Discwoman has arrived, my friends.
We recently teased the collective’s techno-feminist takeover of Mexico City. It kicks off this Friday, January 8, with Chicago’s own The Black Madonna headlining, plus a roster of 10 DJs/producers highlighting a spectrum of Mexico City- and Brooklyn-based talent. The festival is set to be the first of its kind in DF, putting women front-and-center as performers, event producers, and curators.
As an added philanthropic-techno bonus, 20 percent of profits from #DWMX will go toward the non-profit GIRE (Grupo de Información en Reproducción Elegida), which “works for the defense and promotion of reproductive rights of women in Mexico.”
Read on for a preview of the Mexico-based artists, who are primed for some well-deserved shine this weekend. Discwoman’s Frankie, Volvox, and UMFANG put together a Girl Gang playlist to help us pregame the revolution.
1
Jenice (Zombies in Miami)
You may already be familiar with Jenice from Zombies in Miami, a project she works on with her husband Cani. However, her set at Discwoman will be her first appearance as a live solo act. The Aguascalientes-rooted producer already has releases on top-notch labels like Correspondant, Cómeme, Kompakt, and Bedrock under her belt, with a sound submerged between acid house, techno drum pads, haunting live vocal loops, and throwbacks to live rock elements. We’re in the dark about what to expect at her Friday night set, but we’re sure it’ll take her appearance to spooky new levels.
2
Puma
Offering a nuanced mix of old school house, disco, deep house, and techno explorations, Puma’s been a long-standing figure in DF’s musical geography. Having opened for similarly genre-bending acts like Hercules and Love Affair, Mike Simonetti, Dj KOZE, and Laurel Halo, Puma’s held down a long-running radio show on Ibero 90.9, showcasing electronic music everything, while giving music produced by Mexico-based artists a signal boost. Puma has described Discwoman as “a political stance with a bit of humor?,” signaling a mindset shift relating to “[helping] people expand the ways they have been taught to think about our surroundings and culture.”
3
EsaMiPau!
DJ, producer, music journalist, and host of #ViernesDePerreoViernes on Ibero 90.9, EsaMiPau! is one of the DF movers of the new perreolándia wave, though she’s been embedded in the scene for years as a promoter and performer of nü-tropical sounds. As a producer, EsaMiPau! has an ear for picking out singles bubbling up and making them extra club-functional, having recently taken on singles from Kali Uchis, Mariel Mariel, J Balvin, and Isa GT’s Mela Komo release from her Etoro Records label. With her project Verano Peligroso with Jacinto Di Yeah!, the duo released “de guerra y amor,” most recently with their Meneo Perreo EP, featuring remixes from Tropic-All boss Disque DJ, Sotomayor, and Edi K.
4
Ninasonik
Meet Ninasonik, a Oaxaca-raised artist promising a texturized live set that merges nu-disco tendencies, trip hop, techno hardware, grime, and even downtempo bass-heavy experiments with a melancholy twist for the club. She’s recently offered up a few previews from her forthcoming industrial-leaning Insolentes EP, an expression of the need to own your rudest tendencies in order to get what you want. Ninasonik is also working closely with Demian Licht to launch the MOTUS project (meaning: movement, advancement, progress, impulse), showing us once again that collaboration in a male-dominated field persists as a revolutionary, subversive act.
5
Demian Licht
https://soundcloud.com/demianlicht/sets/female-criminals-ep-vol-ii
Welcome to the cinematic darkwave aesthetic of Demian Licht, who embodies an approach she’s dubbed “conceptual techno,” a deeply personal, ominous sound that prompts transgression on the dance floor. Check out her two EP volumes released last year, Female Criminals Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. The material bridges her influences, spanning techno/krautrock, female heroines of rock ‘n’ roll, and the visual aesthetic of David Lynch. Keep an eye out for her paradigm-breaking MOTUS project, which she’s described as “[taking] machines [for music production] as weapons, and techno as the anthem for the Revolution.”