Rave Jit — Reckless Magazine

How did your journey as a musician begin?

As a teen, I was usually a fill-in bass player for friends’ bands. I wasn’t very good at it, which is why I was never a permanent band member. My friends and I would go to powerviolence and hardcore shows which really influenced us. I got to witness these wild, intense performers. I was always a shy girl and very introverted so I never thought I would be able to scream at people and engage with an audience like that.

As I got older, I got more into electronic music and in 2018 I bought a sp404 sampler. I would make beats on a drum machine and then record it onto the sampler, then record keys, use samples from movies I liked and would manipulate my vocals with effects. Still unable to embrace live performance, I started using my music to score films I would make. It wasn’t until I took this improv dance class at PCC, that I started dancing in front of people and scoring my dances with my music. Soon after I started playing live shows. 

What have you learned along the way?

My whole experience with music has been difficult to grasp. I only ever saw men getting exposure in the music scene, it was very gate kept. When I first started making dance music and performing, guys would always come up to me afterwards and ask me who made the music, men never get questions like that. I really struggled with self confidence because men wouldn’t take me seriously. But overtime, I built a community, set boundaries, embraced my anger through performance and stopped caring about what men think.

Another big struggle of mine is navigating being introverted and performing in front of large crowds of people all the time. It fuels and drains me at the same moment. The idea of being constantly ‘perceived’ and publicly so vulnerable is jarring to me. I am learning to slow down and take breaks whenever it starts to feel too hectic.  

Performance wise, how have you grown since playing your first show to now?

It’s grown a lot I would say. I started in backyard shows or random little art shows, I wouldn’t dance much and was really afraid of being seen. But over time I started to open up and access that part of me that’s really loud and chaotic. I expanded my project by adding my best friend Estefanía aka Langosta as my dj/ back up vocalist. Sometimes I bring in my partner Aarum aka Pacoima Techno into the mix. We’ve been able to travel and open up for bigger acts, it’s been really fun. It felt lonely when I was a solo performer, I am happy I can share this with people I love. 

Many of your songs are sung in Spanish.  Why is this important to include in your music ?

I love singing in Spanish. I think it sounds more interesting and beautiful. I grew up in a Colombian household listening to Celia Cruz, Hector Lavoe, Willie Colón, Julieta Vengas, ect. My parents loved music like true Colombians and would always translate to me the poetry or meaning behind every song. My dad would play his guitar and sing in Spanish, I loved the lyrics he wrote. It just hit me at a deeper level when writing in Spanish. My mom would listen to a lot of Reggaeton, Salsa, Rock en Español, and Cumbias; I was always listening to all genres of music from Latin America.