Vanesa Lopez
06/15/2020 - 14:11
- Clarín.com
- Society
Since the beginning of the coronavirus quarantine, DJ Pato Zambrano has brought his speakers to the balcony. Some neighbors denounced him for "annoying noises", but there are also many who catch on when he animates the nights of Talcahuano at 1200, in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Recoleta.
This weekend, several followers went out to dance on the street. The event went viral, generated criticism for "violating the quarantine", and the controversy continues on the networks.
In dialogue with Clarín , Pato defends himself and tells how these “virtual meetings” were created, which were born with the aim of “encouraging people to dance on the balconies”.
“On March 28 I was playing music for Instagram, behind closed doors, in the living room of my house. A neighbor beckons me and asks, 'Are you a disk jockey? Could you put me on a Frank Sinatra song? ' I put the subject to him and he began to dance with his wife. I realized that there were three balconies that were dancing: one asked me for a bolero, another asked me for gypsy music. Suddenly we were all dancing together, ”recalls Pato.
The next day, they left him thank you notes, handwritten letters, and a pudding. He also received a call from a person who was terminally ill. “He told me that he had brightened up the last days of his life. It was super mobilizing, super sensitizing ”, comments Pato.
It was then that the 44-year-old man - who runs a music company for events - decided to organize. He set up chat groups between neighbors, so that they could choose the right moment and the music they wanted to listen to. They agreed to do it every Saturday and Sunday from 18 to 19. "It is not a nap time, it is not a business day, people are not eating," says the DJ.
It went from a small speaker to a medium one. From three balconies they became nine. From a pudding they became chocotortas, puddings, wines, photos, and messages. "In front is a 93-year-old lady who dances all the time on the balcony," she says by way of example.
But not everyone agreed. There were complaints from neighbors about "annoying noises" and the police even contacted him. In protest, the DJ played the National Anthem.
“I was going to the police station to ask for authorization. They didn't give it to me. The law says that you can play music, but it also says that you cannot make annoying noises. When the music begins to be annoying noise depends on the degree of irritability of each one ”, explains the musician.
Balcony of DJ Pato Zambrano when he was denounced by a neighbor in Recoleta (Maxi Failla)
He says that he tried to reach an agreement with the complaining neighbors, but it was impossible. So, she stopped putting sound on the street and transferred the meetings to her Instagram account. “As a figurative image, to spread good vibes, I play music from the balcony. But without sound ”, she clarifies. She even gave it a name: "the biggest silent party in the world."
He assures that every time music plays he receives about 1500 messages of thanks from people from all over the country and from Argentines living abroad. Although she acknowledges that she also receives "the odd message of repudiation", something that "intensified from yesterday (Sunday) to today (Monday)".
What happened that day was that a group of people went dancing on the sidewalks. The video became so viral that the #Recoleta hashtag was trending on Twitter. And comments rained in favor and against that meeting that had transcended virtuality.
DJ Pato Zambrano when he was reported by a neighbor in Recoleta (Maxi Failla).
“There has always been an index of people out on the street. The police have always asked us to ask people to circulate through the microphone. We have always encouraged people to respect quarantine, to wash their hands, not to relax. It is all uploaded to the living that are published, "says Pato about the videos he shares on Instagram.
“When there is a strict quarantine, there are no grays, there is no way you are on the street. The government authorities have relaxed the quarantine, in quotation marks, and given certain concessions to people so that they can go out to the plaza with their children on weekends. So, people feel that they have freedom and feel that they can be on the street, ”continues the DJ.
“In fact, when I go down and talk to the people, or the police talk to the people, they answer: 'But if I am not violating any rule, no rule, I am within my rights because the exception of the DNU, that Saturdays and Sundays I can spend an hour or two on the street, "he says.
“The people's response is: 'I have the right to be on the street; If I'm not here, because they are playing music, I'm going to a plaza, '”insists Pato.
"So people were self-convened. Or it was happening. I do not know, this was simply massifying from social networks and about 50 or 60 people came on Saturday and Sunday. I didn't count them. They were distanced from each other. There is a video going around that represents what happened. Neither more nor less ”, continues in her release.
“Not that there was a pogo, a party, and a disk jockey playing electronic music. On the contrary. People are distanced, I do not know if two meters or three meters. The groups that are together realize that they are family: there were many parents with children, "adds the musician.
"Everything went very naturally. I always, in cooperation with the police and government entities, asking people to move, to stay at home," he continues.
“To those who say that the quarantine was violated, I say that I am a DJ who plays music and that my intention is never to cause harm. I am not in favor of people being on the street. The laws are to be complied with, and I am in favor of the fact that this has to be the case ”, concludes Pato.
The Buenos Aires Secretary of Security, Marcelo D'Alessandro, spoke on Monday about the controversy. "It is something that cannot be allowed," he said, and said that he contacted a prosecutor, who made an ex-officio summary due to annoying noises.