Duos & Groups

Vatos Locos

Early-2000s psychedelic project of Doof’s Nick Barber, Earthling’s Celli Firmi and Mexican DJ/promoter Xavier Fux.

Historical group photograph published on the Vatos Locos project profile.
Vatos Locos in the historical group photograph published on the project’s SoundCloud profile.Photo: Photographer not stated by source · Editorial quotation / published artist-performance context — no free licence claimed · source

The story behind Vatos Locos

Vatos Locos was an international psychedelic-trance project bringing together Nick Barber of Doof, Ibiza-based Earthling producer Celli Firmi and Mexican DJ and promoter Xavier Fux. The collaboration grew from friendships and studio connections spanning Ibiza, the UK and Mexico at a time when psytrance was becoming increasingly global.

The first album, Welcome to the Barrio, appeared in 2001, followed by Attack and Release on Dragonfly Records in 2004. The trio's music was lighter and more groove-oriented than much early-2000s full-on, mixing psychedelic trance with house-informed rhythm, melodic lift and a cosmopolitan party feel.

Vatos Locos is best treated as a project of that specific early-2000s period. Barber and Firmi continued major careers elsewhere, while Fux remained important to the Mexican scene, but the dedicated Vatos Locos catalogue did not develop into a long-running album sequence. Vatos Locos stood out for its transnational lineup and unusually relaxed take on psychedelic dance music.

Origins of Vatos Locos

Created by Nick Barber, Celli Firmi and Xavier Fux from friendships and studio collaborations spanning Ibiza and the wider international Psytrance circuit.

The early years

The project’s first album, Welcome to the Barrio, was released by Sony in 2001.

How the career developed

Attack and Release followed on Dragonfly Records in 2004 after roughly two years of work on the album.

Vatos Locos sound

Vatos Locos blends psychedelic trance with lighter psy-house, global groove and melodic club music. The rhythms are direct and danceable, with less of the dark pressure that dominated parts of early-2000s full-on.

Place in psytrance history

Vatos Locos is an early example of a transnational Psytrance project linking established UK and Ibiza producers with Mexican scene infrastructure and label networks.

Connections and influence

Related through its members to Doof, Earthling, Soundaholix and Third Ear Audio while remaining a separate three-person project.

Vatos Locos today

The project’s dedicated catalogue centres on the 2004 album; later activity is unclear.

Selected releases in the archive

Attack and Release
2004 · Album · Dragonfly Records
Welcome 2 Da Barrio
2001 · Album · Sony Music

Related projects and collaborations

Earthling
Collaborative Project

Earthling biographies list Vatos Locos as a separate project.

Artists with overlapping styles

Doof

British producer Nick Barber’s Goa Trance project, closely connected to the formative TIP, Dragonfly and Twisted networks of the 1990s.

1 shared subgenre · 1 shared label

Oforia

Ofer Dikovsky’s long-running Israeli psytrance project, linking the 1990s Goa era with later Full-On and modern psychedelic production.

1 shared subgenre · 1 shared label

Pleiadians

Italian Goa Trance project closely linked to Etnica, best known for the 1997 album I.F.O. and a particularly dense, cosmic strain of classic psychedelic trance.

1 shared subgenre · 1 shared label

Prana

Goa Trance project founded by Tsuyoshi Suzuki and Nick Taylor, later joined by Andy Guthrie, with a history linking Tokyo, London and Matsuri Productions.

1 shared subgenre · 1 shared label

0101

Short-lived collaboration of Total Eclipse founder Stéphane Holweck and Greek producer Marios Trivyzas, preceding their modern Total Eclipse partnership.

1 shared subgenre

1200 Micrograms

Ibiza-based psytrance supergroup linking Raja Ram and TIP Records with the GMS production axis.

1 shared subgenre