- Adventurous beats from a smartbar resident.
- Ariel Zetina is as charming as she is talented—one of the many reasons she was named "Chicagoan of the Year for Pop Music" by the Chicago Tribune last month. A straight shooter with strong principles, her witty personality shines through on social media and in person. She radiates both best friend and boss energy.
Musically, she wears her heart on her sleeve, infusing her personality into her DJing and production. Her sets and mixes are adventurous, moving from hard to soft to playful with precision. From producing theatre shows and opening for Beyoncé to releasing her RA-recommended debut album on Local Action in 2022, the smartbar resident approaches each venture with meaning and depth. That LP explored the complex experience of being a Belizean-American trans woman, using fiery house and techno to express vulnerability and triumph.
Ariel Zetina's multifaceted personality is on full display in her RA podcast. There's baile funk-infused techno, crisp drum & bass and plenty of tracks from queer producers from all sorts of scenes, including Michael Cignarale, StrikeStone! and Perfect Lovers. It's a grand statement of power, flow and seriously good taste.
What have you been up to recently?
I was touring with DJing for a lot of this year, really actively from spring to fall, basically every weekend. I'm spending this winter in Chicago focusing on music production, video games, audiobooks and chilling with my cat.
How and where was the mix recorded? And can you tell us the idea behind it?
This was recorded on a Pioneer XDJ at my home studio in West Town, Chicago. This mix was sonically about quirky, leftfield, almost frenetic beats that you can still dance to. It also features a lot of my favourite producers from various queer scenes worldwide. I really love production that feels informed by the physical act of going out to queer raves. I think you can feel the energy in the tracks that queer people in all parts of the world are reinventing the nightclub dancefloor.
What's one club or party that had a major impact on you as an artist?
I played a ton of amazing clubs and parties this year, but my two times DJing for the [Berlin] collective Dissident had such an impact on me. Carly Zeng (obsessed with her all-vinyl sets), Bryan Everts and Gabrielle Rose created a party and space that brings a really varied crowd with a strong interest in dancing to anything and everything thrown their way. The first party I played in March featured flowered lights reminiscent of Bikini Bottom from Spongebob, and at the last one I played in November, we all exchanged Kandi bracelets. I really appreciate Dissident's focus on the music and reinventing the experience. Really can't get enough of Carly Zeng's sets.
You have a background as a theatre writer and producer. How has the stage influenced your dance music career?
I think the reason my sets and productions have drama is because of my knowledge of theatrical structure. I try to create climaxes, intermissions, act openers, moments of silence and loudness, cleanliness and messiness to create a time-based experience for the listener or dancer. In college I studied the theory of performance, looking at how people perform every day for other people, so I see the physical act of DJing as a performance. The word perform simply means "to do something," rather than "to do something theatrical," and because DJing's main function is to get a room to move or dance rather than watch, I feel like I see DJing as a performance in this way rather than as something necessarily extravagant. I do love extravaganza though.
As a smartbar resident, have you learnt any DJing tips or tricks over the years in controlling a room?
It seems surreal that I've been a resident of smartbar for six years. My usual time slot for my Diamond Formation parties is 10 PM to 1 AM, so learning how to open has been one of the biggest gifts. I think some DJs (especially newer ones) see opening sets as "playing slow," but I feel that doing opening sets so much at a club where I can hear the intricacies of sound and have a dedicated audience has taught me that when played right anything can be an opening set track (just as anything can be a peak-time track). The ability to experiment at my home club has informed so much of what I do everywhere else. Call me crazy but I think a bit of messiness in sets is good. There is a liveness to it, and you can do it without losing control.
What's one social or political cause you want the world to pay more attention to?
A lot of the press on trans rights has been on the draconian trans bans passed in the US, and on propaganda from detransitioners telling the public they regret transitioning (despite regret from transitioning only affecting a comically small percentage of people). These things are of course horrifying, and they paint places like Florida (the state I grew up in) as some kind of far-right wasteland, but the truth is that there are a ton of queer and trans people living there.
In 2018, Jacksonville—I grew up right outside of Jax—had the highest number of murders of trans people in the US, and they were all Black trans women. The murder of trans women of colour is still the most pressing issue for me today because it's still happening at the same rates. Jacksonville groups like JASMYN and Duval Folx prioritise the trans people physically living in these affected cities.
What are you looking forward to in the near future?
I have an EP forthcoming in 2024 as well as a good number of tracks on compilations and remixes. I didn't release much music in 2023, but 2024 I expect all of the stuff I've been working on to come to fruition. I'm also doing a Europe tour in March, and very excited to be connecting with more ravers worldwide. Also I'm working on a film script at the moment!
Photo: Alexa Viscius
TracklistDJ Sneak - Dancin'
Michael Cignarale - Dance Like We Are Lovers (BASHKKA's Unholy Hour Remix)
Perfect Lovers & Victor Rodrigues - Could It Be You?
Nehuen - Build & Release
Rivet - Le Kland (Grovskopa Version)
BLEID - New Age Waste
Kerry Chapman - Basilisk Matador
Boy Pussy - Suck Me Off (Unit 101 Mix)
Frank Storm, Matt Tolfre - What To Say (DJ Deeon Remix)
Joey Beltram - Instant
Madeline - Fantasy Daddy (Josh Maj Euphoria Mix)
Strikestone! - ""gay""boy""
Cocktail Party Effect - Safety Button
Annika Wolfe - No Tocar
Ariel Zetina - Shade Rattle (forthcoming)
Ciel - String
DANNN - CyberZone (unreleased)
black girl / white girl - Silky Tool
Shawn Cartier - Parking Lot (Vigile Remix)
Marlon Hoffstadt AKA DJ Daddy Trance - Knock You Out
Jdotbalance - Precipitate
Eros - Matatabi
Acid Arab - Leila (KiNK Remix)
Mana Source - Press Start to Play
Doctor Jeep - Machine Learning
Miss Twink USA - Stresscrying
DJ GIRL - JUST A WORM
Dylusion - National Adderall Shortage
Nene H - Fukken Lie
Sabre, Stray, and Halogenix - St. Clair
Ikava Pii - Rhizomorph Era
Tyla - Water feat. Travis Scott (Remix)