Miiiirrra. Llama a las primas, los vecinos, los gatos, las gatas...
Nacotheque is about to mash up the place this Thursday!! Marcelo and Amylu have been hosting a more than killer party in NYC for the last 2 years. This Thursday they're bringing the Nacotheque party to The Loft for their first ever Dallas apperance. Believe me when I say that this is a MUST SEE IT TO BELIEVE IT type of event. We have been going back and forth with Marcelo since March trying to find away to get them down here and FINALLY...
As always we set up a little Q & A with Marcelo and Amylu before they hit the TX. El Jueves va a ser SUMAMENTE HOT!!!
We're all very excited to have the both of you playing at this months Hands Up. We've been hearing great things about the Nacotheque party in NYC for some time now and it's a real treat to be hosting your first Dallas appearance. Could you tell us a little bit about how you two got started as a duo, and for those who haven't been to your NY events, what you might expect to see or hear at a Nacotheque party?M- We are very excited to play in Dallas! For those who don't know, let me tell ya a bit about us:
The party got started over two years ago in the basement of Cake Shop, a well known indie cafe/bar in the Lower East Side. Amylu used to have a party called "Le One Night Stand" that shared a similar concept and I added the party's profile to my personal myspace account. Amylu took notice of the upcoming Nacotheque listed on my page and decided to check it out. We met, talked, and decided to team up and now this is where we're at.
Nacotheque is about promoting new, old, rare and classic alternative spanish-sung music. We like to point out that alternative doesn't necessarily mean rock or indie, it could be a cumbia, electro or even pop song. It really depends on the tracks content and intent. While we're at it, we like to involve all types of live bands and performers.
A- We met through mutual friends who thought we'd get along because of our similar taste in music and we also met via Myspace when Marcelo befriended my other party profile page and I saw a flyer for the 1st Nacotheque in NY. I was really excited to find someone else with the same kinda interest in that sort of Spanish-sung music. What to expect to hear? hmm, well every song has mostly Spanish or Portuguese lyrics and the styles range from rock n' roll, pop, electropop, indie rock, punk, disco, cumbia, new wave, ye-ye, 80's, etc.
We know your sets are pretty eclectic, musica infantil, new latin rock, central american tunes, musica norteño, 80's, electro... What was the initial reaction from party goers when you first started the night, and how long did it take for NYC to really catch on to what you guys were trying to put out there.M- Hardly anybody got it, not even us. Some people didn't understand why we would play Babasonicos followed by Veronica Castro and we didn't understand why they didn't understand. I mean, the flyer was pretty clear and both technically qualify as party music. Still, we'd get these really pissed off people asking when we were gonna play salsa and reggaeton (because according to them that's "real latin" music) or get requests for uber played out bands like Heroes Del Silencio, Soda Stereo or El Tri.
It took around a year to really get it off the ground. Next thing we knew the parties were packed and everybody was dancing even the most ridiculous songs in our catalog.
A- The first few parties were in the basement of a small bar in the LES with only a handful of people and only half of them getting the idea of what we were doing. The other half demanded we play commerical reggaeton, salsa, and stuff like Shakira (obviously we told them to beat it).
It took a little over a year for people to start catching on and when they did, they started bringing their friends, cousins, brothers, sisters, etc etc and kept coming back for more!
Congrats on getting nominated "best party in NYC" this past year. We've heard from around the way the Nacotheque 2 year Anniversary w/ Miti Miti was off the chain! Any crazy stories from that night?M- Thanks! That was a fun night. I remember Telemundo was filming and we had just flown in from Madrid. We basically went from the airport to the club. I had all sorts of brain farts while I was being interviewed. Still, I found that being covered by Telemundo on our two year anniversary was a little ironic since a big part of why I created the event was to evade the horrible "latino" representation within the mainstream media. To my disappointment (and after I felt I was pulling a fast one on them) I saw the interview and noticed Miti Miti had been edited out.
A- Hmm, well, the club surprised us with painting the floor with a brand new coat of black paint. It was all shinny when we arrived in the beginning of the night....by the end of the night the paint was smudged everywhere from people dancing and spilling drinks all over the place! Also, Miti Miti brought out a really cool looking crowd of about 15 girls dressed like they just came out of an 80's MTV hip-hop video.They danced all night.
How, if at all, has the Nacotheque party changed since it's beginning in 2006?M- God, everything and nothing. Many venues, new people, all sorts of bands/performers, we've event taken it to the road! But at heart the party is still about the same thing; spanish-sung music.
A- The party finally has a homebase club, Fontana's. Marcelo and I now travel to other cities and countries to DJ, which helps promote the party in NY and the bands that we spin. Nacotheque has become more than just a party, we are now a brand and a tastemakers for all the music that we spin.
We see you're heading to Monterrey Mexico shortly after the your Dallas date. We know Mexico has an intense underground rock scene and we've heard their electro scene is pretty slamming too. Could you tell us a bit about your travels in Mexico and how people have responded to what you're doing out there?M- Mexico has always been good to us but people erroneously assume it's because of the language. We spin stuff in spanish, that's what they speak so it's just gonna work right? Nope. There's a really odd challenge about playing places like Mexico and Spain. Most of the "cool" kids in those countries don't really listen to stuff in spanish, they might know a few bands here and there but they hardly respect them. Cool kids in Mexico City and Barcelona listen to MIA and Justice; they don't wanna know anything about Hidrogenesse or Javiera Mena.
I have a few theories about this but It's a long conversation so I'll stop here but thankfully it always works out for us.
A- Mexico has definitely been giving us good feedback from our DJ tours there. We've been to Mexico City, Guadalajara, Puebla, and TJ so far. Some people traveled from DF to Puebla or LA to TJ to hear us spin. The first time we spun in DF the crowd went crazy and stayed dancing until they got kicked out and there were tons of kids asking for music from Spain as opposed to Mexican stuff.
Anything you'd like to say to Dallas before they get that Nacotheque treatment on Thursday? Shout outs, warnings, saluditos?M- I think we've covered any sort of warning by now. All I can say is come to the party and be prepared to be offended, wowed and satisfied. All at once!
A-1. Bring your good vibes
2. Bring your dancing shoes
3. Bring your friends, family, lovers, cousins, brothers, and sisters...Even if they don't speak Spanish!
4. Get ready to get sweaty;-)
Nacotheque has three short mixes that are downloadable via their Myspace pages...
Marcelo :: Mini DJ Mix 5 :: Mini DJ Mix 6
Amylu :: Tacones y Mohawks Sampler Mix
-NATURE
