Hi DJ Quien, we’re excited to have this little chat with you. Can you introduce yourself and tell us a bit about who you are?
Sure! I was born in Bolivia, where I started my music career many years ago. I played with bands and recorded a few albums until DJing showed me what was going to become my life. Along the way, I ran a festival for five years, opened an art gallery, toured, released more records, and learned photography (and a couple of other tricks here and there).
So, if I had to say who I am, I’d put it like this: I am completely absorbed by the arts in general. Creativity and curiosity are my ultimate tools to navigate this confusing world.
I read that you started DJing 25 years ago, in 2000. That’s really impressive! How did your DJing journey start and how has it evolved throughout the years?
Some days it makes me feel super old, but yes, I started back when there was no money in it and no bigger dream of becoming a DJ star. There were no role models or even the intention of such a thing. It was just pure love for music.
I was involved with the local scene, and it felt natural to go from playing in bands to performing solo, and from instruments to records and CDs. I learned from great DJs, and I think I’ve evolved my sound by listening and dancing like crazy for years. Being present on the dance floor gave me both perspective and purpose.
As someone who was born in La Paz, Bolivia, and moved to Berlin in 2019, how have these different cultures influenced your music?
The music at home was amazing. My parents both had great taste: I grew up with Bossa Nova, jazz, and folklore from my dad, and rock and Latin American music from my mom. On top of that, the streets of the continent were always loud, full of cumbia, salsa, and rhythm-heavy music everywhere.
Being in Berlin now feeds me in another way. The shows I get to see and be part of here revived my rave motivation. I’ve also improved my DJing techniques, I won two scratching competitions this year, one in Vietnam and one in Berlin. The people around me shape me constantly.
What motivated you to join our Music Production Hangout Sessions (aka Open Sessions), and what were your expectations from being part of this collective space?
I’m always happy to share spaces with creative people and to exchange ideas. It felt like the perfect fit for me. Honestly, I think I was also looking for other ears, and maybe even for some kind of approval, to feel ready to show some of my songs.
Your new EP Aphantasia is a beautiful mix of genres, drawing from ambient, soul, funk, and experimental beat-making, with some captivating vocal samples. You mentioned creating a lot of it during our Open Sessions at Open Music Lab. Can you walk us through how it came to life, and how working in a collective influenced the process?
Thanks for the kind words! Over the last five-six years, I’ve created around 400 songs, ideas, or beats, and I felt it was time to start releasing things. My newer projects sound about 90% analogue and less electronic, so Aphantasia is made up of the tracks that lean more electronic, it felt like the right starting point.
During the sessions, I shared some of those tracks with the other participants. Their feedback gave me the confidence to let them go and release them, so I could focus on the rest of the music I want to put out. Many of their ideas helped me shape the sound into something more rounded.(image: file://5aayjwev2fr9cu9g align: right size: full)
What advice would you give to other producers, especially those growing or starting their practice through community-driven projects like Open Music Lab’s Open Sessions?
Let yourself go. Let the music speak louder than your ego. Don’t chase perfection. Step away from obsessing over sound design, and focus instead on what the songs require in terms of composition. The biggest sound or the latest trend might not take you anywhere in the long run.
Look for your own identity, and most of all—enjoy. Just enjoy making music. No specific result is necessary.