N.A.A.F.I shows the connections between L.A. and Mexico City nightlife

This Saturday, the Mexican club-music crew N.A.A.F.I will make its L.A. headline debut at Red Bull Music Academy Radio’s La Transicion event at Pollution Studios. The group has strong opinions about the future of Mexico City nightlife and how the country’s scene is represented abroad: read them here.

But there are a lot of parallels to L.A.’s own underground club scene, both in its ad hoc, improvisational nature and the intermingling of Latin and western club sounds to produce something new.

For the piece, we also talked to Nacho Nava, of the longtime Mustache Mondays party (now at the Lash in DTLA) and Anita Herrera, an L.A.-based consultant who works on cultural collaborations between the U.S. and Latin America. Each worked on the La Transicion event that N.A.A.F.I is headlining.

N.A.A.F.I doesn’t fit into any preconceived genre, and that’s as true for them in Mexico as it is in L.A. or Berlin. Tell me how that sense of being always just a bit outside of every scene resonates with what you do at Mustache Mondays and your other work.

Nacho Nava: Well, I can’t say I’ve ever felt that I really fit into the “normal” club landscape her in L.A. With Mustache, we pretty much go our own way in respect to formatting music and performers versus what most other clubs feature. I’m really influenced by my environment -- there’s so much going on in L.A. that I love, I want my nightlife to reflect that. If that makes us different or whatever, I’m cool with it.

Anita Herrera: Going against the grain is what pushes the world forward, and that can make people feel uncomfortable. But that’s what makes N.A.A.F.I so special, because they don’t fit into any preconceived notion of what club music is supposed to be, but most importantly what “Mexican” club music is supposed to be and sound like.

The feeling of just always being a bit on the outside but also ahead is what I connect with the most with N.A.A.F.I. It seems like an easy label to identify this scene as a bunch of “weirdos” but it’s actually a scene of creatives that dictate what’s happening not only in music but also in fashion and art on a global scale.

The first N.A.A.F.I party that I went to in Mexico City was in a dark, abandoned bar in Colonia Juárez and Alberto [Mexican Jihad] was DJ’ing and I immediately felt right at home. It was so unique, it could only be from Mexico City – a mix of dark beats, synths but with a distinct mash of reggaeton sounds and Tribal Guarachero beats. It’s a bit contradicting, but you can actually say I felt “normal” at the N.A.A.F.I parties in Mexico City.

N.A.A.F.I has some strong L.A. connections (like the New Year’s Eve fest with Fade to Mind). N.A.A.F.I also mixes a variety of Latin genres with really forward-thinking club music. Tell me about how you see L.A. audiences connecting to what the label is up to musically, and how N.A.A.F.I is upending expectations about what Mexican music is like today.

AH: On a deeper level, from what I’ve experienced first hand with N.A.A.F.I is that they break every single expectation and stereotype of what everyone thinks young Mexican music scenes are to supposed to be.

Growing up in L.A., as American but with roots in Mexico, there is still a false perception of what Mexico is like here. Although Mexican culture is so important here and part of what makes L.A. so unique, it is still distinctly very American, so the overall perception of what it’s actually like culturally across the border is so far from the truth.

There’s a huge mystery and intrigue behind Mexico and Mexico City, so every time I would travel to Mexico City and come back it was like pulling back the curtain to this uncovered cultural truth. Everyone would always ask me the same questions, like, “Oh, wait – so Mexico is cool?” and “Oh, wait we thought Mexicans only listened to like mariachi music or to like banda,” “Oh, wait, we thought Mexico was only good for the beach.”

No shade to any of those things or places but it’s really ignorant to assume things like that. I always have to go into these very deep conversations about just how important Mexico and Mexico City is to our entire global culture. Mexico City alone is a hub for the best music festivals, art fairs, gastronomy and of course N.A.A.F.I.

I think that’s why N.A.A.F.I is so important not only to our particular music scene but they also represent an authentic piece of Mexico that breaks any typical or derogatory stereotypes that people may have thought about Mexico in the past.

I think there’s going to be a particularly strong connection amongst L.A. Mexican Americans, which in some cases here have had a hard time connecting back to their roots, not because they don’t want to but because maybe they don’t have the access. So I think for L.A. Mexican Americans and L.A. Latinos to discover N.A.A.F.I for the first time in L.A. is going to be really special, because they are not only connecting with the music, but they will maybe feel like they are actually connecting to a part of their roots.

NN: N.A.A.F.I fits so well here. I think it’s because good club music has a lot of texture and flavors in it. Sometimes it’s Latin, sometimes it’s house, sometimes it’s elements of reggaeton, bass, techno or grime. Mexico City and Los Angeles nightlife share a lot of these same qualities. I think the kids here really connect with N.A.A.F.I because of their punk mentality. I live and work out of Boyle Heights and it seems more prevalent out this way. It’s interesting to see this new generation of “club kids” and just how punk / DIY they are. It’s exciting to see this new energy on the come up. It’s just what we need.

I think they are really challenging the landscape of our “Mexican” music scene by simply existing. It’s 2016, we’d better be evolved to only be about the very best (and worst, when it’s called for) in everything at this point. This lineup (Silent Servant, Santiago Salazar, Raiz, DJ Dex) is beyond on point, and actually perfectly curated for what’s going on in L.A. right now.

Mustache Mondays was one of the club nights that really set a new tone for LGBT nightlife in DTLA. How is that scene evolving and opening up to new audiences? How do you see what you do informing other types of parties in L.A. like this N.A.A.F.I collaboration?

NN: I think we have some really interesting things happening in L.A. nightlife. I love how mixed all the cute parties are. They aren’t just a black, Asian, Mexican, LGBTQ or straight party. The cute ones are actually a good mix of of all that. I enjoy seeing new things pop up that are evolved in this way.

Of course, Fade to Mind is killing it. But we’ve got the kids doing things like Rail Up, and the Calentura / Late Night Laggers guys have really got things popping in the city as well. We actually think it’s perfect timing for this.