Your music interpolates a myriad of influences, from your Dominican background to elements of jazz, hiphop, glitchy electronics and poetry. Do you feel carving out your own specific sound is a reflection of your experiences as a first generation American coming to terms with their own place in society? 

I definitely feel that played a major role, but I also see how other things substantially affected me. I think often about how skateboarding/skate videos pushed me to listen to different types of music and appreciate a variety of aesthetics. Also, I grew up in a really small town in Florida with a mom who was always working and a brother who is 7 years older than me. That often meant I was just in my room all the time scouring the internet for different shit. So yeah, I think the first-generation thing had its effect, but so did skateboarding and being a latchkey kid. 

I read a quote about your recent record where you say “you’ll notice there’s not a song on the record that isn’t two songs in one, everything is all these pieces glued together”. I like the idea of an album being made up of all these fractured puzzle pieces, your work feels very collage-like in general. I also like the idea of everything sort of bleeding into each other to form an overarching theme/mood. How do you go about choosing what tracks fit the record at large? 

I really love albums. I was talking to a friend recently about how if I were given the choice of recording or live performance, it’s recording--easy. And with that is a great appreciation of sequencing. 

The way I choose has somewhat changed throughout my life, but lately, it’s sound and then where the text fits. First, I’m going off of what I can’t help but repeat listen to on the train, walking my dog, shit like that. After that, I’m trying to find where the text fits. Once I go through that kind of filtration process, I zoom out and see where things connect sonically and lyrically. If one of those doesn’t fit, it probably won’t make the album. 

How do you usually find the samples you incorporate and how do they aid in inspiring the songs created around them? 

I’m on YouTube a lot. Like most musicians, I’m constantly trying to find music I’ve never listened to before. Sometimes a sound or movement will hit me and I chop it up or I’m looking for a specific sound and search for a song with it. 

PEDAZO DE CARNE
CON OJO
MIX

Do you consider yourself an introvert? Your music feels steeped in the kind of understated layers that that invite repeated listening/constant discovery, but maybe the point is it’s all up to interpretation and a language that’s all your own to decipher?

Yeah, I would say so. Like I said about my childhood, I was often alone in a small town. I skated and hung out with homies, but I also love my alone time. Especially my alone time with headphones on. I’ve been having conversations lately with friends on just how much headphones alone have impacted the way I make music. I love utilizing the isolation they can bring to the listener, the little headphone tricks. Makes every listen feel new. 

You’ve lived in spaces with other experimental-minded musicians, some of who have featured on your tracks, what’s your viewpoint on/approach with collaboration? 

It’s an incredible tool and experience, and I really wish I did it more. The whole “do it all yourself” mentality is so tired, but I definitely get trapped by it. 

Tell us more about the recording process/inspiration behind this new track! 

Been really into strings lately. I’ve been listening to more classical music and love the sort of baroque pop sound I see many artists bringing back. For this song, I wanted to see how a Pedazo song could pull from that. 

Any under the radar musical peers we need to know? 

I’m not sure I have any firm understanding of the radar lol, but I love what KYREKYREKYRE and Niecy Blues are doing. ZekeUltra is on another planet doing his thing. I’m sure I’m forgetting other people. 

What’s special about the mix you’ve made? 

It’s a lot of contemporary artists I’m hyped on and who inspire me. It’s also definitely a mix to enjoy in colder months with headphones on. Maybe during a bath?

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