Today we have an artistic crew loaded with a lot of creative sound, a truly fantastic team that I had the pleasure to meet in the State of Merida / Venezuela and who shared with me part of their wonderful work, enjoy!
Who are the people behind Mixtura Global and how long have you been working on this project?
The collective was born at the end of 2015 in end of semester parties at the university and in local venues in the city of Merida, at that time Awki Esteban, Josue Bruno and Alex Valba got together to conceive a collective project that managed a dynamic of expression from the contribution that each one could offer while respecting the rhythms and individualities of each one.
We have always had partners who have collaborated with us, some fleetingly and others with whom we have shared the conviction to continue with the project. However, there are currently 4 of us who are active or collaborating on a regular basis: Awki Esteban Lema in general management, audiovisual production and research; Josue Bruno in general and radio production, editing, editing, motions and graphic design and Sophie Armand in writing, social networks and radio host; Alex Valba who also contributes in the visual area, in training workshops and awareness in the area of dj and music production; as resident djs we are all. We rotate with local and international guests in the line up of the events, shows and for the production of the project’s material, starting from self-management, transgression and the emotion of seeing the guidelines realized. Always with camera or phone in hand we end up being the ones who also record the memories that are disseminated in our social networks.
How did you come to use sound as a plastic element and also as a social interest?
The electronic music scenes that emerged in our city since the beginning of the 2000s, accompanied us during our youth and forged part of our criteria, however, then we noticed that they were already a little worn out and without opening to other types of experimentation other than imitating the great movements of the global north. Of course, for a moment these sounds served as motivation and reference, but then we believed that we needed to experiment with a more diverse facet and more situated with what was being produced, questioning and renewing from this part of the world in terms of club music. These I think were triggers to propose more risky dance tracks combining sound and audiovisual trance from this part of the tropics, from a dj and vj set extended as a conceptual proposal. And of course invite the new generations to deconstruct the sounds a little more conventional and find other ways to experiment, release tensions and create.
What is the objective of your artistic work, and do you believe that your artistic work can have a social impact?
The impact has been gradual, the pandemic affected the face-to-face facet of the project and that left its aftermath… However, the virtuality has helped to set up networks and create a broader and transcontinental community through whatsapp groups, instagram, youtube channel and mixcloud where we currently upload material more regularly and every time we do it we seek to generate feedback between the artists who share their creative processes and the public that is being created. However, it is a hard work in a small city with the migration of many people, economic constraints and that people require time to develop a sensitivity for new sounds that often start from the traditional or popular but mutate and create less complacent products.
In relation to the impact at a local level, we have been taking over spaces such as commercial radio stations (the MEGA radio circuit), educational institutes (Alianza Francesa de Mérida), local festivals (Festival Naranja) which, although they do not offer a classic evening event, have allowed us to reach a more diverse public by way of an audiovisual installation and itinerant nature. Even at a training level with workshops on dijing techniques, music production or development of projects for video mapping. No doubt from Mixtura Global we believe that these proposals are a way to resignify places, transgress and disseminate the artistic work of many creators. We have the necessary equipment to do so and we continue and will continue to be proudly independent!
What other jobs do you have outside of Mixtura Global?
Currently, the jobs that the active members of the collective perform are not very different from the jobs that each one of them performs when they work for Mixtura. Sophie Armand currently works as a freelance copywriter, voice over and video editor for audiovisual projects, Josue Bruno along with Jill Vergara, manage the clothing, illustration, audiovisual production and animation brand Quiero Acid Lemon in addition to their personal projects as plastic and multimedia artists, Awki Esteban currently works as an independent academic researcher, filmmaker and sound artist; Alex Valba works as a visual artist, motion grapher, music producer / beatmaker.
What services do you offer as Crew?
Mixturaglobal offers a space where different contemporary and traditional proposals converge embraced by electronic music and art. The main objective is to disseminate these proposals, stimulate the creation and make known a different facet of our country than the generalized by the media, we want to show what existed and what is still being done in a situation where we have been led to believe that everything is stagnant.
In the context of covid-19 and the migratory exodus, Mixturaglobal as an online platform offers an opportunity to establish a community with an audience that can meet emerging artists who create inside and outside the country, united by a feeling through musical manifestations. We also believe in a commitment to our place of origin, and that this project achieves through events, workshops and other activities, contribute to vulnerable communities, democratize trades such as musical and audiovisual production, retake spaces and celebrate the diversity and creativity of our country.
Currently, what is being done from Mixtura Global to the public?
The focus we have in the facet of mixturaglobal radio, which has mutated from podcast via youtube and mixcloud, to be transmitted from Mérida-Venezuela by the MEGA circuit, a commercial radio that despite the censorship that the country lives has a wide national reach. The transmissions from Mega are an interesting way to reach the world through its web page that allows us to listen in real time to what we transmit, as well as, the modulated frequency does its work in our immediate environment, which in part is where we most want to reach.
We also work on the management of the dream club, our cycle of parties for risky dance floors, the awareness workshops in the djing, vjing and “tasting sessions”. Eventually we also want to materialize production clinics, all to be planned between 2023 and 2024, with the intention to encourage the creation and remixing of our own music and to be able to spread it through compilations of various artists who continue to join our invitation.
What are the main artistic techniques that merge with music and sound?
We mainly offer the public a visual and sound tasting in extended dj & vj set format. We are a laboratory with a special focus on the dance floor, where we believe there is an infinite power to revalue and learn about sounds created and remixed in different parts of the planet. In a constant dialogue between the traditional and the contemporary.
Would you like to take this project to an international level?
Although our focus has been the diffusion of local talent for the local, we have taken advantage of the migratory context that the country has been experiencing for more than a decade, to position mixturaglobal at an international level. Friends, music producers and Venezuelan djs based in different latitudes have trusted in the project and send us their djset in audio and video format and so we have progressively compiled material that we post on our profiles. Social networks also allow the networking we need to give more projection to this initiative that continues to want to make life in Merida-Venezuela, a city that has had a university and tourist movement with which it managed to position itself as an advanced epicenter with extensive cultural and artistic activity of renown.
Thank you very much to Mixtura Global for allowing us to conduct this interview today, I invite you to know their social networks and digital platforms.
Instagram: @mixturaglobal
YouTube: Mixtura Global