MAQUINAS NEGRAS

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Maquinas Negras came as a result of my experiences at Glastonbury Festival 2017 where I performed on the legendary Glade Stage one of the best sound systems I have ever had the pleasure of playing my music on. On one of the evenings before my performance I discovered the sci-fi steam punk world of Arcadia, a Bristol based company that had built a giant mechanical spider. In its belly, a DJ booth became the home of bass-heavy artists like Goldie and many others. On one of those nights I heard for the first time Noisia and I became a fan immediately. I’d never listened to this kind of wonky drum and bass and I began to dream about how this would sound with a tropical twist.

 

The four tracks in this EP come from this idea and are mostly composed using black machines: small synthesizers with which I’ve been experimenting for a couple of years. Using tools such as the Waldorf Rocket, the JU-06 by Roland, Minitaur by Moog and Volca FM by Korg, Y started by creating alien sounds and arpeggiated melodies to build a dark, futuristic world where mechanical cumbia insects communicate electronically.

 

I wrote a lot of this music during the early part of 2018, a time that was challenging for me because of various family health issues. I think the music communicates some of that angst and worry for loved ones when there is little you can do but waiting for things to improve. In my mind, these tracks became space machines through which my loved ones could travel and battle against all odds to overcome the worst.

 

The tracks continue to build on the tropical bass tradition, combining Latinamerican folk rhythms with electronic ideas. “Horn” mixes cumbia bass with kuduro tempos with a bit of violence, “Torre” is a retro-futuristic launch into the unknown where machines play cumbia rhythms, “Lento” is a bass-heavy downtempo journey and “Buscando” is a space odyssey with Brazilian rhythms in the style of drum and bass and nostalgic melodies for a future that never was.