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Interview by Najmia Pack
Najmia Pack: How long have you been spinning?
Robertitx: I've been spinning for almost nine years now. I started in November of 2017 spinning vinyl first and then moved over to digital shortly after that, just cause vinyl is too heavy. I have loved DJing ever since!
NP: What genres do you primarily spin? What has been your experience with navigating a music community, either online or in Phoenix?
Robertitx: The genre of music that I primarily play is “Latincore”, it’s a combination of other Latin American dance genres like, reggaeton, guaracha, baile funk and tribal and it’s almost like a hyper version of each of them. Something much faster, much harder, much more aggressive, more amped up.
A lot of people that I meet who play that kind of music are very nice, a lot of them come from third world countries. A lot of them come from different diasporas of the United States too. For a lot of us, the genre and the scene is very new. I think it started off mostly during the pandemic around 2020, that's when the term kind of surfaced; before that, there was “Latin club” but I think that Latincore is now the main term that people use for it now.
Everybody that I meet within the genre has been super nice. It's mostly just like a bunch of nerds making music who just want to change the club scene to be more representative of Latinx people or people of Latin American descent. I think that sometimes we get just shoved into the category of Bad Bunny Latin nights, and I kinda hate that. There are so many more diasporas and so many more genres to explore for Latin music that I think are not given a chance to go mainstream.
I come from Tucson, and a lot of the clubs don't really play the music that I play anymore. The infrastructure really isn't there, and I think that's quite literally the problem with a lot of Arizona; the infrastructure is not there for people to succeed. There are a few groups and collectives though helping boost what we do in Arizona. I think that Club Contact is a great resource. They've gotten a lot of criticism lately from people saying that their programming isn't diverse, and I don't agree with that. I think their programming is diverse, the problem is that people don't like to come support. I think that's a greater problem in a lot of Arizona, people just don't wanna come and support good things. They wanna support clout more than anything. What is clout though if not backed by real talent?
I have had the better end of things, I will say, than a lot of other people. I think I'm a more digestible trans woman, so I guess I get more gigs sometimes than a lot of other women, and I acknowledge that's a problem. That's why I try to incorporate trans people, queer people and people of color in my events as much as I can. I've really tried my best to make sure my events are diverse and not just a lot of the same. I wanna make sure that I am representing my community appropriately.
NP: What was your introduction to music and what has influenced your music taste?
Robertitx: I did classical music for 10 years of my life up until college. I just stopped doing classical music all together though because I realized that it was just too competitive of a field for me to find a career in, plus my heart just wasn’t in it.
I worked at Zia Records for four years, and that really helped develop and influence my music styles. I was already a huge fan of people like Daft Punk, Tiësto, even Justice - I love Justice, but working at Zia I really got to expose myself to weirder more interesting art.I got to learn about this group from Tijuana called Nortec Collective, which they were really the beginning sounds of the bordercore movement that happened in the early 2000s. They made minimal tech electronic music with urban sound added to it. They would record a lot of the sounds of the streets of Tijuana and incorporate them into techno beats. Discovering them really opened my eyes to what electronic music could sound like.
I worked at Zia Records for four years, and that really helped develop and influence my music styles. I was already a huge fan of people like Daft Punk, Tiësto, even Justice - I love Justice, but working at Zia I really got to expose myself to weirder more interesting art.I got to learn about this group from Tijuana called Nortec Collective, which they were really the beginning sounds of the bordercore movement that happened in the early 2000s. They made minimal tech electronic music with urban sound added to it. They would record a lot of the sounds of the streets of Tijuana and incorporate them into techno beats. Discovering them really opened my eyes to what electronic music could sound like.
During COVID, I decided to go to school for audio production. That was around the time when I really started being active on SoundCloud and digging for tracks to play for my DJ mixes. I started discovering a lot of artists from the Latincore movement there on SoundCloud. That's another huge part of this sub-genre - a lot of people are all connecting online before we could even meet IRL. It was such a lovely experience to immerse myself in these weird pockets of SoundCloud artists early on in the genre’s infancy.Photo by June Hucko
A little after that I started finally putting out my own remixes. I was received really well, thankfully. I got really great attention from a lot of my idols. LSDXOXO reached out and told me how much he loves what I do. I've also gotten praise from people like Tomasa del Real and gotten to play for a big act like MS NINA just because of what I do. I really am grateful for a lot of the attention and reception that my music has gotten on SoundCloud.
A little after that I started finally putting out my own remixes. I was received really well, thankfully. I got really great attention from a lot of my idols. LSDXOXO reached out and told me how much he loves what I do. I've also gotten praise from people like Tomasa del Real and gotten to play for a big act like MS NINA just because of what I do. I really am grateful for a lot of the attention and reception that my music has gotten on SoundCloud.
NP: What’s your favorite song to play to reset the dance floor?
Robertitx: A friend of mine from Australia, Hazboy, and another one from Glasgow, Rahul.mp3, created a remix of JT's “Girls Gone Wild”. I love to play that just cause it's such a reset, like when people hear it's like every bad bitch in the club comes to the dancefloor. It’s either that track or it’s a remix of “Spring Breakers” by this producer from São Paulo named Säfira. I try not to play too much Charli anymore because I think people are kind of sick of it, but that specific “Spring Breakers” remix by Säfira gets bitches to the floor.
NP: What was your most memorable event you spun at this year and why?
Robertitx: One of the most memorable was playing with my friend 2AT from Bogota, Colombia. I was a huge fan, and when I saw that he was touring, I invited him to come play in Phoenix. I think that just being able to share what we do here with someone that I truly admire was really special. To show them what the fruits of their work have done to my community, is kind of amazing.
If I have to say the most memorable event I played in the last year I‘d sat without a doubt opening up for Zack Fox, it’s probably the best thing that's ever happened to me. I was the direct opener for him and I got to play in front of a crowd of 1800 people for a sold-out show at the Van Buren. That is probably the highlight of my career right now.
Playing Phoenix Pride last year was special too, I always told myself I wanted to play Pride at least once. I remember I played and it was probably one of my favorite sets I've ever done in my life! I got to do it for the community of this city that I love, you know what I mean? Like, I got to truly just give back to my community, and that was truly lovely.
NP: Every second Friday at Club Contact, you and Pondi Map(@pondimap) hold Pikoteo with a variety of guests. What made you create Pikoteo? What musical environment are you looking to cultivate long-term through this event?
Robertitx: People of all backgrounds can just come and enjoy Latin rave music. Right now, I wanted to do it because I had held a residency at Club Contact for so long and I didn't feel super tied to the concept I had; it felt kind of narcissistic with my DJ name being Robertitx and the club night being called ClubTitx. I just didn't feel like it was innovative enough. I just felt like it didn’t have any real direction, and I didn’t love what I was doing with it. I got to showcase a lot of queer art, and that's ultimately what my goal was, I was really proud of being able to accomplish that.
Playing Phoenix Pride last year was special too, I always told myself I wanted to play Pride at least once. I remember I played and it was probably one of my favorite sets I've ever done in my life! I got to do it for the community of this city that I love, you know what I mean? Like, I got to truly just give back to my community, and that was truly lovely.
NP: Every second Friday at Club Contact, you and Pondi Map(@pondimap) hold Pikoteo with a variety of guests. What made you create Pikoteo? What musical environment are you looking to cultivate long-term through this event?
Robertitx: People of all backgrounds can just come and enjoy Latin rave music. Right now, I wanted to do it because I had held a residency at Club Contact for so long and I didn't feel super tied to the concept I had; it felt kind of narcissistic with my DJ name being Robertitx and the club night being called ClubTitx. I just didn't feel like it was innovative enough. I just felt like it didn’t have any real direction, and I didn’t love what I was doing with it. I got to showcase a lot of queer art, and that's ultimately what my goal was, I was really proud of being able to accomplish that.
With Pikoteo, I want to just expand on that. I want better branding, I want better promotion. I'm really excited for what I'm gonna be able to do with it. I really miss having a group of people wanting to do the same mission together of promoting Latin music in a club space in interesting ways, that also incorporate women, trans people, and queer people, not just men. I think that's also part of why I enjoy working with Pondi Map is because he's just like a cisgender straight man who supports what I do.
I think that it's great that as queer people we have our own spaces. I think that for us to really have more longevity in our careers and to have people sympathize with our issues more, we have to start incorporating ourselves into spaces that are uncomfortable, unfortunately. I think people see me playing with a cisgender straight man consistently and having a very amicable working relationship, it shows that it's possible for tolerance to exist. It proves that working with queer and trans people is possible.
I think that it's great that as queer people we have our own spaces. I think that for us to really have more longevity in our careers and to have people sympathize with our issues more, we have to start incorporating ourselves into spaces that are uncomfortable, unfortunately. I think people see me playing with a cisgender straight man consistently and having a very amicable working relationship, it shows that it's possible for tolerance to exist. It proves that working with queer and trans people is possible.
NP: Song of the day?
Robertitx: My song is called “Me Gusta”, it's coming out April 3rd! It's gonna be on all the streaming platforms, so it's gonna be my first introduction. It was me putting vocals on a track and I'm really excited for the world to hear it!
[editors note: It’s out now, go stream it!!]
NP: Make a music video? Or create a soundtrack for a movie?
Robertitx: Make a music video! I'd like to, and it might be happening soon! Who knows? Creating a movie soundtrack is the long-term goal. It's actually been a goal that I've had for probably 10 years now. I'd say it's something that I wanted to do for a long time, but I mean, I don't think at this point right now I'm confident enough of my sound design ability to be able to do that, but it's definitely a goal that I want for like 10 years from now.
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