Gabriel Galdo

From the Window of His House to the Big Discotheques

A Caracas discjockey (now DJ) who started out in the minitecas and made his name in the big discotheques and events of Venezuela.

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Beginnings and calling

In 1980, at barely nine years old, Gabriel Galdo heard a roar from inside his house. Looking out from the balcony he saw an immense wall of black boxes with a name he would never forget: Betelgeuse. That night he watched DJ Mario Bávaro mixing with a bandana on his head and decided that he wanted to be a discjockey. His brother gave him his first ProLine mixer and he began practicing at home, breaking needles and turntables, like many future discjockeys of the era.

Training in the minitecas

Galdo noticed that everyone used the same Technics 1200MK2 turntables and began practicing every day. His first big opportunity came with the miniteca Power Music of David Pérez Lazo, who had just joined New York People. David took him onto his crew, taught him techniques of mixing and music programming, and even trained him by pulling records at random for him to improvise with. Gabriel acknowledges: “I owe David everything I was as a DJ.”

His first important party was the graduation of the colegio Bolívar y Garibaldi in the salón Iguatá of the Hotel Tamanaco, representing New York People, alongside Paolo Callazzo. From then on he became the miniteca's discjockey number 4, together with Alfredo Mena, David Pérez Lazo and Ricardo Espinosa. Thanks to Máximo Coleta and Paolo, he represented the brand at guerras —the sound clashes of the movement— and festivals all over Venezuela.

«That day I saw Betelgeuse, I saw Mario Bávaro at the console and I said: this is my thing, I want to be a DJ.»
— Gabriel Galdo

Discotheques and professional expansion

In 1990 he left New York People and entered the world of the discotheques. He worked alongside Oscar Leal at La Lechuga and played music at New York, New York. Later Johnny Cabrera called him to lead the DJ crew of Betelgeuse and Sandy Lane, a period he remembers as one of the finest of his career.

Afterwards, Willy del Nogal offered him the job of DJ at the Wetz event in Mata de Coco —one of the most explosive in Caracas— and weekends at the Miniteca Lawyers, where he had an unforgettable experience, proving that talent counts for more than the size of the rig.

Legacy and projection

Gabriel Galdo is living proof of how passion, daily practice and opportunities well taken can carry a DJ from the window of his house to the most emblematic minitecas and discotheques in the country. His story is interwoven with legendary names and key moments of Venezuelan musical culture.

This article is an initial version and can be enriched with the participation of its protagonist himself and/or of friends and knowledgeable people who wish to contribute memories, facts or verifiable anecdotes.

Credits and sources

· Migrated from the original article at culturaminiteka.com/un-mixshow-un-nombre/gabriel-galdo (accessed July 9, 2026).

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Source consulted on July 9, 2026

80s · 90s · Disc jockey · Discotheques · Minitecas