Standing at a towering six feet, Santo Domingo-raised singer Rita Indiana demands your attention, but that’s not the reason why audiences from her native Dominican Republic hail her as a “monster.” The androgynous artist has successfully conquered the Caribbean and the United States with her infectious mezcla of hip swiveling merengue, tropical funk, and sweat-inducing electronica with a sprinkling of pop. However, before Indiana made it big, she was the leading lady of her own band, Rita Indiana y Los Misterios, a union of art and enchanting Afro Caribbean beats, which have captivated her since childhood. Today, Indiana is on tour and showing Americans what Dominicans have known for years now: she's the new face and sound of Latin music. We chatted with Indiana about her upbringing, working with Puerto Rican urban duo Calle 13, and why she can’t get enough of merengue.
nocheLatina: You’ve done everything from write novels to work as a housekeeper in a Puerto Rican hotel. Why music?
Rita Indiana: Music was part of my work even when I wrote novels. If you read my books you’ll find a sense of rhythm that’s key. I never really thought of myself as a musician, but then in 2006 I started programming and making beats. People that knew me who were musicians started listening to them and said, ‘This is really good. You should do something with this.’ I then went to the Dominican Republic and recorded an album. That’s pretty much it.
nocheLatina: How did your childhood inspired you to create music?
Rita Indiana: My childhood plays a very important role in everything that I create, especially music. There are certain things that get engraved in your brain when you’re little and it later transcends when you get older. I grew up with my grandparents and they listened to a lot of bolero. It’s not the type of music that I make, but it’s definitely something that has shaped la drama, or the dramatic sense of my beats. Bolero is a genre that’s not from one specific place in the Caribbean. It’s from everywhere, including Veracruz, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Santo Domingo, and Venezuela.
nocheLatina: Why was it important for you as a Latin artist to unite traditional merengue from the Dominican Republic and modern electronic/pop of the US?
Rita Indiana: I guess it’s just what I like to listen to. I put it all in one place. When I wrote my first novel, I experienced the same thing. I wanted to read something that wasn’t out there. That’s what I did. I’ve always admired merengue from the ‘70s and ‘80s. I also felt alive dancing to deep house from ’98 and ’99, as well as Afro-Dominican rhythms, like gaga and palo. I wanted to unite all of those inspirations. When I was making music, I knew it needed to have these rhythms from both worlds.
nocheLatina: I understand that you often create sounds verbally before translating them into music. Could you talk a little bit more about that?
Rita Indiana: It’s interesting because when I write music I’m usually not writing. I think of different sounds and that can happen when I’m walking down the street. When I have a song, I quickly think of how the melody is going to take shape, like where the drums should go. There are elements that come to mind and I want to use them. I’ll read a song lyric and think, ‘This reminds me of gaga.’ The thoughts are all inside me. When I create the compositions, they come out.
nocheLatina: What is it about merengue that pushes you to explore it more in your music?
Rita Indiana: I definitely like merengue a lot, especially from before the ‘80s. I just think it’s a very easy rhythm to make and dance to. I also grew up listening to it. It was so big in the late ‘70s when I was born. It’s the soundtrack of my childhood.
nocheLatina: Where did your nickname 'monster' come from?
Rita Indiana: 'Monster' came from the people, I didn’t make that up (laughs). I was baptized that way. In the Dominican Republic, when someone is really good at something, they call you that. I guess it also has to do with my height (laughs).
nocheLatina: Do you believe being open as a gay Latina has impacted the way people, especially in the Dominican Republic, view you?
Rita Indiana: Everything you are influences the way people look or even think about you. Whether you’re black, white, mulatto, or Jewish, it’s going to speak to the people. Yes, I do believe it impacts the way people view my work. However, me being gay or choosing to share my life with a certain person isn’t important in the end. At the end of the day, it’s the work that’s going to speak for itself.
nocheLatina: Talk a little bit more about the screenplay you’re writing for a movie featuring Calle 13.
Rita Indiana: I can’t really talk about that. All I can say that it’s a project that I’ve been hired for and I’m writing it with a Puerto Rican director.
nocheLatina: What’s been inspiring you lately?
Rita Indiana: After a year and a half of doing a lot concerts in Santo Domingo and in the US, I’ve been reading a lot lately. I’ve been working on a novel that I hope will be published by the end of the year. I’ve just been reading, chillin’, and doing my thing (laughs).
nocheLatina: What’s the message that you hope audiences will get from your music?
Rita Indiana: Life is a very complicated experience that you can approach everyday with a little bit of laughter, love in your heart, and tolerance. Maybe it then won’t be so hard to deal with (laughs). Surround yourself with art.
