In the mood to rock out tonight, but don’t know where to go? DJs Marcelo Cunning and Amylu Meneses can help. Just ask Scarlett Johansson or Gael Garcia Bernal, two of their famous fans who’ve been spotted at their extravaganzas where hipsters cause mayhem on the dance floor. Nacotheque, New York City’s underground Latin dance party, features the best in Latin alternative music, a rarity in a city that seemingly offers endless salsa clubs. Nacotheque, a play on the word “discotheque” and the Mexican slang term “naco,” perfectly describes their wildly addicting fiestas that has successfully introduced nightlife owls an endless array of Latin music. We had the pleasure of speaking with Cunning and Meneses about discovering new bands, uniting for Heineken, and how they’re just getting started.
nocheLatina: For those who aren’t familiar with Nacotheque, how would you describe it?
Marcelo Cunning: Nacotheque is a party that's dedicated to promoting new, old, and rare Spanish-sung music from all over the world. We put it together consistently for over four years in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, but we've also taken it all over the states, Mexico, and Europe.
nocheLatina: Who inspired the both of you to become DJs?
Marcelo Cunning: There hasn't been any single person, per say, that inspired Nacotheque. I think it's always been more about the misinterpretation of this kind of music. Most Anglos generally reduce 'Latin music' to salsa and reggateon, which is the farthest thing from the truth. It doesn't even cross most minds that a cool punk band, such as Davila 666, can come out of a place like Puerto Rico. Changing that perception is what really inspired the creation of Nacotheque. We also wanted to give all this music some sort of voice.
nocheLatina: Talk a little bit more about how you both met on Myspace. When did you decided to collaborate?
Marcelo Cunning: I believe it was after the first party. I basically setup the first Nacotheque, which is where Amylu and I finally met. We came to the conclusion that we more or less had the same idea. I think the first year was a learning process for us and our crowd. Once we worked out the formula, everything just fell into place.
nocheLatina: Out of all the cities to host parties, why New York?
Marcelo Cunning: To me, NYC is the type of place where, no matter how crazy your art form is, you can make it happen. You will always find an audience for it. That and I didn't want Nacotheque to be seen as a strictly Latino thing. We wanted to make it an international thing. If you take all of that into consideration, there's really no better city than New York for something like Nacotheque.
Amylu Meneses: NYC is a melting pot of cultures, music, and scenes. Even though there are other cities that have a higher dominance of Latinos, Nacotheque is really about bringing all kinds of people together to enjoy Latin alternative music even if they can’t speak a lick of Spanish.
nocheLatina: What has been some of the challenges that you faced in launching your parties?
Marcelo Cunning: There's very little to no support for this kind of music. It was the first party of its kind, a lot of the music was incredibly hard to come by, and when you take a step back and look at the overall concept, it's actually quite hard to digest for the average music listener. For example, we had rock ‘n’ rollers coming in and complaining about the cumbia or hip-hop. We also had the hardcore Latinos wanting congas and shakers in every song. Most people simply didn't get it. Loud rock, disgustingly commercial pop, reggaeton, etc. all in one? One week we may have a tranny on stage, the next it might be some dirty punk band. You can see how this might have been a problem to some.
Amylu Meneses: When we first started people didn’t really understand what we were trying to do. The second party we ever did I had two guys come up to the DJ booth and demand that I play some salsa or merengue so they could dance. I told them that’s not what we played and that if they didn’t like it they could leave. They left and I waved goodbye with a big smile on my face.
nocheLatina: How do you discover other Latin alternative artists that aren’t as mainstream?
Marcelo Cunning: Before we asked bands for CDs and MP3s. Now you have blogs like Club Fonorama that do a really good job in keeping up with new music.
Amylu Meneses: Myspace, Facebook, and Last.fm are great social networking sites to find music. I also write a music blog to keep up on stuff friends send my way.
nocheLatina: When did you realize that Nacotheque was becoming a dance party not just for Latinos, but for non-Latinos looking to discover new music?
Marcelo Cunning: We've always had a decent mix of people. In places like NYC, that's actually a key thing in making your party fun. We like having gays, bankers, kitchen workers, Wall Street types, and so forth. It keeps Nacotheque fun and engaging.
Amylu Meneses: I always knew the party should be for everyone and it could work if we did it the right way. I previously produced a multilingual party called Le One Night Stand with music in French, Japanese, German, Swedish, and Spanish. It was very successful and had a following of people from all over the world. We had over 1,000 in attendance at our two-year anniversary party.
nocheLatina: Could you tell us about some of your experiences with celebrity guests and how they’ve responded to your beats?
Marcelo Cunning: Personally, I don't give any special attention to them. In the middle of a hectic night, I actually told Scarlett to get out of the way because she was blocking my entrance into the PA both. Half of the sound system had gone out so I was freaking out. She was polite about it and didn't say much, but I eventually went back and apologized. I think the only person I actually went out of my way for was Gael Garcia. He came over with his underage brother and we had to borrow an ID from a friend to get him in. Most just come in, drink, dance, and hang out with friends. I think they generally want to be treated like regular people.
Amylu Meneses: When Scarlett came she was dressed in a disguise so no one would bother her. She was just there to dance with her friends and she looked like she was having a blast!
nocheLatina: How have your parties and Latin nightlife in New York City changed since the both of you got together in 2006?
Marcelo Cunning: NYC is constantly evolving. Either you evolve with it or you become obsolete. I think our parties are more put together now and thanks to that consistency, we've developed a group of hardcore partygoers that always show up and make our parties history book material.
Amylu Meneses: Other parties have popped up around the city that have been influenced by what we’ve been doing for the past four years. It’s incredible to see it all develop the way it has.
nocheLatina: Why, in your opinion, are Spanish-sung alternative rock and pop nights non-existent in Latin dance clubs?
Marcelo Cunning: Sadly, most people are sheep. In the United States, most Latinos actually take Univision and Telemundo's agenda seriously. Same thing for mainstream Latino radio. I would say that about 90% of what is pushed by most Latino media is regurgitated pop crap. Don't get me wrong, that in itself can be an art form, but if you have no contrast, the whole thing becomes numbing. Wisin & Yandel is the same thing as Alexis & Fido. You can't tell the difference between Paulina Rubio and Fanny Lu. It's all very safe music that doesn't say anything. It's not funny, creative, distinctive, or engaging. None of it has any enduring quality. If people took some personal responsibility and actually made an effort to look outside the box, their musical experience would be a million times more rewarding.
Amylu Meneses: There are Spanish-sung rock and pop nights in Latin dance clubs, but they tend to focus on what was cool back in the day and keep recycling the old stuff, like Soda Stereo, Hombres H, Lucybell, Mana, Manu Chao, etc …they do a LOT of tribute shows.
nocheLatina: How have audiences overseas responded to your mix of Latin music?
Marcelo Cunning: I had quite a revelation last summer when we played in Belgium. DJ duo Gelatina were throwing similar parties. We were invited to be a part of them and it was amazing! They packed an abandoned train station with hundreds of music fans and everybody went crazy to rock n' roll, cumbia, electro, etc. All of it in Spanish, all night long. Nobody came up to ask for Shakira or David Bisbal. People just danced 'till the sun came out. To me, it was the experience of a lifetime. It basically concluded what we've known all along: this is great music and, regardless of the language barrier, it can be enjoyed by everybody.
Amylu Meneses: The first time we went to Europe I think the people didn’t quite get what we were doing. We either got praised for being from the US and playing our music in Spanish or booed and asked to play Madonna or The Ramones…English versions.
nocheLatina: I understand that your fiestas at Fontana’s were very successful and lasted for a few years. Why go back to doing one-off special events?
Marcelo Cunning: Organizing the NYC Nacotheque parties and tours were basically a full time job. Both of us have other interests and we simply feel like this is a good time to pursue them. We went back to doing one-offs because it gives us flexibility. For example, I've been working on doing some remixes and other projects, but we're not completely gone! A lot of one-offs are coming up.
Amylu Meneses: I wanted to take some classes and visit my family in Connecticut for longer than just one weekend every six months. It’s hard to do a residency where you have to always have to come up with something creative for each event. Having the parties go back to one-offs keeps Nacotheque special. People look forward to each one like it’s their birthday party!
nocheLatina: What are some of your upcoming plans for this summer?
Amylu Meneses: We’ll be participating in the Heineken Mezclasonic project where we’ll be DJing in Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles this summer. We’re also DJing the Miranda concert in NYC on July 24th and the after party. We offer free mixes online, but it’d be really cool if we could partner up with someone and release an official compilation one day. We love the opportunity to help new artists get their music out there.
