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BRENDA – No one is a prophet in his land

Social media has pros and cons, but for us, the ability to discover artists solely through this platform is a blessing. This is precisely how we stumbled upon BRENDA, just a click away. As soon as we delved into the music, we were mesmerized by the captivating sounds and the fresh acoustic rhythms that it offers to its audience.

Our excitement to learn more grew from there. With this in mind, these interview questions should serve as a great foundation for a conversation with Mav Nuhels regarding his project Brenda and his journey in music production.

Can you tell us more about the origin of the alias “Brenda” and how you came up with this name for your music project?

I think it expresses very well my process when naming my artistic creations because, in reality, it was only a name that came to my head when I was just creating the alias. But originally my alias was going to be “Brenda INT.” something like a kind of “company” that was conceived internationally, and it was a good idea because it has crept into the heads of my listeners and followers, also thanks to my tag “Brenda, International Hypergloss Communications”.

Many artists face unique opportunities and obstacles due to their geographic location. Can you share some insights into what it’s like to be a Colombian music producer and DJ in the global music scene?

In Colombia the famous saying “No one is a prophet in his land” is perfectly applied. It applies particularly in this country because the public is very closed to what is new, which does not sound like the canon or the trend of the moment. It is also a big obstacle because there are no places and initiatives to make it economically sustainable, and yet small movements that welcome you and begin to make their way between large producers and strong opponents.

Being a Colombian artist, do you feel a connection to your roots and a desire to introduce to the global music community Colombian music? How do you infuse that Colombian style into your music and sets, and are there any local/international artists or styles that inspire you?

Since forever. Part of my musical growth has been to get closer to the local sounds, to the traditional rhythms of my region, to the sound circuit of Latin America and Colombia. But I am also not far from the sounds that have always influenced me, which usually come from the English-speaking culture. Although I have been making music under the alias “Mav Nuhels”, “Brenda” is the fruit of a third or even fourth generation of Latin American electronic music artists, then I have a wide variety of referents that have inspired me to venture into the rhythms of the continent and merge them with that which I have always liked. Among labels are Hiedrah, Naafi, Agva, Insurgentes, Tratratrax, In-Correcto, Mamba Negra, etc. On the other hand, artists such as Juepuchas, Lila Tirando a Violeta, Kelman Duran, Florentino, Orieta Chrem, and Tayhana, among others.

Can you walk us through your typical studio setup and the tools or equipment you prefer to use in your music production?

Mainly my home studio is composed of a Push 2 with which I use Live, a Pocket Operator K.O. for sampling, a small hybrid analog synthesizer from Arturia, a microphone to record sounds in specific, and a Kalimba, which I use when I tend to approach more intimate productions.

We’ve noticed the diverse range of genres you’re incorporating into your music, and we’re impressed by how your electronic style is continually evolving. From hyperpop and vaporwave to IDM, baile funk, future beats, and more, your sound is a fusion of various influences. If we’ve missed any, please provide a complete list of the genre combinations you explore in your productions.

Latinoamerican sound: Cumbia, Reggaeton, Joropo, Guaracha, RKT, Baile Funk, Phonk, Bullerengue, Merengue

Combined: GQOM, Mahraganat, Trance, Bass, UKG, Electro, Breaks, IDM, Techno, Pop, Vaporwave, Hyperpop, UK Funky, Hard Drums

Because tastes differ and the public is so wide, Are there any particular challenges or opportunities you’ve encountered while fusing these various musical genres in your tracks?

There are both cultural and technical difficulties. On the one hand, culturally I face the little welcome that my mixes have in my own city. It is a very common phenomenon that even though I have had the advantage that other artists before me have taken the task of introducing many of these sounds in the club culture. It is a pretty strong repel anyway.

On the other hand, especially with the Joropo or the Cumbia, for the flow, the metric, or the structure that these genres have, it has also been a creative challenge for me to merge them with the basic sounds of electronic dance music.

How do you see the future of the Brenda project evolving, and are there any upcoming releases or collaborations that your fans can look forward to?

I think I’m very interested in continuing to explore and polish my sound to take it to new latitudes. Build a style that detaches itself from fashions and can have a different impact on listeners. Next year I will have more planned releases, I would hope with labels that I admire and with artists of very high renown. But I also want to be able to do what doesn’t happen many times, which is to support and collaborate with artists who are starting out, who are taking the first step that I took a while ago, and who receive support that ends up being vital for that creative process.

Collaborations are coming with CRRDR, Algo Bien MX, NRMagazine, and many more!

Discovering you through your art has been a unique experience for us. How do you think the combination of these two mediums has shaped your identity as an artist?

For me, it is the essence of all my projects. I link sound and image a lot, as I have always done, from my university projects of architecture to the whole concept and materialization of my productions as Mav Nuhels. Brenda follows that same path because I consider that the image is vital to reinforce the sound intention of my productions. Choosing a texture, giving life to that texture through a song, studying and understanding the visual identity of a place or a musical genre through its history and its symbols, all this makes the music not only what is heard in the club but reverberate on the receiver’s visual sensitivity.

Which record labels were the luckiest to collaborate with you so far?

My Friends of In-Correcto, without a doubt, was a forgotten song that I released for his compilation of Sudaca, under the alias of Mav Nuhels, with which I explored more thoroughly the rhythm of the dembow from an approach to the IDM, It was definitely the beginning of many creative questions that gave rise to Brenda’s project. It has also been wonderful to collaborate with Naafi, Muakk, NoFutureBerlin, LI$, Santa Sede, Sapphir 22, and many other friends around the continent.

Could you share the inspiration behind your latest release, “Ameba,” and how the vibrant sounds in this track led you to release it? Does it have any connections or similarities with your previous productions, or is it a departure from your past work?

The concept of Ameba comes from Bogotá. It is a metaphor through which I take my city as an organism that lives both on land and in water and feeds on smaller organisms or decaying matter. Bogota is a cultural epicenter of Colombia that receives a sound migration from many latitudes of the country, and that is why I decided to use this concept as an organism that absorbs the sounds of the eastern plains, of the Caribbean coast, of the global north and uses them to feed a new style very autochthonous of the city where I live, cold, hostile and at the same time enriching and malleable.

We are intrigued by the current state of the Colombian music scene, including any up trends, or influential clubs and venues that music enthusiasts should keep an eye on?

Bogota has always been the capital of techno in the continent, from a very purist environment that has slowed the breakdown of new sub-generous proposals in the electronic scene. However thanks to Putivuelta many years ago, rhythms typical of the country as the guaracha began to mutate towards the underground Bogotano and thus new collectives and trends emerged as Muakk, Mor, Bala, Neotropica, and other groups of parties that redirected once again the sound of the guaracha to consolidate Putivuelta’s efforts in globalizing a sound of his own, hot, with identity and Latino. That’s why Colombia sound is now being played in any club in Europe and North America, for the ecstatic restlessness of artists who broke away from the idea of northern techno and began to wonder what it means to sensualize the dance floor in the Colombian style.

This year, you shared with us your opportunity to travel to Europe, likely due to your growing recognition. Could you share your experiences and highlights from your trip this year?

It was a very rewarding leap into the void because the received to my style and my music was very pleasant and was something I did not expect. The people of Plant Bass’d were key in all this, their camaraderie, kindness, and love were a big hug to the heart on that tour. They made me trust myself and my work, not to mention how amazing the Scottish people are. I also believe that I could have played at La Machine thanks to my friend Jante, to have met the people of 2cPerrea and Popola in London, to have the opportunity to play in the legendary Kiosk thanks to Sal de Fete, and the most beautiful: meeting Colombians doing incredible things in Madrid as was the experience with Linapary and Bzzhound.

Can you please complete the word “Under…”

Under the common north, there is a whole new global sound, the sound of the south that has been forgotten through decades. This south is the new vein of the club culture.

Social Credits: Instagram / Soundcloud / Bandcamp / Spotify

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