“We want to make effortless music,” says Trevor McFedries, half of the duo South Florida Trance Team, aka SoFTT. “We want to not think too much with our brains and just feel [the music] with our bodies.” That’s probably the best way to put what’s so appealing about this back-to-basics dance music project. From their silly lyrics about sugar daddies and unrequited love to the manic energy of 909 kicks and cheesy synths, — which includes singer Kablito — everything about them makes you want to get lit and dance until dawn, then dance some more. Within its digital trenches, there’s something undeniable about their music, which has resonated with audiences worldwide, having played in festivals like Spain’s Primavera Sound and events like NY’s MoMA PS1.
About five years ago, the duo met in Los Angeles, CA. McFedries is an electronic producer once known as DJ Skeet Skeet, who has worked with the likes of Azealia Banks, Katy Perry, and Kesha, in addition to working on big-profile gigs in tech. Kablito, on the other hand, was born in Ecuador and has been part of the Latine music scene in the U.S. for several years, collaborating with Tainy, Diego Raposo, and many others. Kablito and McFedries would interact on social media until they found themselves as roommates in Miami, FL. Dealing with burnout from his day job as a software engineer, McFedries would let off steam by making tracks, eventually inviting Kablito to contribute to one of them. They sent it to a group chat with friends, and it eventually found its way to True Panther Records, which released it. “We thought that we would put out this song and get back to our lives,” McFedries shares. “I think it’s been an incredible thing for both of us to see the response and play shows all over the world.”
McFedries gravitated to the music of his youth, when he‘d attend raves in the Midwest in the early ‘00s. This meant everything from poppy Eurodance to hard techno and trance — music about partying and little else. Kablito added her own spin with simple yet catchy melodies, singing in Spanish about whatever fun topic would pop into her head. These resulted in odes to impossible crushes like “Kiero Ke Me Kieras” and living a horny party lifestyle like in “Papi De Azúcar” and “Besos En El Club.” The results are high-energy synthetic sounds that straddle the line between cheesy and cutting edge, a style expanded by their club-ready edits of other people’s tracks as diverse as Shakira’s “Ciega Sordomuda,” Waxahatchee and MJ Lenderman’s “Right Back To It,” and even “World Class Sinner / I’m A Freak” from the controversial The Weeknd-starring series, The Idol.
Even though it would be easy to classify SoFTT as a callback to the golden age of Eurodance, the duo is not a retro act. While their sound might be rooted in 25-year-old music, their approach is new and authentic. “I have a real problem with nostalgia,” says McFedries. “I think that a generation that has access to the internet can use references as a design crutch. I think what we’re trying to do is that if we’re referencing something, we kinda want to recontextualize it [for] this moment. It’s kinda like Amy Winehouse was able to take a palette and talk about going to rehab, and that’s something that wouldn’t happen in [the ‘60s]. That’s the kind of stuff we enjoy doing.”
Perhaps a quality that has been instrumental in their appeal is that they communicate so much unburdened creativity and joy that it’s impossible not to feel contagious. For Kablito, having the freedom to make things the way SoFTT does is a source of inspiration. “It was really nice and refreshing for me,” she says. “My whole focus was to just have fun, write lyrics, not overthink it. With my solo project, it’s more serious and personal. But with SoFTT, I get the freedom to be goofy and have fun. It’s very different from what I’ve ever done because we’re not in a professional studio with writers and this and that.”
Soon after releasing their first few songs, SoFTT found an audience interested in their music, something that has taken its members by surprise. This has resulted in them visiting places they never thought they would reach. “Honestly, it’s been like a dream come true,” says Kablito. “I didn’t expect anything, and it’s been so much fun to travel the world together. I always wanted to play at Primavera, and I got to do all that stuff this year. I think I’ve been rediscovering myself in a new way.”
I think what we’re trying to do is that if we’re referencing something, we kinda want to recontextualize it [for] this moment. It’s kinda like Amy Winehouse was able to take a palette and talk about going to rehab, and that’s something that wouldn’t happen in [the ‘60s]. That’s the kind of stuff we enjoy doing.”
While their catchy songs have put them on the map, it’s their live appearances what’s cementing their reputation. For them, it’s all about getting the crowd going. “Honestly, I [try to] get the public to dance,” says Kablito. McFedries adds, “I personally love playing in rooms where they maybe don’t know us, and then by 20 or 30 minutes, you can see that they’re starting to get it. And by the end, they’re flipping out.” “That’s the most fun!” Kablito concludes. “It’s such a challenge, like, ‘Can we really move them?’ But then we always do, so it’s been really fun to see that.”
In these shows and festivals, they’ve also found kindred spirits along the way. “I think it’s been pretty nice to be a part of a different community in dance music,” McFedries says. “We just played a festival outside Prague and we saw Isabella Lovestory and Kamixlo. For me, the best part is meeting people who love music as much as you do all over the world, like Simona in Spain and Six Sex, who we’ve been talking about doing things with. It’s been great to find these people doing electronic music but also are involved in Latin music and trying to carve out a new space in it.”
While they still have many dates into the New Year, including some South American shows, they’re now concentrating on finishing their first EP, in which they plan to expand the emotions they express in their lyrics. This release will surely make their following grow, which so far has been built the old way in the internet age — that is, by discovery on music platforms and through peer sharing. “We’ve really built this fanbase around Soundcloud and Bandcamp, which I appreciate,” says McFedries. “Just a bunch of music freaks. We don’t really have, like, viral TikTok hits.”
Kablito continues: “To me, that’s been pretty refreshing to be like, it’s not really about appearances. It’s really about the music and to connect with people based on that.”
Photography: ILMATO
Written By: Marcos Hassan
Editor in Chief: Thatiana Diaz
Music Editor: Alexis Hodoyán-Gastélum
Creative Director: Alan López
Social Media Manager: Alma Sacasa
Director of Talent Relations & Executive Producer: Joel Moya
Special thanks to Dominicana Music Week, José Guillermo Saleta (Saleta Group) & Wilkin Tatis
