Bio

Born in Medellín, Colombia, as David Otalvaro, Dave Star developed a connection to music from an early age that transcended languages and genres. Surrounded by the records played at home, he discovered the melodies of Michael Jackson, Elton John, and Air Supply, alongside the influences of Eros Ramazzotti and Hombres G. As a child, he would imitate the voices and performances of his favorite artists, imagining himself onstage one day. Those early musical memories began shaping an artistic sensibility that would eventually evolve into an identity of his own.

His journey with the guitar began during his final years of elementary school, when he received his first acoustic guitar. With small chord books and a curiosity that soon grew into a calling, he began exploring music on his own. Later, his early musical experiences at school introduced him to rock and the energy of the bands that shaped his teenage years. The electric guitar his parents gave him one Christmas opened a new chapter filled with rehearsals and heavier sounds, as alternative rock, hip-hop, and pop began playing an increasingly important role in his life and the development of his artistic identity. That diversity of influences, combined with the melodies of his childhood, would remain an essential part of the way he understood and created music.

In the early 2000s, he founded COXIS, a rock band that became an important part of his journey as a guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. Its influences were shaped by the alternative movement of the 1990s and a new generation of bands that emerged around the turn of the millennium.

Alongside his musical activities, Dave began his university studies in music, focusing on classical guitar while also taking a complementary vocal technique program at the same university. This training allowed him to deepen his understanding of his voice and explore new possibilities as a singer and performer.

During his early years with the band, Dave discovered a new way to explore his creativity through video cameras. Inspired by television programs that offered a glimpse into artists’ lives beyond the stage, he began documenting rehearsals, concerts, travels, and everyday moments alongside his bandmates. What started as a spontaneous way of preserving memories sparked a growing fascination with telling stories through images. This interest also led him to his first studies in music video production.

Years later, his curiosity about digital tools and experimentation with new sounds, combined with the need to bring his own compositions to life, led him to pursue a second degree in Music Production and Digital Audio. Driven by the search for a sound of his own, he sought to achieve the professional quality he had always envisioned for his music.

During his years fronting COXIS, Dave contributed to projects such as Días Grises (2010) and performed at venues across Colombia and Latin America. One of the most significant moments of that period came with ‘Tu Tranquilidad’, a single that received national radio airplay and whose music video was broadcast on Colombian television and MTV Latin America.

Experimenting with new sounds was also part of his musical evolution. Dave was already exploring the possibilities of digital production, incorporating sequences, synthesizers, textures, and electronic atmospheres into his compositions. After the band went on hiatus, that exploration took a new direction. Between his home studio and a small portable setup that accompanied him on his travels between Colombia and the United States, he began creating beats and experimenting with hip-hop structures, blending them with the melodic influences and sounds that had shaped his musical journey. Although he initially envisioned those compositions as part of his work with the band, he was unknowingly developing a more personal sound that would eventually open the door to a new artistic path. From that process came ‘Nunca es Tarde’, his debut solo single, released in 2015.

In 2017, Dave settled in the United States, marking the beginning of a new chapter of personal and artistic transformation. Although several years passed without releasing new music, songwriting and music production remained a constant part of his life. During that time, he focused on developing new compositions, building his own recording studio, and exploring new approaches to creativity. Those years strengthened his artistic independence and allowed him to develop a musical identity that transcended the boundaries of any single genre.

His interest in storytelling extended beyond music. Over time, that fascination with telling stories through images evolved into a passion for cinematic language and professional cinema cameras, a pursuit that ultimately led him to establish his own audiovisual production company, conceived as an extension of his artistic vision.

In 2024, Dave returned to releasing music with ‘Bajarle’, followed by ‘Qué Será de Mí’ in 2025 and ‘Over Again’ in September 2026. These songs reflect a sonic evolution that brings together hip-hop structures, elements of alternative pop, and electronic atmospheres, accompanied by songwriting that explores emotions, memory, and personal transformation.

For Dave Star, every new creation represents an opportunity to explore sounds, emotions, and new forms of expression. His artistic vision continues to shape a world of his own, guided by intuition and a passion for creating that remains in constant evolution.