Worldwide Dance: DJ Python

DJ Python’s music is built for the sweltering heat of Dekmantel Festival. The low tempos, dembow rhythms and smudged ambient hues of his self-styled “deep reggaeton” a near-perfect soundtrack as the sun slowly falls to meet the green expanses of the Amsterdamse Bos stretched over the horizon. Both this artist name and genre should give you an idea of the tongue-in-cheek approach Queens-based Brian Piñeyro has adopted across all his musical output. Yet his love of reggaeton is quite genuine; raised on it as a young teen growing up in Miami; “I felt like I was connecting more with my Latinx culture and heritage,” he told XLR8R in a 2018 interview.

Piñeyro electeed to explore and expand on the reggaeton sound circa 2016, his first DJ Python outings (for Ital’s Lovers Rock and Anthony Naples' now-shuttered Proibito) landing amidst a rich outpouring of material as DJ Wey and Deejay Xanax. It’s perhaps partially down to this “deep reggaeton” tag his DJ Python material has really stuck in people’s minds, but really the music speaks for itself. Especially 2017’s Dulce Compañia, a wonderfully confident debut DJ Python LP for Anthony Naples and Jenny Slattery’s Incienso which ranked highly on the majority of end of year lists.

Earlier this year, Piñeyro returned with Derreitirse, a fresh DJ Python record for Dekmantel’s label, which further smudged the “deep-reggaeton” sound. Incorporating more of his formative musical influences, namely AI-era Warp, as well as the bruk riddims of vintage broken beat. The latter introduced to Piñeyro by Will DiMaggio and DJ Nicely, close friends and among the many talented New York-based producers, DJs, label owners and promoters that surround him.

Ever the interesting character, Piñeyro was high on the list of artists performing at our Dekmantel stage we wanted to profile for Worldwide Dance. Read on for his thoughts on genre names, production methods, NYC nightlife and what to expect from him over the coming months. At ease.

You’ve produced under a variety of names since your emergence but you seem to have focused on DJ Python the past few years. What’s the reason for this?

It’s just nice to try new things! I’ve been taking it slower lately. I mostly just get booked as DJ Python out of town but in NYC I like to play under different alias and do different sets, setting myself different constraints.

I have a Luis record in the future on Whities, as well as on a comp on C-Know-Evil. Probably the final DJ Wey record is done for Lovers Rock coming out soon and a new project DJ Butterfly on a comp on Social Sneaker Club. Recently finished a remix for Carmen Villian (stream below) that should be out soon too - she’s too good wow!

Just took it easy for about a bit really to understand what I was doing.

How do you feel about the critical and public reaction to ‘deep reggaeton,’ the playful term used to describe your excellent 2017 LP, Dulce Compañia and your style in general?

I like that people seem to not like the term really, and that some also run with it. Any response to it is valid. It was a playful thing, kind of a joke, or tongue-in-cheek statement to people jumping on trends or the next ‘new thing.’ But it was also a kind of statement on music more and more becoming about the artist’s statement or the aesthetic around it rather than the music itself.

Do you feel we’re too quick to coin silly genres? ‘Business techno’ for example.

I think people like to have fun on Twitter and the internet and we’re all a bit poisoned by irony. People seem to be very frightened or turned off by sincerity, especially when it’s not overly-intellectualized.

**How soon until we see ‘Business Reggaeton’? **

N/A on this one, sorry Tony!

The recent Derretirse EP for Dekmantel widens the scope of the DJ Python sound, incorporating some very UK sounds in ‘90s IDM and Broken Beat. How important were these genres in your musical development?

I love these ‘90s UK sounds, Warp and Rephlex were probably the first type of electronic music I really listened to as a teen. Living with Tanya (DJ Nicely) and WIll DiMaggio, I was also exposed to a lot of broken beat :) My warmest regards to those two.

There’s a definite humidity to your DJ Python output. What production methods do you employ in order to achieve this sensation?

Hmmm, I think I just like when things sound a certain way, I’m not the most technical person so I couldn’t really pinpoint it, but I’d reckon it is just reverb and delay. I definitely do like things sounding ‘humid,’ ‘sweaty’ or ‘warm’ though, and I just experiment really until it feels this way to me.

When I am making time to make music, it feels best to me when it feels like I’m just experimenting with different sounds, fx, ideas and just honing into what pleases my ears and my heart, rather than fixating on certain production aspects or ideas of what I think I want to make.

Earlier this year you remixed Klein Zage’s ‘Womanhood,’ only the second such “official” DJ Python remix. How do you find this process in comparison to working on your original productions?

I enjoyed working with a vocal! Hmmm and I guess you feel pressure to be kind and respectful to someone else’s music. She’s a friend and I liked the song so it felt natural. Collaborating is the best I think it’s how anything great is really done tbh…

**We’ve heard whispers you’ve been working with RAMZi on some music, can you discuss this further? **

We worked on stuff but we weren’t happy with it, but we will in the future for sure keep on working on things and hopefully release an album together. It’s Phubu & Bichou. RAMZi rules…

What other projects are you working on at the moment?

Aside from the releases I mentioned above, I’m working on a kind of art or sound piece for my friend Bea Frenderman. Just helping make an hour-long loop of birds imitating noises made by the non-natural world, a car alarm, for example. It’ll show at a public space in downtown L.A. at some point and I believe she’s making a kind of birdcage where you can sit and listen. Respect to Bea and all birds around the world. I’m thankful she asked me to do something and especially that it’s something different than what I usually do.

I’m also extremely slowly starting a label called Available, hopefully the art will be done by my friend Angelina Nonaj. The first record we’ll release is by downstairs j.

**You’ve kindly provided a few drawings from your personal archive. Can you tell our readers a bit about them? **

Yes :) They are actually drawings by Angelina! A very dear friend.. I love talking to and exchanging ideas of the world with my friends who draw or write or make art outside of the medium of music/sound. It’s too inspiring to me.. And it’s too beautiful IMO to just exchange nice ideas. It helps me realize a world or idea better when there are more than just the sounds to it, it takes shape with visuals and other ideas.. I love to collaborate.

What labels and artists are popping right now for you?

Hmmm in no order respect to:

MTL crew NAFF & Planet Euphorique and Lis Dalton too! Geesemen DJs
Hank Jackson is the best DJ in the game IMO…
I’m always excited about the next Acting Press record
I’m sure Amazondotcom & Siete Catorce’s new label Subreal is gonna be too sick and I love what they have released outside of that too..
Wisdom Teeth, i love Facta
Super Kitchen is such a good label! Mistareez is so so sick
I love all the Lurka releases from this year…
Strange Riddims crew in Manchester are releasing very interesting and sick music and are full with wicked djs
Saw a great live set from Debit a few weeks ago.. respect
Nostro Hood System
Riobamba & Apocalipsis
Blastah from Lisbon is so sick
Logic1000, DJ Plead, Copy Envy, TSVI //Nervous Horizon peeps…
I love upsammy’s music and djing
Western Lore always release amazing records
Western Mineral crew is always so fire…
Kelman Duran of c is IMO already a legend..
Via App, Bookworms, Relaxer always are so good to see play live in NYC…

There’s a strong local community of artists, DJs and producers around you in NYC - tell us more about them.

It can be quite supportive I think! Big shout out to Relaxer, Aurora Halal and Bookworms who all really helped me early on and let me play their parties and were very supportive and encouraging. There is so much stuff going on here! Lots of crews and enough space for everyone to do their thing it seems. I find how DeForrest Brown Jr., Voice Training and Natalia Panzer approach/do music and music related things interesting and refreshing.

**How do you feel about NYC nightlife in general? **

It seems to be growing in a certain way, like more spaces/parties that are ‘legit,’ like legal, I guess.. Honestly I’m a bit out of the loop. I love Bossa Nova Civic Club, Nowadays and Moodring. I do feel like crowds here are pretty patient, and one thing that I’ve noticed that I enjoy is that line-ups feel diverse in many ways, like in types of people DJing but also in the type of music the DJ plays in one night. Like you can have a club music DJ playing edits on USBs with like someone who lives at The Thing digging for house music playing those records and then someone playing reggaeton and it will work well! It’s nice to see diversity in all its forms in New York and feel it when you go out. I hope this type of thing continues.

Who are you excited about seeing at Dekmantel Festival this year?

If I could catch all these people I def would! In abc order

Ben UFO
Blawan
Demdike Stare
DJ Fett Burger
Equiknoxx
Kassem Mosse
Low Jack
Mala
Marie Davidson
Object Blue
Octo Octa & Eris Drew
RAMZi
Roza Terenzi
Shinichi Atobe
Simo Cell
Skee Mask
Sun O)))
Terekke
Tzusing
upsammy
Varg
Yu Su
Yves Tumor

Interview by Tony Poland

DJ Python will be perfoming on the Boiler Room stage at Dekmantel on Sunday. More info here.