Originally from Mexico City, but now transplanting her musical endeavours in the bustling nightlife of New York city, Viiaan wears many creative hats. Serving as a DJ, producer, and the visionary steward of Voragine, a label she founded eight years ago, she’s managed to build a platform, with help from Turning Torso, that works at the intersections of experimental electronics and visual artistry. With her early productions rooted in sound design, ambient, and field recordings, her exposure to underground club music and techno led her to exploring more complex production arrangements, that materialised with her 2022 debut album Fusagasuga. Yet, Viiaan refuses to be confined to any single genre, drawing influences from IDM, ambient, industrial, breaks, and experimental electronics with her own unique perspective. In October she released her latest album Marakame, putting out the record on SUMAC, the label helmed by DJ Plead, T.Morimoto, and Jon Watts, a relationship first formed after meeting Jarred (DJ Plead) in the backyard of New York club, Nowadays. Delving into themes of memory, grief and ritual, the album’s title refers to shamans who serve as intermediaries between the human and spiritual worlds. She’s managed to produce a deeply personal album, reflecting her journey through loss and healing, whilst showcasing her introspective and often spiritual approach to music-making. Her Truancy Volume, featuring music from the likes of Jurango, Mammo, Polygonia, and Sansibar, sees Viiaan crafting a beautifully rhythmic groove for 60 minutes, moving through numerous layered emotions as the energy ebbs and flows with masterful precision.
Hey there! Thanks for answering some questions for us! So how have you been recently? As we’re now in December, what’s the year been like for you? Any particular highlights now that you can look back on the year? Anything major you learnt about yourself? “Hi, thank you for having me and sorry for the delay, I needed some time to understand my feelings about some of the questions, in fact I think I needed to be in Mexico to make sure I still feel how I thought I feel, if that makes any sense. This past year was a good one for me. I had the chance to go on tour for the first time in Europe and I can’t be more grateful for the opportunity of traveling because of music, plus I released my second album MARAKAME and because of that I connected with amazing talented people like Jarred, DJ Plead.”
So as it’s your first time on the site I thought we’d go back a bit, could you tell us a little bit about growing up in Mexico? You’ve mentioned in past about it shaping and defining your personality whilst also giving you courage to leave, could you expand on that? “Growing in Mexico gave me the basis to begin my journey but then I also realized that places like Montreal, New York and Berlin are more open for my music and this gives me more possibilities and allows me to live more chill.”
Saying that you’ve talked about growing up with ideas that no longer belong to possibly who you are. Is that a hard thing to come to terms with if you’ve grown up somewhere and then moved away? “I think I just don’t agree with certain ways of living in Mexico. It is a dangerous place to be a woman and as an artist to be recognized it’s always been a challenge. I want to live in a place where I don’t have to feel unsafe to walk at night. I need a place where I can sit by the water with my laptop and work on a track with no fear of being robbed. I do miss the Fondas though, I think that is my favorite thing from my country, the way we serve food is so unique.”
What’s the move to New York been like? I imagine it’s a great city to land in for music but you have mentioned there’s been difficulties in being in a new country on your own too? “Half of the time that I have been living in New York I was struggling money wise due to my residency, on the other hand I’ve discovered lots of artists really focused on music and with my same inspirations and this finally push me to be more consistent in my work solving the difficulties I had at the beginning. I really have to thank the art community in NYC for all the support that gave me and connection that pushed me to create in a more serious way.”
What can you tell us about some of your first dance music listening experiences? What sort of early influences first started this all off for you? “My family used to listen to a lot of disco, house, and electro pop since I was a kid. I have been surrounded by music all my childhood, also one of my uncles is a house DJ. I also started my own journey of digging thanks to GET GET DOWN from Paul Johnson at the age of 7, that is when my obsession with electronic music started.”
So how did you start to get more involved with club culture? Was there a particular year or party where the idea first started to form that you wanted to get into DJing? What sort of parties were you attending do you remember? “I started going to illegal raves when I was in secondary school and then at the age of 18 I was finally allowed to go to clubs. I started and never stopped then. I remember one of my first club experiences was listening to Ellen Allien, Seth Troxler, Dj Stingray 313, and I think that’s when I understood the difference between raves and clubs and decided that I wanted to have some of that in my life.”
When did you pick up producing? Has what you wanted to make always remained the same or has it gradually evolved into something new for you? “I started in 2017 because one of my friends thought I had a good ear. Since the beginning everything has been really intuitive. I always knew that I wanted to improve my production skills so by then I was just starting with my process but I wasn’t certain about where it would arrive.”
You’ve described yourself as making ‘experimental introspective music’. As someone who is very introspective myself I often wonder what’s led people to make more heartfelt and deeply emotive music. Where do you think this comes from for you? “It’s an interpretation of my life. Cause at the end that’s all I know.”
So what can you tell us about making your new album ‘Marakame’? I understand a lot of your music is based on your own personal experiences and this one was based on loss. How long did things take to come together? “It took me 2 years and it was a long back and forth. It’s a full healing experience. Music has always been by my side and I appreciate the tools technology offers so I can channel my emotions through sounds. it was definitely easier to work on it at the beginning cause i was full of sadness, I became a loner, it was just me and my emotions, my friends tried to be there for me but honestly sometimes you can’t put yourself outside and be vulnerable. I experienced death in different aspects of my life, so music was my only refuge as always.”
You’ve been running your label Voragine for the good part of seven years, can you tell us a little bit about its journey? What made you want to start the label, some label highs, how you work with the artists, and do you feel you’ve accomplished what you set out to do since starting the label? “I started my label with one of my best friends in 2017, and it started because we needed a home for more unusual sounds, on the experimental side, so we created our own home and we started collecting music from people we admired like CNDSD, TURNING TORSO, TR3Y, EZETA, DJ FUCCI and more, most of them from Mexico. After three years I started running the label on my own and as every independent project it is a huge responsibility that comes with lots of work, I learned how to be a Community Manager, PR, Designer, and every role it is needed to make things happen. I learned that it’s a process and that as an owner of the project I have the right to take things slowly if needed.”
What can you tell us about the way you DJ? Do you like to prep for particular gigs? I think there was a b2b gig with Laenz at Nowadays where you mentioned having been preparing for a while. How do you like to organize your music for a set? “I never repeat a set. I have at least 300 different playlists for every gig I play. I get bored easily so for me it’s important to play new music. I always carry a usb bag with 6 of them from when I started till now so when my tracks for the night are over I come back to them to play tracks I love. When I am doing a b2b I try to communicate as much as I can with the other person so we can create something coherent and fun. I think it’s key to practice at least one time before the gig so you know the vibe you are going for and there’s no surprises.”
If you had one day to take a fellow artist on an adventure around where you live currently, where would you go and why? “I will invite Turning Torso, he is in fact actively helping me to manage my label and he is also one of my favorite artists from Mexico, Jarred/Plead, Paurro, or Breaka to any of my favorite water spots around NY or Berlin or to my favorite Fondas in Mexico City.”
Are there any specific cities you’ve always admired or wanted to experience? “Berlin was always on the top of my list and after my first trip I stayed there 3 months and now I’m moving there in early February. I think it’s a city that has everything I’m looking for, music wise and as a person outside of the music. It is full of parks and water, it has the best clubs, I can scoot around and listen to music which is one of my favorite things, walking at night by myself, and has tons of activities around the art world, plus my favorite vegan ice cream and bath house is there.”
How does music fit into your daily routine? “It’s my everyday life – since I wake up, sometimes I get obsessed with a track and I have to listen to it for the first thing in the morning for short or long periods of time.”
Do you regularly listen to music or search for new records? “Every day, at the gym, laying down, walking around, doing dishes, watering the plants, with my boyfriend, and I go record shopping at least 2 or three times a month. Music, it’s very needed in every aspect of my life.”
How do you focus your intentions and craft, and how distinct are your roles as a producer, DJ, and music enthusiast? “I don’t really have an intention. I am just making music part of my life because it makes me feel at peace and that is important to me. As a DJ, producer, dancer and collector my only role is to appreciate the different ways to craft something you love.”
Can you tell us about three albums that a) define you getting into electronic music in general, b) maybe a midway album when you were fully invested in DJing and and c) a recent one from the last couple years.
A: Paul Johnson – The Groove I Have
B: Autechre – Amber, Deru – 1979
C: Djrum – Portrait With Firewood
What sort of other hobbies or interests do you have outside of electronic music? “I like to cook, watch thrillers or psychological movies, and take pictures. Mostly street photography focusing on portraits, I love movement and I experiment a lot with that plus I like to get close to people I don’t know, it gives me adrenaline.”
Are there any books, films, shows or other things you’ve seen or been reading/ watching that you might want to share?
FILMS:
Besida, Hungry Hearts, Little Odessa
BOOKS:
How to Disappear – from Haytham El-Wardany, an Egyptian writer currently residing in Berlin. He recently published Kitab Al-Nawm (The Book of Sleep).
Last, usual question from us, what was the last thing to put a big smile on your face and when was the last time you had a proper dance?
A- My grandfather and my dogs always put a smile on my face.
B- I had the most amazing experience in a dance floor last year at Zenner Berlin: Barker live, Clark live, Rob Brown from Autechre, Ireen Amnes, +
Viiaan: Soundcloud, Bandcamp, Instagram
Viiaan – Marakame is now out to buy on all retailers and their Bandcamp
You can download Truancy Volume 343: Viiaan in 320 kbps and view the full tracklist on Patreon here. Your support helps cover all our costs and allows Truants to continue running as a non-profit and ad-free platform. Members will receive exclusive access to mixes and tracklists. We urge you to support the future of independent music journalism — a little goes a long way. If you need any IDs though, please leave us a comment on the Soundcloud link and us or Viiaan will get back to you with the track :)
