Cito was born in Los Angeles, California on the 18^th of July 1974 as Martin Rafael Otto. Most of his childhood was spent in a Hispanic Christian community in New York City. Both parents influenced Cito with their musical abilities – especially his Puerto Rican mother who sang and played Spanish guitar. At the age of 11 he starred in his first leading role as Tom Sawyer in his primary school play. Up until his teenage years he acquired most of his singing experience through his church upbringing.

 

For missionary purposes his family immigrated to South Africa where Cito continued his high school education. At 15 he starred as Kenickie in his high school’s production of Grease. His musical interests took over most of his attention and he began lessons with a private music teacher learning bass guitar. Cito started composing songs and music and was involved in several bands.

When he left high school he joined a ten-piece classic R&B outfit called Heart & Soul as bassist. A year later he left the band and started his own rock band called Moonchild. He then joined 8 Legged Groove Machine, a funk rock band, as lead vocalist.

In February 1996 Wonderboom was conceived. Headlining festivals and releasing chart-topping hits, Wonderboom’s fan base grew. They were nominated five times for Best Rock album at the SAMA Awards. In 2004 Wonderboom won best South African Rock Band for the Global Battle of the Bands and went on to achieve second Best Rock Band in the World at the finals in London. Cito has had the privilege of performing all over southern Africa, and the United Kingdom with the band.

In 2004, Cito formed an acoustic side project called Absinthè with Sugardrive front man Paul E Flynn and best friend, Paulo Rego. They are busy working on an album, due to be released in 2010. In October 2005, Cito auditioned for the role of Jesus of Nazereth in the South African production of Jesus Christ Superstar, directed by Paul W Griffin. In 2006, the production ran for 20 weeks in SA, with Cito singing the role at every performance. JCSS then was taken to Greece in April/ May and Korea in December 2007 and was received with great appreciation.

His rendition brought the bravado of a rock ‘n roll front man to the show, and drew an awed response from many in the local and international musical theatre industry. Among those who expressed their admiration were JCSS lyricist Tim Rice and Mike Dixon, three time musical director for the show in the UK. Unsurprisingly, Cito was nominated for a Naledi Award as Best Newcomer in the South African theatre 2007. From March – August 2008, the musical theatre stage saw Cito perform a lead role again as Frederick Trumper with Pieter Toerien’s new production of Chess, The Musical which boasted full houses throughout the run. He is currently working on his first solo album, due to be released in 2010.