US-born Airrica prepares for her debut release, arriving on Damian Lazarus’ Rebellion imprint. Her infectious track ‘Defect’ lands November 18th on Rebellion presents SOULS Vol.3, the third instalment of the labels’ burgeoning V/A EP series. Ahead of the release, we invited the rising artist for a chat to find out a bit more about ‘Defect’ and herself, enjoy!
Hey Airrica, a pleasure to have you with us today! How are things going with you and whereabouts are you based right now?
Hi guys, excited to be here! Things are exciting, busy, and I am grateful. I’m currently based for the winter in the US, primarily Los Angeles, and looking to be based in Europe come springtime.
How has the music scene been doing there recently?
The music scene here is really evolving in the US. It is incredible to watch over the years a ripple of new ears perk up to electronic music with people who are enamoured. Seeing a curious crowd mixed with long time and devoted music lovers is inspiring. We all remember the magic of the first time we fell in love with the scene 🙂 Events like Framework in Los Angeles put together such mind blowing events in beautiful venues, and I feel that the crowd is constantly growing and exploring with passion.
We’re pleased to be chatting with you ahead of the release of your track ‘Defect’, arriving on the third instalment of Rebellion’s VA series; Rebellion presents SOULS. Congrats on this! What can you tell us about your track defect and what can the listeners expect?
Thank you! I am joyous as this is my first release. ‘Defect’ is a playful track I made for peak-time. Listeners can expect a bouncy groove with an alien like, almost-human vocal glitching around which inspired the title.
How did the track find its home on Damian Lazarus’ Rebellion imprint?
I have been a long time fan listening to the unique and cutting-edge sound of Crosstown Rebels and Rebellion. Signing a track to the label was a goal of mine this year. During this summer, I remember hearing Damian playing ‘Defect’ at Hï in Ibiza. I was ecstatic watching the club room full of people grooving to it as the bass line slithered in. The next day, I was asked if I wanted to sign it to Rebellion.
We’d love to hear a bit about your story of how you first got into music, what was it that inspired you to follow this path and who are some of your biggest inspirations?
One of my earliest memories of music growing up was this Yamaha DD-6 my father gave me. I had so much fun with that thing! I listened to a lot of Eurodance as a kid, “Crush – Jellyhead” was one of my favourite records, lol. My parents listened to a lot of classic rock and alternative/indie, so combined with my curiosity I also grew up exposed to a lot of Pink Floyd, Nirvana, Metallica, Gunz & Roses, Van Halen, Veruca Salt, Placebo, Moby, U2, Nine Inch Nails, etc… Around school age I was heavily into electropunk, techno, and trance. I loved ASOT radio. I would burn music onto weekly CDs to listen to in my car or whatever. Back then, I never thought about being a DJ as I was living in a small town and that wasn’t something anyone was doing. I actually didn’t know anyone else who listened to electronic music. I just loved the process of spending hours finding music and curating playlists. Looking back, I remember the feeling of hearing electronic music at a young age and always recognized it made me feel different than other genres. In a sense it was otherworldly and energising, a bit of an escape. I still get those feelings today which, to answer your question, is the reason I followed this path. I decided to start DJing 5 years ago after going through a rough patch in life. To fill my time I began learning something new and escaping reality. I remember spending hours teaching myself to play on decks, mostly heavy techno then inspired by Rødhad, Radio Slave and Marcel Dettman to name a few, literally in my living room. I only hope that people feel a safe space on the dancefloor during my sets to let loose and escape. Okay, enough of the heart-felt story! I am very inspired by my childhood, but some of my inspirations today are The Chemical Brothers, Fango, Tiga, Butch…
We hear that you cut your teeth on the Tulum circuit, can you tell us a bit about your time DJing there?
I had a residency in Tulum for a while where I was DJing 4-6 times a week. Depending on if I was playing my own night or opening for a headliner, I would play for sometimes 5 hours. Due to this, I spent a lot of time searching for new records daily in every genre as well as getting creative while curating different sets and developing my mixing abilities using 4 decks. I appreciate this time as it allowed me to explore and express my musical identity. I learned to really experiment with layering tracks and have a lot of fun with that creativity.
How would you describe your sound as a DJ in your own words?
I like to describe my sound as groovy psychedelia. I love to play with the listener’s mind while keeping a lush and powerful, head-bouncing high energy.
Thank you for chatting with us Airrica! Wishing all the best for the ‘Defect’ release too. To round things off, where is the best place to keep up to date with you and is there anything else upcoming that you would like to share with us?
I guess you can keep up to date with me on my platforms and maybe technology will advance to telepathy soon. I have a lot of cool music I can’t wait to start sharing as well!