Pahua discusses new Razor-N-Tape release
Mexican singer, songwriter, DJ, producer and percussionist, Pahua, steps out on Brooklyn’s Razor-N-Tape with her ‘Habita Remix EP.’ Tracks lifted from the multi-talented Pahua’s original album - that came out in 2023 on Nacional Records - have been given a rework by a starry line up of talent that includes JKriv, Tigerbalm, Clive From Accounts, Jon Beltran naming just a few! We wanted to get to know a little more about this intriguing artist.
Thanks for talking to us. Where are you at this moment and how are you spending the day?
I'm going through the busiest time of my life. I feel that this has helped me understand how I have grown and how I have also generated confidence on a human side and professional level.
It has brought many challenges because now I have to organize myself very well to also have personal time for me. I like to start the day with a walk with my dog Leeloo. She gives me a lot of peace, she makes me have a routine, we go out and that changes my day a lot as she gives me important moments of reflection. Then I try to put in my hours of work, hours to learn something new, for example guitar lessons. I cook and now I started taking salsa classes too that I love because I thought that I was not cut out for dancing, and it is something that I really like.
Where were you born? Where are you based now?
Born and raised in Mexico City.
What do you love most about where you are living?
Mexico City is a great place to live. Is the center of Latin America.
There’s a lot of things going on all the time, I love the culture, the food, our music scene, what has enriched us as citizens and I have a lot of friends with venues, magazines in the music business. Friends with restaurants in the city and I observe and admire how they are growing and how the community stays connected.
How long have you been making music?
My first step was in Mariachi, which is the music from my region when I was 6 years old. I stayed in that for 12 years and then I started to take drum lessons, Latin jazz, and folklore.
I was going to study Marimba in one of the biggest institutes of music in CDMX, but I was a bit older, so I continued with my studies independently to compose music and learn how to sing too.
Right now, I have twelve active years in music professionally on different projects and it has been a very interesting journey until this date.
What came first Djing or production or being an artist/ musician?
I guess being a musician. I was more into drumming, percussion and singing. Then in 2015 I started taking production lessons with a very close friend that has a cool, independent production college and he gave me production lessons with Ableton Live. Then I started DJing at the same time I bought Pioneer equipment. I really love it.
What kind of artists, DJs, genres were you into growing up?
Dengue Dengue Dengue, Novalima, Captain Planet, Poirier, Populous, Mitú, DJ Shadow, Hit La Rosa.
Who are the artists that you follow right now?
Mette, Amaarae, Pongo, Ceú, Inna, Rosalía, Populous, Ela Minus.
What is the most recent record you purchased or downloaded?
Amaarae - Fountain Baby
If you could choose a few words to describe the vibe of Pahua, what would they be?
Energetic, Tropical, Electric and Powerful.
Tell me about your involvement with Sotomayor?
Sotomayor is my last name and was a project that me and my brother found in 2015. Is a very unique project with a genuine concept and a cool richness of modern music for the dance floor, with Latin vibes and vibrant feelings of electronica. I was the singer and percussionist of the project and where I learned how to be a front woman.
Are you still working with the band now?
YES, we are right now working a lot more on our solo projects, but we are trying to work on new stuff for our 10-year anniversary in 2025.
Tell us a little about your album Habita on Nacional Records.
Is my most important work to date. An album full of vibrant genres, colors, and styles. Starts with a lot of polyrhythmic accents and Selvática sounds. Is an album where you have the presence of Latin America in every song. Collaborations from Colombia, Chile, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Venezuela, and México. All the songs connect the history of heritage and how we live this in our present.
When did you first approach this concept of the album and what was your original intention?
My first intention was to connect Latin America with voices from a lot of places, different indigenous sounds and feels. Then I tried to understand the lyrical concepts to have the same line and narrative present in all the songs.
What was most important for you to convey through the album?
That it doesn’t matter where you live in Latin America. We really live things in a very similar style and with a very unique history through our generations and I wanted to sing about this with a lot of instruments that makes all of the songs really powerful.
Do you feel that you were able to accomplish all of your intentions?
110%
What are you most proud of with the album?
How this has grown with an album, how people connect with the songs, how I started this on my computer and then we have a new Habita Remixes Album with so many people involved that I really admire a lot and how this has a sweet resonance in the world that continues with its development.
What was the most challenging part of bringing the album together?
The time haha! I guess that all the communication with the collaborators and to balance that with my time and the production, but I loved the challenge.
How did you connect with Razor-N-Tape?
Years ago, I met Jared Cohen, an amazing DJ and partner of Razor-N-Tape, which brought to me another universe of DJs and genres. I didn’t know too many of producers from the US and I wanted to discover a lot more of this.
When I finished the album, my team and I talked with him to share it and he really liked it and we talked of this idea to do album of remixes.
That’s a powerful collection of remixes of this remix EP. How do you feel about the reworking of your album tracks?
It’s wonderful when the music starts to take another form and vibe, for me that’s a good way to see the music from a different perspective.
Have you got a favourite remix or is that too difficult to say?
I have one, but first I want to share that I love all of them. My favorite one is Calla made by Prince of Queens, it’s groovy and sophisticated, it’s fresh and nocturne.
What drives you to create music?
It’s the only thing that I know how to do.
What has been one of your favorite moments from the past year?
My tour to Europe was amazing! I played in Montreux, one of the best days of my life!
Where do you find the most inspiration when it comes to discovering new music?
My brother helps a lot with the music. I also have a very close friend that his dad was the engineer of a very important venue in Mexico City, and I discovered a lot with him, going to his gigs to see all kinds of projects playing live.
Is there anything that you would like to tell us about you?
That I love all kinds of music and I want to learn more about it.
What can we hope to see next from PAHUA?
New Music, new tour, and very different visuals in this new cycle.
Buy/listen to the release here