Mëstiza, the duo of DJs from Malaga that audiences all over the world fall in love with

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It's hard for us to see the biggest. Which is actually little mystery if you take a look at her diary, which places Mëstiza in a constant from here 'there', from Ibiza to Perpignan, 'from Spain, to the world', as her motto reads on Instagram. For some time now, theirs has become the essential name in any event that is intended to be unique and glamorous, which is why the duo of DJs from Malaga are raffled off by fashion brands. They have just shot an advertising campaign for a jewelry store, after participating in a Dolce & Gabbana event and about to participate in another with Kate Moss. Their organic House with flamenco elements, rounded off with a neat look and a lot of attitude, convinces. From this successful present, 13 years of work, almost the last three together, contemplate them.

I am asked, before the interview starts, not to identify the two parts that make up the duo by their names. I talk about it with them: "Mëstiza is a movement. We're two women in the scene, and we know that generates curiosity, but we don't want our individualities to take center stage in what we're doing. We want to be the movement that unites electronic music and flamenco. That is why we have also created a record label, Sacro Music, through which we encourage other artists to produce and develop this concept," they justify.

Electronic music won the game

Okay, then, let's get to it; Let's see, what came first, electronic music or flamenco? "We both come from a home where flamenco is important, our families are closely linked to it (even professionally)," they clarify. But, as happens to all of us at some stages of life, especially in adolescence, "it seems that what is in your own house is never worth it...", so, no matter how much flamenco was consumed where dad and mom were, when they both changed their native Malaga for Madrid (one to study Journalism and the other Fine Arts) it was electronics that won the game. " In order to make a living from music, we started DJing in clubs and events. And there, on that circuit, we met. We respected and admired each other very much, two women in the music sector in Madrid at a time when it was more unusual than it is now." Then the pandemic hit.

"Thanks to the lockdown we started to meet up to record live electronica shows on Twitch and at the same time we became more and more friends. Among other things, we were talking about flamenco and at a certain point we thought: 'Why don't we bring flamenco to our music?' Honestly, we did it without any pretense, but thanks to that day, we're here today talking!"

'Inventing' music to play

Fitting flamenco themes with electronic dance is not the easiest, no. Especially because of the rhythm, but also because of the speed. "We had no choice but to create our own music. Otherwise, we couldn't do what we wanted to do," explains Mëstiza, "because at that time the kind of sound we were looking for to play in our sessions didn't exist or was very hard to find..." So they did it: 'El brillo' (with a 'sampler' of Lola Flores' speech included: "Because the brightness of the eyes is not operated"), 'Deserto Rosso' or the recent 'Mis ojos', in collaboration with Chambao. They take away their merit. "In the end, flamenco is very versatile. We use almost all the palos: soleá, fandango, bulería..., even a martinete."

The musical project was clear. The aesthetic? In Mëstiza's image, nothing seems to have been left to chance. There are shawls, snails tied with hair gel, combs, ruffles, carnations, Cordovan hats, bullfighter-inspired shoulder pads and a lot of Julio-Romero-de-Torres-painted-the-dark-haired woman. But these elements are not used at all. As in the photo that accompanies these lines, in Mëstiza's image there is always trend and intention. They downplay it when I ask them if they were always clear that the look was going to be an essential element in their project.

-Image is very important in flamenco, and I think that answers the question. Everyone imagines those hands, those reds and blacks, those flowers, those bates de cola. We, who are big fans of fashion, love to contemporaneize that image. But that's not the priority. The main thing is the music, the other thing is an accessory.

Taste for fashion

In any case, they say they are very supportive of national designers: "We really like Juana Martín, who makes an incredible reinterpretation of the flamenco costume", and among the international designers they have strong reasons for their philia: "A few days ago we were with Domenico Dolce (from Dolce & Gabbana), who made us some outfits for an event of the brand that took place in Marbella. We've worked for Fendi, for Paco Rabanne..."

Back to the sound, the malagueñas are ambitious and are not satisfied with enlivening the night, but, they say, "we want to transmit a message of optimism, freedom, sisterhood, love. We think we managed to excite."

It is inevitable to relate its success with the fascination generated by projects such as those of the dancer Rocío Molina or our great Rosalía from very different layers of culture abroad. "Outside of Spain, flamenco is always perceived as special and innovative. In Spain we see it as something 'of the house'. It's just appreciated differently. Here's more information about what's going on within flamenco itself; Outside, they just dance to it, to enjoy it from the pure perception of the music."

-What has been the most difficult place so far?

"I think those places are coming. Because we've done festivals like an Elrow, but for the moment we're still in a place of safety, which is going to start to get complicated when we're better known. And that will happen soon, when we release our first album and do the American tour that we have planned. Another thing is emotion; For us, performing in renowned electronic clubs is still what impresses us the most.

How do you manage the success that comes in such a short time, less than three years since the birth of Mëstiza? "Actually, that's not the case," they point out, "because the project has behind it the 10-year careers of both. When it was born, we already knew the industry, the nightlife, the world of events, and we had a lot of contacts. It is clear that in every artistic work there is the luck factor, but work, experience and perseverance are very important. If you have an idea, no matter how good it is, but you don't work on it... you're not going to get there." They do.

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