I think those themes really start to reveal themselves in “The Warfare Between Spirituality & Humanity.” All the sadness that builds earlier in the EP begins to calcify into rage, and that emotional shift leads directly into “Acts of Violence,” which is very much about sex. But that track carries two layers for me. On one level, it captures that moment after heartbreak when you’re trying to burn through the lingering grief by giving in to something primal, using the body as a way to reclaim yourself. And on the other, it has a much more literal meaning: it’s about being at Berghain with my wife, haha.
In that sense, it becomes a celebration of what it feels like to find real love again after all the madness and emotional wreckage I’d been through. So yes, sex, sensuality, and physical devotion absolutely thread through the album. But they also evolve into something deeper, a kind of symbolic death. In the center of the EP, desire, anger, and release flare and burn themselves out, creating space for transformation. By the time the music reaches the clarity of “Draped Upon the Breath of Judgement”, it feels like less of an ending and more like a resurrection.
If you were to fully embrace the role of guide, leader, or high priestess of experience, what landscape (emotional, spiritual, psychic) would you lead your listeners into? Where are you guiding them through your music, and what do you hope they encounter in that emotional space?
I’d definitely step into the role of a high priestess and lead my listeners through hell and back. I would have them turn inward, face what’s really going on, and navigate through that internal agony in order to become a better version of themselves. I think oftentimes, people avoid doing the work and digging deep, which in turn leads them to falling into the same toxic patterns.
Do your upbringing, culture, or Argentinian roots shape the way you create, perform, and inhabit music? Which childhood characters, traditions, or memories surface in your work, consciously or unconsciously, especially on this album?
Well, I’m half Colombian too, so that naturally adds its own layer of intensity, lol. I grew up with a strong, loving, deeply passionate mom, and watching everything she navigated in her marriage with my dad, eventually leading to a divorce, had a huge impact on me. Seeing her role within that dynamic shaped the way I learned to love myself and also love others. A lot of those patterns made their way into my relationships and into my art as well. However, therapy has been a huge part of unlearning some of the patterns that were harmful. So yes, my upbringing and culture definitely influence how I create and how I show up. Even when I’m not consciously pulling from childhood memories, the emotional imprint of those early years always finds its way into my work.
After years DJing in New York, Montreal, and Berlin, the lockdown period pushed you inward, experimenting with songwriting and production through SHLVES, where your sonic identity first emerged. Is this album a raw, primal expression of yourself, with unrestrained vocals and emotional waves, or a more polished, measured version, more intentional and elevated? How do you perceive yourself while creating, and once the work exists beyond you?
It’s really both. With SHLVES, I was creating with two other people, one of them being Paul, and the project was a fusion of all three of our ideas. At the time, I wasn’t in a great place mentally. I was in a very explosive relationship, dealing with personal trauma, and navigating lockdown on top of it all. But that project ended up becoming a bridge between DJing and stepping into my identity as an artist. It forced me to look inward and realize I had more to offer than I thought. When I’m creating music, I pull from the most vulnerable corners of myself that I’m willing to share, usually in an elusive manner. I like letting the sound carry the emotion more than the lyrics. I believe sound can convey and evoke emotions better than words can. Now that this project exists beyond me, I see it as a release. I love hearing how other people interpret it, what it evokes for them. It stopped being just mine and it became something living on its own, which is pretty amazing.
