Vibrant drums, sparkling synths, curious textures, and booming bass characterise the amorphous sound of illustrious Mexico City-based, Argentinian DJ and producer Tayhana. In anticipation of her arrival at Rewire 2025, she shares some words about her relationship with the club and the studio, her prolific collaborations, and her upcoming performance at the festival’s opening night, CORTEX with Kianí del Valle and Hamill Industries.

You started out as a self-taught DJ and then picked up production afterwards. As you’ve grown as a producer, how has it impacted your DJing practice? And how do your experiences in the club affect what you do when you’re in the studio?

Being a DJ was my gateway into understanding how to make music. When I first started producing my own tracks, I was fully focused on the club – trying to create something special by sampling popular music and sounds that felt personal to me. It was a really fun way to experiment, but always within the premise of making people dance. Playing around with bootleg acapellas was a huge part of my process – it helped me understand how songs are built and gave me a sense of structure.

DJing has given me so much, from traveling the world to experimenting with music without feeling tied to any specific genre or scene. These days, I always carry a folder of samples, beats, and acapellas with me. Since I love playing on four decks, I think very differently about how I organise each player compared to when I first started. Back then, I was more focused on the overall narrative of my set. Now, it really depends on the context – sometimes I just want to keep it fun and make people dance, and other times, I feel like pushing things further and experimenting more.

Spending so much time in clubs has actually made me want to explore other types of music when I’m in the studio, and thankfully, I’m now in a place where I can do that. I only produce club-focused tracks when I know I’ll be playing in special venues or festivals – especially when I’m playing in Argentina. In the beginning, I was completely immersed in club music, but now, that’s starting to shift.

From your early days working with HiedraH collective in Buenos Aires up until now, it seems like a diversity of voices and experiences influence your music – both what you play and what you produce. Can you share with us some of your philosophies around how music can (or should) intersect with and amplify community?

I try to keep things as simple and honest as possible when it comes to what I like. To be honest, I’m quite a solitary person, so I don’t naturally think in terms of community – unfortunately. Music is hard to understand on its own these days; visuals and image seem to have more influence than sound itself, mostly because of social media. I also find it difficult to believe in musical projects or DJs if I don’t connect with them as people first. I get a lot of messages about collaborations, but I usually don’t respond unless I feel like we’re on the same wavelength – or at least that they have a good heart and sense of humour. There’s a lot of posturing and pretension out there, and I try to avoid that.

It’s clear that there is an important political and social element to your approach to music. At the same time, your productions and DJ sets are joyous, playful, and incredibly fun. Are there ever tensions between the importance and seriousness of what you stand for and your desire to share energy and be playful with what you do? How do these things conflict with or complement one another?

This question is a bit tricky because I feel like people sometimes expect me to be a politically correct example, but that’s not who I am. I make mistakes, and I truly regret them when I do – but I try to learn. I have a sense of humour, and my approach comes more from a place of fun because I don’t like pretension. More than anything, I want the people I feel close to – those who struggle, who have had to migrate, who have to put in twice the effort for everything – to enjoy themselves and laugh at themselves. My approach isn’t intellectual or forcefully political. It’s rooted in something more human, but only for the people I vibe with. I’m also quite selective and bold – I don’t want to be friends with everyone.

We’re looking forward to witnessing CORTEX at the festival’s opening night in Koninklijke Schouwburg. Can you tell us a bit about how this collaboration with Kianí del Valle and Hamill Industries came about? What did you take away from the process?

Fortunately, Kianí and I first connected on a personal level – she invited me for a glass of wine so we could get to know each other. She had always wanted to collaborate with me, but it wasn’t until two or three years later that she reached out with the right project. I truly believe that good things shouldn’t be forced – sometimes, it’s worth waiting. The process was intense, but I’m really happy with the result. Together with Kianí and Hamill, I was able to fully explore my most versatile side, creating music that blends experimental, club, and symphonic elements. This is my first time working on a contemporary dance piece, which, to me, feels more like real-time cinema. It’s an honour to be part of CORTEX.

What’s over the horizon for you in 2025? Are there any projects you’re particularly excited to be working on that you’re allowed to share with us?

There’s a lot coming up! In mid-March, I’ll be releasing a sound piece I composed with Dolores, an artist I love collaborating with. We originally created it for the Otrxs Mundxs exhibition at Museo Tamayo, and soon it will be available on all platforms. In April, I have an EP coming out on the Swiss label SHAP SHAP. At the end of last year, they invited me for a residency in a music studio, where I had the chance to produce this EP. I made the most of it – recording real instruments, synths, percussion, and more. Coming from a fully virtual production background (simply because I couldn’t afford gear), and now getting to experiment with real instruments, feels like a dream.

In May, we’re hoping to release the CORTEX soundtrack – fingers crossed! And in August, I plan to release my collaboration album for Club Latinx, where some amazing friends lent their voices to my tracks. Also, in the next few days, I’ll be uploading a Club Pack to my SoundCloud and Bandcamp with bootlegs I made for the last HiedraH party in Buenos Aires. I sampled one of my favorite rock bands, SUMO, with their line "Para vos lo peor es la libertad” – for obvious anti-Milei reasons. I also played around with some Illya Kuryaki and the Valderramas, La La Jackita, and, of course, a lot of Argentine cumbia – like always.

In-text photos by Camille Blake, from a performance of CORTEX at CTM Festival, Berlin.

Tickets for Rewire 2025's opening programme available here.