Femmes Can Do Anything

Photographs By Rick Perez

Los Angeles musician Soltera opens up about the struggle of being an introvert and a performer, singing in Spanish, and shares a song for ravers who like Techno and Reggaeton.

Los Angeles, USA

How did your journey as a musician begin?

As a teen, I was usually a fill-in bass player for friends' bands. I wasn’t very good at it, which is why I was never a permanent band member. My friends and I would go to powerviolence and hardcore shows which really influenced us. I got to witness these wild, intense performers. I was always a shy girl and very introverted so I never thought I would be able to scream at people and engage with an audience like that.

As I got older, I got more into electronic music and in 2018 I bought a sp404 sampler. I would make beats on a drum machine and then record it onto the sampler, then record keys, use samples from movies I liked and would manipulate my vocals with effects. Still unable to embrace live performance, I started using my music to score films I would make. It wasn’t until I took this improv dance class at PCC, that I started dancing in front of people and scoring my dances with my music. Soon after I started playing live shows.

What have you learned along the way?

My whole experience with music has been difficult to grasp. I only ever saw men getting exposure in the music scene, it was very gate kept. When I first started making dance music and performing, guys would always come up to me afterwards and ask me who made the music, men never get questions like that. I really struggled with self confidence because men wouldn’t take me seriously. But overtime, I built a community, set boundaries, embraced my anger through performance and stopped caring about what men think.

Another big struggle of mine is navigating being introverted and performing in front of large crowds of people all the time. It fuels and drains me at the same moment. The idea of being constantly ‘perceived’ and publicly so vulnerable is jarring to me. I am learning to slow down and take breaks whenever it starts to feel too hectic.

Performance wise, how have you grown since playing your first show to now?

It’s grown a lot I would say. I started in backyard shows or random little art shows, I wouldn’t dance much and was really afraid of being seen. But over time I started to open up and access that part of me that’s really loud and chaotic. I expanded my project by adding my best friend Estefanía aka Langosta as my dj/ back up vocalist. Sometimes I bring in my partner Aarum aka Pacoima Techno into the mix. We’ve been able to travel and open up for bigger acts, it’s been really fun. It felt lonely when I was a solo performer, I am happy I can share this with people I love.

Many of your songs are sung in Spanish. Why is this important to include in your music ?

I love singing in Spanish. I think it sounds more interesting and beautiful. I grew up in a Colombian household listening to Celia Cruz, Hector Lavoe, Willie Colón, Julieta Vengas, ect. My parents loved music like true Colombians and would always translate to me the poetry or meaning behind every song. My dad would play his guitar and sing in Spanish, I loved the lyrics he wrote. It just hit me at a deeper level when writing in Spanish. My mom would listen to a lot of Reggaeton, Salsa, Rock en Español, and Cumbias; I was always listening to all genres of music from Latin America.

How is the Goth/Post-punk music scene in Los Angeles? How does it motivate you and what do you think should change ?

I am not a big fan of scenes. I have always liked to jump around and play with all sorts of bands and projects. And I think that's how it should be in the music scene, not the same people booking the same bands that all fit into the same mold.

I also see so many white duos or men making the music with a femme fronted vocalist. I want to see more than that. Femmes can do anything. I would love to see more POC performers in the scene, specifically the ‘goth/ post punk’ whatever you call it scene. I don’t care about seeing white men make music. I’m over it. There’s so many cool non white, queer people making really special stuff.

You are part of the art collective, Casa/Teca. What is the overall goal of the collective? Why is it important to you ?

There’s many goals. A magazine one day, then a fashion line, a feature film, travel, the list goes on. We are constantly dreaming of fun projects, ruminating on new ideas. We just want to have fun, be able to create and feel community.

You released your single, "Rave Jit". What is this song about?

Honestly I don’t really know. Some songs I write lyrics for have a lot of meaning behind them but for the most part I am just free-styling. I’ll pull up ableton and just record vocals on the track. “Rave Jit” is a party song. For the ravers that love techno and reggaeton. They both make you dance.

How did "Rave Jit" come to life?

My friend Santiago Salazar, also a member of CASA/ TECA, sent me a bunch of songs in the beginning of the pandemic for me to sing vocals on top of. He sent me like 100 songs, it was wild! I knew music was his life but damn he sent me a whole archive, they were so inspiring and incredible. We spent two years working on an album together and this is one of the songs off of it. Hopefully the album will be released soon.

How is the new single different from the songs of your previous EP, "Sin Compromiso"? How does it show your growth as an artist ?

Well, I guess this song is different from my EP because Santi did the entire production and I did the vocals. On ‘Sin Compromiso’ and other songs I’ve released, I am the producer and lyricist. It’s fun to collaborate with Santi in that way; sometimes I wanna just sing and then sometimes I just wanna produce.

What's next for you?

I got a couple shows coming up, October 22 at MOCA, the 29th at the Lash with Pelada, November 18th at the Chapel in SF with Sextile and Nov 25 at the Regent with Soft Moon. Other than shows, I’m gonna be releasing new music and working on releasing other people’s music/ music videos through CASA/TECA.