After her massive European tour, Aradia stopped by to reflect on her career as a prominent leader in the Mexican hard dance scene and beyond.
Aradia is an uptempo producer and DJ from Mexico City, leaving her mark on the worldwide hard dance scene while proudly representing her culture. Throughout her explosive career, she has cemented herself as a prominent player in the Mexican Hard Dance scene, which has advanced her project and helped her claim a spot among the greats. In recent years, Aradia has crossed many milestones with performances at EDC Mexico, Tomorrowland, Defqon.1 Weekend Festival, and more.
Apart from her success as an artist, Aradia has honed her skills as an industry leader and taken on the mission of elevating hard dance artists in Mexico, making the country a hotspot for the global hard dance scene. Constantly searching for fresh talent, she’s helped guide a new generation of talent into key positions by running K1 Recordz while creating DediKted Festival, a can’t-miss event for lovers of the harder styles.
With her project at the forefront, Aradia never forgets where she came from, and she consistently gives back by advocating for empowering women in the music industry. Riding the momentum she’s created, she stopped by to spin up a high-energy guest mix and discuss her beginnings in the music industry, her recent European tour, her work as an industry professional, and more!
Stream EDMID Guest Mix 433 || Aradia on SoundCloud:
Hi, Aradia. I’d like to revisit your beginnings in Mexico. How were you exposed to hard dance music in Mexico?
Love guided me to the harder styles. I met my husband, K1, in 2017. He’s the main exponent of hard music in Mexico and introduced me to the harder styles. I started working for his label as a manager, and I fell in love with it. I also worked as the manager for my husband and some artists who are exclusive to our record label, K1 Recordz. From there, I decided to follow my dream of being an artist. Thus, Aradia was born.
In 2018, I got to know uptempo when I saw Bulletproof and Partyraiser. I said, “Wow, this music is so much fun!” From that moment, I began to undertake uptempo. At that time, there weren’t as many artists in the space as today and I believe that made it easier to popularize my project.
My first exposure to hardcore was also because of my husband. We visited Defqon.1 in 2019 as a wedding anniversary present, and it was incredible! I love my genre, and I will always relate it to the love of my life. I’m very grateful to life for meeting my husband because he helped me discover my way of life – music.
How did you make a name for yourself in Mexico, where hard dance music is less popular than in the rest of the world?
I’ve always had the support of my husband and my artists. I’ve never been alone and I haven’t grown on my own. I’ve had the support of many people who I appreciate and am grateful for everything that has happened in my career.
While hard dance is not as popular in Mexico, many people are working to popularize it. My husband and I are working to give the genre more exposure. We run our own festival called DediKted, which is 100% harder styles. We’re pouring our hearts into it so more people can fall in love with this beautiful genre just as we are.
I see many artists traveling to the Netherlands for the chance to play and be popular, but that’s not my dream. My goal is to bring this genre to my country and give it exposure so that more people can join the madness, and so I don’t have to travel internationally to play live. In the summer, however, I always want to experience it in Europe. There’s nothing like those summer festivals.
Recently, you went on a European tour, hitting major festivals like Defqon.1, Dominator Festival, So W’happy, and more. What does it mean to you to represent Mexico worldwide as one of the top hard dance artists?
It’s a great honor to represent my country at the world’s biggest and most important festivals. At many of these festivals, I am usually the only Mexican artist. In addition, I’ve also been the first Latin American artist to play at the uptempo stages at Defqon.1, Tomorrowland, and Dominator. I’m very fortunate to have these opportunities. Being in lineups alongside artists who inspired me to pursue my dreams is a feeling I can’t describe.
In this European tour, you also debuted at the YELLOW at Defqon.1, and you presented a track with Gezellige Uptempo at the BLACK. What did you learn from playing Defqon.1 and exposing your music to a brand-new audience?
Playing on the YELLOW has been my dream since I first visited Defqon.1 in 2019. I’m grateful to Defqon.1 for allowing me to showcase my talent. I feel proud, and I’m grateful to all the Mexican people who attended my sets at these European festivals.
Playing my music on the BLACK at Defqon.1 was unreal and a dream come true. My second goal is to have the opportunity to present my project on that stage. Hopefully, I’ll achieve that goal one day.
You also brought “The Future” to Tomorrowland with K1. How did it feel to achieve this milestone together?
You have no idea how incredible it is to share what you love most with the love of your life! It was one of the best experiences of my life. Although Tomorrowland is the most important festival in the world, I need to be honest. It was never a dream of mine or a goal of mine to play there. It came, and I’m grateful for it, and I value the opportunity.
However, I didn’t have high expectations because I thought it was difficult to play uptempo at Tomorrowland. I thought the set wouldn’t be good, but I swear it was one of the best sets I’ve ever had! K1 and I feel very happy and grateful for everything that happened there. I truly hope to return to Tomorrowland. It’s a beautiful festival.
Together with K1, you two organize DediKted Festival and run K1 Records. How do you use this to elevate hard dance music in Mexico?
It’s complicated to do everything, but thank God I have a dedicated work team that can help solve everything. DediKted and K1 Recordz have helped me grow as a person and an artist. There’s nothing like performing live in Mexico; I’m not the only one to say that. All of the foreign artists who come and play for us in Mexico say that the crowds are beautiful, and they’re grateful for the fans who follow my work.
I’ve left K1 Recordz in the hands of Ana, now the Label Manager, and our A&R, Yuuja. They’re important pieces of the puzzle who help us tremendously to focus more on our artist projects, our family, and DediKted.
Today, you’ve cemented yourself as one of the faces of uptempo hardcore in Mexico and the world. What is your goal for the future of hard dance in Mexico?
What a difficult question. First, it’s an honor that people consider me an important figure in uptempo, even if it’s in my country. My objectives are clear, but I do not want to share them right now because I am afraid they will not be fulfilled. In general, I want to grow my festival and want more people to be in love with this music as I am. Similarly, I want to have better exposure in Europe. I’m currently working on many collaborations with European artists so that more people over there can get to know me.
Most importantly, I want to spend many years living the life I love with lots of happiness. I can say that I live 100% in the music, and I hope God gives me life to be able to do what I love. I also hope that the people who follow me and love me continue allowing me to prove to them why I’ve earned and deserve their support. I hope to return to Defqon.1, Dominator, and Tomorrowland. For new festivals, I want to play Thunderdome and Snakepit. I will work hard to achieve these goals.
This year, you released a brand-new collaboration, “Dancefloor Killer,” with one of the leaders of uptempo, Juliëx. What conversations or situations led to the creation of this new record together?
My lovely Juliëx. I simply sent her a project with a proposal for a collaboration, and she accepted. She’s a beautiful and humble person. Going deeper, we formed a great friendship after we met in Europe. We talked every day via WhatsApp, and one day, I told her, “How would you like to make a track together?” She accepted, so I sent her an idea, and she completed an incredible track that I hope everyone enjoyed!
We also played together at EDC Mexico 2024. It was surreal as she’s one of my biggest inspirations. I admire her as an artist and my friend. Hopefully, we can work on more projects together.
Speaking of your releases, you’ve given fans three new tracks in 2024. What does the rest of the year look like for Aradia on the music front?
Right now, I have so many edits I want to release. I played one of my edits live at the BLACK with Gezellige Uptempo at Defqon.1. It’s an edit of “Hollaback Girl” by Gwen Stefani. Luckily, the full set was recorded live, and it will be uploaded in a few days. I’ll release that edit beforehand so everybody can save it.
I’m truly excited and emotional! I was in front of 30,000 people and now, the complete set where I played one of my songs will be uploaded on the official Defqon.1 channels. Wow! Incredible.
I’m also releasing my edit of “El Sonidito,” which I’ve been playing all year. I know there are many edits of this track, but I feel special with mine because Aradia is a Mexican artist playing an edit of an iconic Mexican record. Be on the lookout for it!
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