She studied Art History at the University of Houston, while DJing at Rice University’s radio station. I first encountered Chavez’s work via her interview in Tara Rodgers’ Pink Noises (2010), where she relays her origin story: She began DJing at 16, starting a duo with her then-boyfriend spinning techno and dnb. She settled on one turntable and one mixer, and an array of (oft-broken) needles and damaged records.
Still by the geto boys instrumental how to#
“What is the opposite of a DJ?” Chavez asked herself this question when first confronted with how to improvise as a turntablist. Produced and mixed in Montreal, April 2022 Interview recorded between New York and Montreal, January 2022 I’m very grateful for any support, which will help ensure future episodes. The first two seasons are also available on Bandcamp. You can support Sound Propositions on Patreon if you are so inclined, or send a one-time donation via PayPal. Sound Propositions should be available wherever you get your podcasts, so please keep an eye out and subscribe (and rate and review, it helps others who might be interested find us). In this episode, we discuss recent and upcoming collaborations, her switch to using four turntables (with double needles), and staking out her rightful place in art history contra White supremacist power structures. But after beginning a medical sabbatical in 2019, which forced her to cease touring (a year before the rest of the world shut down), Maria began slowly releasing new recordings into the world. A true sound artist (she adamantly eschews the label “musician”), until recently, Chavez had released only one recording, 2004’s Those Eyes Of Hers, focusing instead on her career as longform performance. Oliveros inspired her to ditch dance parties for improvisation with a single turntable, an artistic practice which has evolved to include installations, workshops, visual art, and curation. Born in Lima, Peru and raised in Houston, she cut her teeth as a DJ spinning techno and drum & bass, but the male chauvinism of that scene roused her to experiment further with the materiality of vinyl, using broken needles and non-musical sounds. Maria Chavez is a pioneer of Abstract Turntablism, a self-described practice she developed under the guidance of Pauline Oliveros‘ Deep Listening.
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