Meet the talent of Ocaso Festival: MagdalenaOcaso Festival Tamarindo By Pablo Murillo 06 01 2018 0182

Meet the talent of Ocaso Festival: Magdalena

Tamarindo, Costa Rica will ring in the new year with another dose of underground dance music with Ocaso‘s arrival on January 2 to the coastal town. The five-day festival has grown over the years into a veritable institution within the Central American house and techno scene, with curious travelers from around the globe visiting each year. 2019’s billing is a strong mixture of veteran and new performers per usual, with notable headliners including Jamie Jones, Damian Lazarus, Loco Dice, and Guy Gerber. Ahead of the festivities, Dancing Astronaut spoke to the artists to get to know them a bit better, and hear what excites them most about Ocaso.

Dance music has been a driving force in Magdalena‘s path for many years now.  She ultimately couldn’t deny a life filled with it, taking helm of Diynamic‘s nightclub EGO throughout its Hamburg tenure and eventually getting behind the decks and into the studio herself. Her diverse, yet refined house sets are a nice balance of grooves, melodies, and and invigorating rhythms — a mixture that has captured the attention of clubbers worldwide and her positioning on top of the house realm. It comes as no surprise, given her years spent working behind the scenes, learning how to read the floor and having easy access to the most cutting-edge music bubbling up from the underground.

Magdalena’s aesthetic will fit well into the beachy setting of Ocaso, given her experience as an Ibiza resident DJ since 2016. This past summer, she achieved an island milestone in earning her very own night at the Blue Marlin, which she named SHADOWS. The residency saw her hosting the likes of La Fleur, Nick Curly, and Anja Schneider, and has since turned into an international affair with a namesake residency just announced in Tulum. Her upcoming release on Damian Lazarus’ Rebellion imprint feels like it belongs in the tropics.

The burgeoning talent tells us about her comeup, her Costa Rican expectations, and more in our discussion.

Meet the talent of Ocaso Festival: MagdalenaPress Photo Magdalena Supplied By Team

Supplied by Magdalena’s team

Tell us about the moment/time period where you decided that a full-time music career was the only way to go.
I always loved music and wanted to pursue a career in it, but I don’t think I really realized I could make it until our club EGO was becoming super successful, and I started to get booked to DJ abroad more and more.

What’s your favorite part about the Costa Rican dance scene, if you’ve played there before? If not, what are you most curious about regarding the crowds, club culture, etc.
I’ve never been to Costa Rica but I am really excited to go. There’s so much I’m curious about; the nature, the food, the people, how the crowd will be and the party scene there!

Which of your gigs are you most proud of, and why?
Oh wow what a question… I think the Cercle live stream at the Faculté de Médecine de Montpellier was a really important gig for me, as I knew the stream would go out on their huge channels, the event had sold lots of tickets and of course they usually have huge artists play for them. I almost didn’t make it to the gig; I had multiple last minute flight cancellations so ended up taking a combination of trains and buses, and arrived with just 10 minutes to spare before I was due to start! I had to change super quickly and do my makeup in this small toilet with all my make up all over the floor, before I literally ran to the stage to start playing. It was also a bit of a difficult sound situation at this beautiful and historic venue… but fortunately the gig was a success and I am proud that I was able to keep a calm head through all the stress ;)

What’s in your crate right now that is knocking the dancefloor off its feet?
I am really enjoying playing the tracks off my new EP, “Wildlife,” that’s due to come out on Damian Lazarus’ label Rebellion in December. I made them over the course of a year and have tested them out on a lot of dance floors to make sure I had got them just right. When I got a great reaction at our Diynamic off Sonar showcase I knew it was time to release them!

What are you looking forward to most about Ocaso festival?
Everything: good friends, good people, beautiful nature, exciting food, and I’m expecting good vibes with great music at the festival. These are all the things that make me really happy in life.

Which artists do you recommend most from the lineup, aside from yourself?
Of course Damian Lazarus, as I have him to thank for supporting my new release, as well as my good friend HOSH, who always kills it. There’s lots of upcoming artists on the lineup that I haven’t played with before, so I’ll be looking to check out the new talent as well.

Tell us a fun fact about yourself that audiences might not know.
I am a great Balkan dialect imitator!

 

Photo credit: Pablo Murillo

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