” The places where we used to run our parties started to close or to get more expensive, and that makes any process slower. but sometimes a lot of ideas and projects come out of rage and the necessity to move forward beyond a crisis.” El Plvybxy
My first experience of South American clubbing was delivered by the AGVA collective, on the small corridor-like dance floor of Espacio Rô in Buenos Aires. It is difficult to define what I experienced, but I get the feeling that was the aim. AGVA don’t do Genres, choosing instead to allow feeling and expression to guide their sound. All while sticking to a distinctly South American identity.
I caught up with AGVA head and MAJÍA signee El Plvybxy to chat about his need for cultural representation in club music and the development of the scene in Buenos Aires.
Imagine you’re talking to a complete outsider – what would be the first thing you’d tell them about the music scene in Buenos Aires and the parties you’re involved in?
El Plvybxy: First of all, I think there’s a new scene that has been growing over the last six years in Buenos Aires and the other city’s of South America, a unique sound, more representative to the different regions. And my crew (including other collectives) and I have been trying to push it forward.
What makes this new scene more representative than what came before?
El Plvybxy:The influence comes from a mix of styles that don’t follow the regular club sounds; basically, we recycle classic elements from our local music, and mix them with different electronic tools, it can go from Tribal, Baile Funk, Cumbia, Dembow and Murga, to hybridised 90’s Trance or Hardbass.
What made you feel there was space for AGVA in BA?
El Plvybxy: The whole thing started around 2015. I was tired of the local club scene and didn’t feel represented by any movement that was out there.
Listening through yours and other releases on your label I hear what seems like influences from hip hop, reggaeton, techno, breakbeat to straight up experimental – how would you define your sound?
El Plvybxy: Yess! You can hear that and more styles in only one set, we try to generate sound polymerisation to express what we want and feel, beyond the specific music styles or genres.
How would you describe the people that come to your parties?
El Plvybxy: The public is diverse, from all the neighbourhoods, and all the ethnicities. We try to create places for everyone to feel free, but keeping them safe and protecting the spaces for no one to feel uncomfortable, and can enjoy the music properly
Besides yourself, who else would you say is a significant influencer pushing the scene forward?
El Plvybxy: There’s a lot of people pushing this scene forward, I think maybe Siete Catorce or Debit and other members of the NAAFI collective from Mexico are great influences for everyone that’s involved. Also, there’s the Salviatek collective in Uruguay and MAJÍA in the US. And many other crews expanding this movement around the world.
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