Roxe

How would you describe the type of music you create and how would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard dance music before?

I would define my music as one with very strong kick drums and heavy bass with broken texture, a warm and live sound in general looking for that analog touch, also dirty but technically polished, with aggressive and modern touches that can never be missing. In short, it’s like a rhythm that flows, catches you and flashes of frantic sounds that appear and talk to each other.

Can you point to a moment or memory when you fell in love with dance music and/or realized you wanted to pursue music?

Since I was 15 years old, when I started my interest in how music was made, I didn’t stop investigating and dedicating my time to this. I tried out all kinds of genres but without having anything clear, even without having training beyond magazines and some tutorials in English. I had different pseudonyms for several years while trying to improve my sound or so I thought (hahaha). It was in 2017, after a health problem, when I had to decide if it was time to commit to this and of course it was. I used to work in a high decoration company and my problem put me in a position to decide what I want for my life since I couldn't work permanently in that job. Then I thought; - huh! All is not lost, I also know how to make music, if I can sound professional, the music will save me. The summer of that year I went to Tarifa a lot and I saw how there sounded a type of music that I already knew but had not paid attention to. It was Tech House music. At that time I was making other types of music but that sound along with everything The aforementioned made it clear to me, after that summer I was creating Tech House rhythms and I began to train professionally.

What do you remember about your first gig?

It was amazing to see how people dance to the music that takes you so long to make, that's the feedback from an artist, which drives him to create better music. It was sick!

How do you try to stand out within the house music scene?

Well, for now I can only talk about the production field, the ROXE project is relatively new and I haven't had any performances yet. I rely on the sound of artists that I like within this genre but mostly American or UK sound and I try to stand out by adding new approaches and unexpected twists. Basically it’s all about creativity and technique.

What festival or venue do you dream of playing?

I really want to play in front of many people, it is something that I have not felt yet. There are a lot of big festivals at this moment and many others on the way that I would like to perform around the world, no matter which country it is. To name a few, Elrow, Coachella and Tomorrowland are my gold list for me!

What excites you about the future of house music?

I’m moved by “changes”, many people are reluctant to do this, but it’s inevitable in everything and, of course, in music. I want to see where the Tech House genre is going to mutate over the years and how we will be able to adapt, what types of collaborations we will do, what trends will be dominating and above all, how to continue to stand out. It's quite a challenge and that's great.

What pushed you towards making tech house, and what is it about the sounds of tech house that you love?

The rhythm was what caught me, I came from making broken rhythms and those marked 4x4 rhythms combined with the arrangement of the percussive elements in such an organic and natural way was great, I felt the feeling. The open rises giving way to a dry fall, the ways of structuring the songs. That drove me crazy back then.

We've seen the growth of so many branded events whether it's Elrow, Paradise (Jamie Jones), Circoloco etc... are there any of these event brands that you'd like to play for or hope to be a part of one day?

Of course, above all that you mentioned before, I would love to be in one of the Black Book events, Chris Lake is one of my main references and everything he does involves the type of sound and artists that I like, Noizu, Martin Ikin, Biscits, Cloonee etc... Also, I want to be part of my friend and partner Wade's Criterio, that would be awesome since we also fit in very well when it comes to sound.

A lot of your music has fun and snappy vocal samples, can you tell us about the process of finding these or creating them, and how much of your music is based around a vocal, versus fitting a vocal into a track that exists already?

Sometimes I find something that works very fast and other times I have to spend days searching. Keep in mind that looking for winning items and thinking about how to use them is part of our job and that takes time. Years ago, I just sat down to create, now everything is more controlled, I know what I'm looking for and where I want to go in each project I start. About the process with the voices, I usually start with a vocal that I like from the beginning and I try to develop the idea on it. I'm not in favor of changing or adding it when I have the idea created. With a vocalist, things would change and the process would be different.

Recently you've received some great support from artists like Martin Ikin, and Sonny Fodera with your Solotoko releases. What does it mean as a new artist to have such established figures recognize your music and give you that sign of approval?

Well, the truth is that it’s very amazing, I’m very grateful and excited for everything. This gives me extra motivation. I started my adventure as ROXE just in January of last year and the COVID-19 situation has not stopped good things happening to me. We are doing things very well thanks to the work of the guys from my agency and my total commitment. I think that to achieve great things you have to start from a good foundation and for now I think we have it.

What is next for ROXE? How much music do you plan on putting out in 2021? Any plans for touring?

The performances have not yet emerged for me, as I say, Roxe is a new project and in my country, the theme of events and festivals returning is going slower than a water dropper hahaha, but you are going to get fed up with releases. I have signed music, a lot of unreleased songs that we are moving right to now, and very powerful collaborations are coming on the way.

Are there are any songs right now that you're particularly excited to play out to a crowd?

I haven't played any of them yet so I'm dying to play them all, something that I really love is seeing how people react and so far I've only seen it in videos. If I have to say a song I would say ‘Break It', this song for me is one of the best I did.