Filipina-American DJ and producer Soraya grew up in Southern California, and started going to raves and small renegades when she was super young (around 14, 15 years old).
"I asked my parents for decks for my 17th birthday," Soraya says. "When I went to college in Hawai’i, I played house parties and various smaller shows for fun. By the time I moved back to San Diego, the shows exponentially got bigger & I began working in dance music full-time and growing my network in the industry. I met my manager when I was working as an artist liaison at a festival around three years ago, and he asked if I was represented a few months later. In the last year alone, I signed to UTA and am officially touring full-time (on top of running a dance music PR agency on the side!), and played Coachella, EDC, and Lightning in a Bottle – so I guess I’d say it got serious pretty recently. I’m super grateful for the path that I’ve been on, and I look forward to seeing where this journey takes me next."
Soraya says that she's describe her sound primarily as indie dance with rock, '80s disco, and '90s tech house influences.
"However, I like anything darker and funky, so I tend to just play whatever is fun to me and I’d like to hear loud."
She recently dropped her set from Lightning in a Bottle Festival on YouTube.
"It definitely was a career highlight for me," he says. "It was my ninth year going, and I played at The Junkyard stage, which helped shape my sound over the years into what it is today. I’m always so inspired by the artists that play there, and with this year’s stage renovation, the sound & production was insane. It truly was a full circle moment for me, as I’ve been going since I was 17, and it’ll be something I think about for the rest of my career."
As for gear: "I always love mixing on the V10, and have recently been dabbling with the RMX-1000 in my sets. For production gear, I produce in Ableton and love anything Arturia – I use Analog Lab and Acid V the most, and also love the staples such as Serum and Diva. Subtronnic and Weapon Sounds are also great, smaller companies that specialize in Indie Dance packs, and I use their sounds quite often in my productions."
Looking ahead, Soraya has plenty planned for the coming months.
"I have three releases slated for the next three months – the first is a collaboration called ‘Dance W Me’ on one of my favorite labels, Club Sweat, with an artist named POPS, who is on the rise in Chicago. The second is an original called ‘Movement’ on Omakase Records from New York. Following that up with one of my personal favorites, ‘All I Want’, which I’m releasing with Project 91 Recordings. There’s a ton of new music coming in the next year, and I’m so excited to show my fans a new direction of my sound that aligns more with what they hear in my DJ sets.
On the touring front, I just wrapped my summer tour, which included Coachella, Shabang Festival, EDC Las Vegas, Lightning in a Bottle, Electric Castle in Romania, and more amazing shows across the country," she says. "In the coming months, I have some incredible shows including Experts Only Festival, Echostage DC with Gorgon City & Hayden James, Los Osos Richmond, Breakaway Utah, and Rouge Room Las Vegas – I’m truly excited for all of them, and it’s been such a blessing to play for so many new markets and meet so many new people. It really never gets old."
Photo credit: @christianxblake
