- The slower, sludgier and altogether stranger side of the Miami underground.
- It's safe to say that Miami has become the de facto hotbed of cutting-edge American dance music in the past couple years. From Nick León to INVT to Coffintexts to Bitter Babe, check the lineup of any festival or European club this summer and you're bound to see delegates from the Magic City holding court. Even though he might not be clocking up frequent flyer miles like his peers, Jonathan Trujillo AKA Jonny from Space, is one of the city's next breakout stars. He's a constant fixture on the scene sharing the decks with visiting royalty from Skream to Ben UFO, throws his own parties, handles bookings for some of the city's biggest venues and festivals, and just launched a new label with León called Impacto.
His music, most of which he self-releases on Bandcamp, operates at the more sluggish, headsier fringes of the Miami scene. Take "Drip Or Drown" and "Rozay" from this latest EP, Heat Wave. These two tracks sound like a Spazio Disponibile release by way of the 305. "Rozay" suspends time and space as a coiled hand drum loop pushes the track forward while the detuned flute melody unfurls painfully slow, holding the momentum in place. The sub pulses and mosquito like synths make "Drip Or Drown," giving the track a swampy stickiness.
Even when collaborating with man-of-the-hour Nick León, he opts for the skeletal and impressionistic. "Positive Results" isn't much more than a bleeping synth melody that slinks along like a vampire avoiding daylight over faint 808 hits and the afterglow of undulating chords. It's only "Beamin" that comes close to a peak time club tune, with a sticky dembow rhythm under staggering synths and corrugated chords that are broken into sharp edges.
It's the slow and steady weirdness that gives Trujillo his own distinct vibe. It also speaks to the depth of talent in Miami. It’s tempting as an outsider to caricature the city as solely churning out percussive-heavy, chest-rattling bangers (which, let me be clear, Trujillo can make with the best of 'em), but that doesn't do the city's scene justice. Heat Wave is another excellent release that further expands the dance floor cosmos of the Broward County underground.
Tracklist01. Rozay
02. Drip Or Drown
03. Beamin
04. Positive Results feat. Nick León
05. Frenz