough on this project.

“It was an incredible few months, really. Like a strange dream. This door was opened and the truth is that I have been very happy. At some point it has come to generate a certain nostalgia to know that, This is probably the best thing I’ve ever done and will do at least musically in my career ”, he acknowledges.

Regarding the validity of a series like “Okupas”, Barrionuevo attributes it to being a fiction made with great care and affection, but also to its reflections with the current era. “There is a social context that is unfortunately very similar to that of now,” he warns. That year 2000 was the pre-crisis year, but now, 21 years later, we are in a similar situation. Maybe in ‘Okupas’ there are only more cell phones and chinstraps missing, but then everything is very similar “.

• The album “Unas raras vacations”, with the songs for “Okupas” by the band He killed a motorized policeman, can be heard on Spotify.
• The album “Songs about a house, four friends and a dog”, with the 45 songs that Santiago Motorizado composed for the series, will be presented on October 29.