Breaking Boundaries: Jessica Audiffred's Bass Music Revolution

Welcome to the captivating world of Jessica Audiffred, a dynamic force in the realm of bass and dubstep, an artist that has carved her path amidst a landscape dominated by EDM, techno, and melodic genres. In this interview, we delve into her journey, driven by a mix of influences that spanned Nu Metal, Trance and Techno.

Audiffred’s artistic vision extends beyond her own career, as she curates fresh talent through ‘A Records,’ a label that has been discovering hidden bass gems from Mexico and Latin America, allowing artists full creative freedom, resulting in authentic, boundary-pushing music.

Another of Audiffred’s groundbreaking achievements includes ‘Mad House,’ a bass festival in Mexico, which evolved from an warehouse party to a sold-out event. Her motivation? To cater to the thriving Mexican bass community with an unforgettable musical experience.

But Audiffred’s journey isn’t just about breaking boundaries; it’s also a testament to female empowerment in the music industry. She modestly acknowledges her accomplishments, highlighting the support of her management team, MAYD Artist Group, and the love she receives from the local Mexican scene.

Intriguingly, Audiffred’s musical prowess extends beyond producing, remixing and performing. Her collaboration with Excision on ‘Rise’ and remix of ‘Way Up’ for Borgore exemplify her ability to craft powerful tunes that resonate with audiences worldwide.

Furthermore, her partnership with Adventure Club resulted in the creation of ‘You Found Me,’ a testament to the remarkable connections forged in the electronic music community. And then there’s the iconic collab with DJ Diesel, sparked by a tweet that led to ‘No Fear,’ a track that electrified Lost Lands.

As Audiffred’s journey unfolds, she finds herself preparing to make her mark at Tomorrowland Brazil, fulfilling a lifelong dream and eagerly anticipating the burgeoning bass scene in South America.

Behind the decks, Jessica Audiffred’s preparations extend to creating unique edits and remixes for her live sets. Her distinctive style and dedication to delivering an unparalleled experience shine through at every performance.

Beyond music, Audiffred’s foray into the fashion world, through a collaboration with MISHKA, showing her vibrant, colorful, bold persona and also her love for fashion and self-expression, blending music and style. Read on to learn much more!

Hello Jessica! How are you doing? We are pleased to have you on the Mixmag Brazil cover. Welcome!

We would love to start by talking about the motivation that led you into the bass and dubstep path instead of exploring into other genres that are more popular in your country like EDM, techno or melodic? What was your source of inspiration?

I grew up listening to Nu Metal as well as Trance and Techno, Dubstep to me is like a blend of these sounds, I was naturally attracted to it. I get to express myself without limits.

It’s extraordinary the way you have done it so far, and how you set a strong signature in your sound! How do you analyse this transformation for you and the artists that you release in ‘A Records’?

A Records is my way of discovering and sharing fresh, new talent. I look for music that I would play in my sets and that keeps the sound very consistent.

Most of the artists on the label are from Mexico and Latin America, there is so much Bass talent in the region yet to be discovered.

How important to you is allowing artists to fully express themselves musically in your label?

I like to give the artists full creative freedom, while I may have a suggestion here or there I like to let the artists fully express themselves, that realness comes across in the final record.

In June you have made history in the electronic music sphere by creating ‘Mad House’ the first large-scale bass festival in Mexico, which was a sold-out event. What was your stimulus to do it? What do you consider that bass music is magnetizing the attention of the young audiences?

We have a lot of Bass fans in Mexico but we had no events that really catered to them.

I started ‘Mad House’ a few years back as a warehouse party, showcasing local talent and it grew really fast - it was out of control.

We took the risk of moving it to a much larger venue. The risk was worth it and it has been selling out ever since.

Marking a turning point in your musical journey, your current touring life has manifested a pivotal moment in your career, especially with dates in colossal venues that have never had a female bass/dubstep headliner before.

What does that make you feel? What is your definition of female empowerment in the industry as being one of the very few female Latino producers who has performed at festivals in the USA and having these amazing milestones?

Never felt like a headliner or looked at it this way, I just do this because I love it. Never expected any of the success I am having - I’m very grateful. Living in the present.

My managers at MAYD Artist Group (Yusef Tarzi and Duane Buriani-Gennai) have always respected me as an artist and a peer and pushed me to take control of my career.

We’ve navigated through a lot of obstacles together. I have my own festival, my own label and my own radio show, it’s really important to have your own brand identity and to be in control of it.

The local scene in Mexico has also shown me so much love and supported me at every step in my career. We are all like one big family.

Moving forward to your music, you have presented powerful tunes like ‘Rise’ in collaboration with Excision ft. Leah Culver; what can you tell us about its production? Also, we could sense the contribution of ‘Youth in Circles’ in the track.

Youth in Circles is a good friend of mine, and a talent to look out for. We were in my home studio playing with some ideas and he just sort of played that guitar riff on the spot. I started building a song around it but it wasn’t quite ready to be played out.

When I heard from my team that Excision was open to doing a collab with me I knew right away to send him this work in progress. He really put his touch on the record and helped make it the track we all love today.

What about the remix of ‘Way Up’ for Borgore, and Timadee? How would you rate the potential for expressing yourself with DJing compared to producing and remixing?

That was a lot of fun. Borgore is awesome and really chill to work with. I try to express myself at all times, whether I am making music or playing a DJ set.

I do a lot of edits and personal remixes to make my sets memorable and as unique as my productions.

As well, you teamed up with Canadian duo Adventure Club to present ‘You Found Me’. What would you highlight about this partnership? And What does mean for you signing to Monstercat?

Really cool how that transpired. I logged on to Twitter and saw a tweet from Adventure Club saying they wanted to do a collab with me.

My team followed up on that and a week later I met Leighton and Christian at Moonrise Festival - we clicked immediately. They are really nice guys.

We picked a couple of songs from their unfinished demos that expressed both of our styles. I put my little twist on the second drops and after some back and forth the EP was done.

Monstercat is extremely exciting, I have been a fan of the label from the start. To be working with them is a dream come true.

Another superb accolade is your collaboration with iconic DJ Diesel, released recently. How was it to work with such a legend? When did you guys first decide to collab?

That actually started with a tweet too haha. I mean how would anyone feel waking up to a tweet from Shaq. He is such a gentleman.

I had a song I had put together, more of a festival weapon that I had been testing around at the time but it was always missing something.

When I heard Shaq wanted to do a collab, we followed up with him right away. I sent ‘No Fear’ over to him and he put his touches on it, as well as an original vocal.

Me and DJ Diesel played it together at Lost Lands recently and it was a moment I will never forget.

Speaking of travels, tell us, how does it feel that Audiffred’s sound will be danced for the first time in Tomorrowland Belgium and Brazil? What expectations do you have?

Tomorrowland has always been a goal, doesn’t get much bigger than that as far as festivals go. I’m so excited about playing in both countries and while I have experience playing in Belgium, Brazil is completely knew to me.

That both excites me and makes me a little nervous. It’s a new city for me with an emerging Bass scene. But the Bass fans from Brazil reach out to me all the time on my socials and I really feel like it’s going to be another home for me, just like Mexico and I am really excited to see how far Bass music will go in the country.

While touring how much preparation do you put into the tracks you choose to play, and do you still practice transitions with new tracks in your spare time?

Not so much practicing transitions, I play on 4 decks and I make a ton of edits for my sets.

So most of what I do before my live shows is to make edits and remix’s so I can give my audiences a unique experience.

Continually, we have seen that artists are more involved into the fashion industry, not only by collaborating with topmost brands or having sponsorships, also the brands have decided to be teamed up with them to present innovative concepts in their merchandise, like is now your case with MISHKA. What message would you like to express with this line?

I’m very big into fashion and I love dressing for the occasion when on stage. I also have a huge love for sneakers and streetwear and an ambassadorship with Adidas Mexico which keeps me laced up.

MISHKA has been one of my favorite brands of streetwear from the start so doing this collab with them not only came naturally, it has always been a goal. Both of our styles are funky, full of color and loud - so it’s the perfect team up.

To wrap it up, what do you have coming up that we should look out for? Is there something that we forgot to mention, and you’d love to share?

A lot of music! I am extremely busy in the studio with so many surprises. I will also be announcing the second phase of my US tour soon with some BIG venues being added.

My festival in Mexico is also growing year after year, we had 6,000 in attendance this last year and plan on adding a second stage in 2024. Excited about the new year!

Follow Jessica Audiffred on: Instagram | Facebook | Soundcloud