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Somewhere in the middle of five children, Oscar was born in Puerto Rico, where he lived until the age of five. Much of his extended family still lives there.His early childhood was without any particular incident. He was somewhat on the shy side, preferring to play with his relatives and neighbors than make friends in school. This was not considered especially worrisome. He could still be coaxed from his shell with some effort and was generally a happy, active boy. Throughout his childhood, he was moving frequently. It wasn't until they moved to El Paso that they put down roots. His mother now teaches history, while his father teaches a music class, both at the local high school. His father is also involved in a salsa band in his free time.

Some time into his life in El Paso, he began skateboarding and, in this way, was introduced to punk rock, and many older boys. He became a precocious youngster, inserting himself in the gatherings and conversations of older teens by the age of twelve or so. While he was raised on salsa music and loved it very much, it proved beyond his skills as a musician. Punk was much easier to access in this way, allowing him the satisfaction of musical expression without the frustration of failing to execute on a very basic, technical level. It was as he flitted in and out of bands, even at that tender age, that he met Matteo, with whom he became fast friends. They did play in a band or so together, with Oscar favoring bass, but they tended to play school talent shows and little basement parties, not releasing so much as a demo.

Being so much younger than others in his friend group, the older boys found it amusing to give him substances he was definitely too young to be experimenting with. He had his first cigarette at twelve (didn't take), his first drink at thirteen (he'd only come to drink socially), and his first hit of a joint at fifteen (which he liked very much). By the age of sixteen, he'd also tried LSD and cocaine. He indulged in these things with some regularity, though not to a degree that was worrisome to his parents. At least, not so much that he saw any discipline for it.

Seeing Teo drop out of high school as a junior was probably not the best influence on him. He did, at least, make it to junior year himself before following suit. This had more to do with a dislike for particular teachers, and the general climate of high school, than any hatred of learning. Oscar takes particular interest in global history and reads non-fiction voraciously, though he's decently versed in fiction, too. He was able to get his GED shortly after leaving high school, which suited him better; better to prove the knowledge was there than slog through years of miserable formality that would prove it to that institution's liking.

He spent his time in and out of bands, not for any particular reason, just trying to find his place. He continued using drugs in this time, but kept his LSD use relatively minimal, as he'd always gotten the impression that the places it took him were meant for visitation, not some long-term residence. Still, it was under this influence that he decided road-tripping across the country seemed like a good idea. Being that he chose the warmer months to do this in, it went well enough, for some time, with him occasionally sleeping in parks and other outdoor avenues on account of having no money. It was when he accepted a stranger's offer to stay in his home, rather than sweat it out on a hideously muggy night, that things went sour for him. He eventually called Teo, confessing that this trip was not revelatory in the ways he hoped it would be, that he didn't know where he was going and wasn't sure what to do. He never did talk about the particulars of what happened to him on his trip. Teo wound up wiring him money for a bus ride home, inviting him to join Amarojos, which he accepted.

At first, his songwriting influence on the band was minimal, as he was still playing bass. It wasn't until he was convinced to pick up guitar that he found his own voice, which was subsequently injected into the band's sound. He was shortly informed, however, that he could not tune his guitar to save his life, and generously gifted a tuner pedal. The notion that this could make up for his failings, allowing him to do things he was not accomplished enough to do himself, was revelatory. He took a job at a restaurant, ultimately working as a caterer (despite wanting to be back of house!), that pulled in some cash, and fed that into getting new effects pedals. These allowed him to bend the guitar's sound to his liking, and ultimately revolutionized the sound of Amarojos.

By their second studio album, Oscar's influence was band-defining. His guitar playing being influenced heavily by Larry Harlow, a salsa pianist, afforded them a unique sound, one in which he'd encourage the incorporation of maracas and conga drums to complement. The sound aesthetic mixed curiously well with their roots in punk rock though, as all of them grew as musicians, their instrumentation did grow more complex, and ease them into being more of a general rock 'n roll band than anything else. Their live shows became notorious for their unmatched energy, with Oscar and Teo especially going wild on stage, with spastic dancing and jumping off of shit, though playing guitar did leave Oscar a little more inhibited than his breakdancing friend.

All of this did get them the support and distribution of a mid-size independent label, at first, but that did not translate to a worthwhile amount of money. They release all of their music on all viable platforms - vinyl, CD and digital - but the current climate makes it exceedingly difficult to make money, without outright selling their music to corporations for ads, which is something all of them are emphatically against.

When Amarojos finally signed with a major label and became lauded as the potential saviors of rock'n'roll, TV appearances proved overwhelming enough to make him vomit, there were too many questions about his hair, and it was impossible to convince such large crowds to respect and take care of each other. There was praise, there were financial rewards, and the payoff after years of work was its own high - but it collapsed within a couple years, the conventions by which they'd succeeded creatively smothering as his abilities and interests expanded.

As anticipated, the band's planned hiatus of five weeks became a permanent (?) break-up. Oscar and Matteo spent a few months traveling the country together, searching for appropriate members for their band. Meanwhile, Oscar wrote songs feverishly, handing the best ones off to Matteo to write lyrics and add vocals. Eventually, they were able to assemble Ares Ascending, and acquire a major label record deal using contacts established in Amarojos. Oscar's skills as a guitarist and songwriter have quickly vaulted to much-praised heights, making for a lot of buzz around them among fellow musicians and in certain types of musical circles.

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