Ahead of EDC Mexico, Alby Loud stopped by to give us an inside look at his newest live set and reflect on his career and the Mexican Hard Dance scene.
Later this month, thousands of ravers from all over will gather under the electric sky for the 13th edition of EDC Mexico. This year, the festival is returning to Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City for three days of mayhem with a diverse lineup for the entire spectrum of dance music lovers. From the insanely stacked talent, someone that you can’t miss is none other than one of Mexico’s greatest hard dance artists, Alby Loud!
Throughout his decade-plus run, Alby Loud has tinkered with the harder styles and made them his own by adding his unique spins. Living by his mantra of “Be Weird Be Original,” he has earned his spot as one of the top artists in Mexico, and now he’s ready to showcase the next step of his journey during his performance at EDC Mexico.
Before the festival kicks off next weekend, we caught up with Alby Loud to dive into his career over the past year. He delves into milestones like his recent European tour, reflects on the one-year anniversary of DUALITY, and gives us a sneak peek into what’s to come from his set at EDC Mexico.
If you’re heading under the electric sky this month, get to know Alby Loud and don’t miss another one of his epic performances. Read on for the full conversation and get a taste of his live performances with his LET HIM COOK set on YouTube!
To start, congratulations on your recent tour in Europe! As an artist from Mexico, what did it mean to you to travel across Europe and represent the Mexican scene there?
It’s always an honor to represent Mexico in other parts of the world. It makes me feel very proud of what I’m doing as a musician and helping elevate Mexico’s name in a scene where, unfortunately, our impact is still not as strong as it should be. I always try to do my best to put my country’s name at the top and earn the respect we deserve.
Do you have a favorite moment or performance from your time in Europe?
My show in Braunschweig with East Side Partys was amazing. The production and overall atmosphere were top-tier. Berlin was also very special, especially for doing a B2B with Lolalita for Gabber Industries Berlin. The crowd energy there was something truly spectacular. The show in Poznań with Wixapol was an excellent way to kick off the tour. The vibes were fantastic from the very beginning.
London was a completely different experience from anything I had done before. It felt more like an activation inside Cyberdog, which is a massive store full of ravers right in the heart of the city. That contrast made it very special in its own way.
It was also great to return to Rotterdam and Hardcore Radio. It was an experience where I learned a lot and had the chance to connect with people who were there at the very beginning of what we now know as hardcore. Of course, I can’t leave out the LET HIM COOK radio set. Even though it wasn’t a live show, being invited to record there was huge for me. Definitely a bucket list moment as a DJ.
For the fans who may not understand, what do you think makes hard dance music from Mexico unique from what the scene in Europe produces?
What makes hard dance coming from Mexico authentic is how much we experiment. We constantly combine different hard genres within a single track, do unconventional things, and use sounds that aren’t always expected. Our craziness really defines the sound, and I think it will become something generational over time. We just need to stay consistent.
Speaking of your past accomplishments, it’s almost been a year since you released your last album, DUALITY. It truly highlighted your own duality as a producer with half-hard dance and half-experimental genres. Do you have any words of reflection after your most important project has been out in the world for a year?
Having DUALITY out in the world has been very important for me. Those tracks really defined the direction of the music I’m releasing now. It also made me realize how much my discography has grown, not only in quantity but in quality, and it reflects what I’m capable of as an artist.
Getting to the present day, you’re returning once again to EDC Mexico this year! It seems like this is a very important set for you, so what can your loyal (and hopefully new) fans expect from you in this set?
This set is very special for me. I’ll be playing music I’ve been working on for the past year and a half, along with new IDs and exclusive edits made specifically for this show. That combination is what will make the set unique, intense, and truly hardcore.
Being such an important set, is there any new music or collaborations that fans should be on the lookout for during your performance?
Yes, I’ll be premiering a lot of new music, including some big collaborations. This set also represents a more mature phase of my sound and where I’m heading in my career.
In only one sentence, how would you convince fans to come out to your set at EDC Mexico?
I’m not trying to fit into anything. I’m going to wasteLAND to play exactly what I want and push the most extreme music possible on a stage that’s already known for being intense.
To end on an interesting note, last year, you told us that it’s key for the hard dance scene in Mexico to stop trying to be a copy of Europe and create its own identity. One year later, do you think that there’s anything else that the current scene should be focusing on in order to advance the harder styles in Mexico?
I think the scene is definitely evolving, but we need to be more consistent and believe even more in ourselves. If that happens, the growth of harder styles in Mexico will be very noticeable in the next few years.
