Juliana Huxtable is a multidisciplinary artist, she has performed in different parts of the world, had an Exhibition in the MoMA Museum as well as remixed for Hör Berlin.
Over time she built an organic and loyal fanbase from her early roots in experimental rock, free jazz and all things industrial. At a very young age she found inspiration in online counterculture.
She explained: “I’m a computer baby – Both of my parents are tech people, My mom worked in database engineering, my dad is a polymer engineer, so we were always immersed in all the newest gadgets”.
Juliana Huxtable adressed that she finds a real connection between digital culture and the role of a DJ. “There’s a collapsed distinction between cultural producers and cultural consumers in the digital world and DJing to me is almost the peak embodiment of that kind of relationship.”
She continued: “The joy, for me, is to reach a kind of ecstatic cutting, chopping, looping and mixing of multiple tracks. – think that creates a certain energy that people who really like my music feel and can tap into.”
During her college years, Huxtable discovered that she could transform her love for club culture, music and DJing into a career path.
In 2013, she played for the first time at a magazine launch. By the end of the set many bookers were impressed. “I wouldn’t say that I was good at all, but I was able to give the impression to enough people that it was something that I already did and I thought, well maybe there’s something to this.”
Juliana appreciates the perfect union between digital and physical worlds.”For me, what’s exciting is to use all found information as an opportunity to chop, sample, mix, add an effect. I love CDJs because you have a tactile and physical relationship to music, even if that music happens to be in a digital format.”
Juliana´s first New York party was a Shock Value,”a gender-diverse club night” . “I enjoyed playing at a lot of parties, but none really felt like a complete vision of what I would like to build. And I felt that both musically and socially, in terms of the composite of the crowd.”
Shock Value audience was LGBTQIA+ dominant, allowing her to create DJ sets that were more aligned to her values and artistic purpose.
“Because New York nightlife wasn’t so populated, with Shock Value, it really felt like the social need was as important as the music – Nightlife has evolved and found new structures of support. From 2012 to now, it’s a completely different landscape.”
Post Covid-19, parties will come back and Juliana Huxtable believes that: “The party is an opportunity for me to experiment in how to produce socially complex experiences,” she says. “It’s always evolving and I hope it continues to do that.”
Source: Resident Advisor
