Roberto Duran
San Jose
Roberto Durán, aka Kooks, is a DJ, promoter, and producer from San José, Costa Rica whose journey in electronic music spans more than two decades. What began in the late ’90s as pure passion for the dancefloor soon evolved into a deeper commitment to his local scene. In 2001, he launched a small website to share news and promote events, which quickly grew into ClubbingCulture.com—Costa Rica’s first dedicated electronic music platform. The site became a hub for news, interviews, and event promotion, and played an important role in pushing forward major shows that brought legends like Carl Cox, Deep Dish, Hernán Cattáneo, Danny Tenaglia, Paul Van Dyk, John Digweed, Sasha, Fatboy Slim, Tiesto and Armin Van Buuren to the country.
Not content with just documenting the culture, Kooks began organizing his own events. In 2004, he created Back to Basics, a series that grew into one of Costa Rica’s longest-running and most respected underground nights at Club Vertigo. Two years later, he stepped behind the decks himself, quickly landing residencies at venues like Vertigo (Back to Basics, Behave), Venue (The Freak Show), Scenik, Retro, XPi Lounge, Bar Morazán, and others across San José. He also supported the FLY series at Vertigo, which introduced international acts including Ahmet Sendil, Alex Young, Felipe Venegas, and Johnny Cruz to the local crowd. As a dj, Roberto have been invited to performed at parties with well known talent such as Chus & Ceballos, Yousef, Hernan Cattaneo, Danny Tenaglia, Armin Van Buurem, Trent Cantrelle, Dave Seaman, Paolo Mojo, Nick Warren, Kasey Taylor, UGLH and others.
By 2011, his creativity naturally flowed into music production. Kooks developed a style that fused house and techno with tribal percussion and deep, rolling grooves—earning releases on labels such as Amazonian Ethnic Records, True Balance Records, Monophonic Records, Sajgon Records, and AH Digital. In 2012, he founded Monkey Show Records, a label built to spotlight fresh and forward-thinking talent. The imprint has since released music from producers across Costa Rica, Chile, Panama, Spain, the U.S., Greece, France, and the U.K., staying true to Kooks’ vision of a global and open-minded electronic music community.
After years of steady momentum, the pandemic in 2020 led Kooks to step back from frequent DJing, yet in 2022, the decks called him back. He returned with a more intimate approach, hosting residencies at Casa Rojas (ReLoop) and El Sótano (Behave), where he reconnected with the raw essence of electronic music in closer spaces. Alongside this, he has been revisiting the studio, now exploring progressive and organic house sounds in collaboration with friends like Hassan Maroofi and David Charpentier.
Though he doesn’t play out as often as before, Kooks remains deeply connected to the music. Today, his sets are reserved for special gatherings and intimate events—moments where the focus is entirely on the vibe, the people, and the timeless energy of the dancefloor.
http://dj.beatport.com/robertoduran
http://www.facebook.com/clubbingculture
http://www.facebook.com/monkeyshowrecords
http://www.mixcloud.com/robertoduran/
Roberto Duran - aka Kooks’s tracks
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