Check Out Maselli’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Maselli.

Hi Maselli, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My story starts in Sandy Springs around the time I turned nine years old, where I was introduced to the double bass. At first it was pure curiosity. How could I learn and dominate such a huge instrument? As time when on and recitales kept happening I slowly fell in love with the attention and my own capacity. I ended up playing the double bass for around 5 years. Once I relocated to Venezuela at twelve years old I tried to continue playing but learning a new language and having to make new friends in a country I had no memory of became super hard, so playing became harder and harder till I completely stopped. Fast forward a couple of years where my love for music transformed into a love for house music in particular. Id sit for hours to watch festivals and new stages in complete awe. Wanting to recreate what I saw I tried (and failed) to produce and dj and that was that.. Until a breakup resurfaced my desire to find what made me, me. My passion for music returned and I set out to be who Ive always only dreamt of being.
In 2023 Maselli came about. Maselli is actually my last name, most people assume it’s just a made up persona but it’s just the other half of myself. In my begginings as everyone does I started exploring sounds, started playing afro house and now im exploring acid house. Utopia and Ritmo were one of the first places I had the chance to play, now a couple of years later ive played on the same lineups as Latmun, Dennis Ferrer, Harrison BPD, Natalia Roth, Mihai Popoviciu, David Gtronic, Garrett David and more to come! Part of trying to become a dj is solely focused on putting yourself out there ready or not. Not every crowd will connect with the feeling you’re trying to portray and that’s okay. Your sound is not meant for everyone, and if it does then (in my opinion) you’re playing what the crowd wants to hear and not what they don’t know they need to hear. I try to mix sounds that have underground influences and acid house elements yet at the same time adding some groovy elements to keep the crowd happy and dancing. One of the most important elements and a huge secret to being a great DJ is learning to “read the crowd” which takes multiple failed tries and some blows to anyones ego. At the end of the day to me all the ups and downs give me life in a world where we’re told to conform to the norm.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Being a woman in this industry has got to be the biggest hurdle to overcome. It doesn’t matter how great I play or how much I put myself out there, there will always be someone that undermines my ability. There was a period in where I would cover myself to a certain degree because I wanted them to hear what I played instead of being objectified and sexualized over and over again. Until I realized that I can be a woman who plays and wears whatever she wants and if that bothers them then that’s their problem. Woman representation in this industry matters!

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
What I’m most proud of is starting from scratch and quickly building a name in a scene that doesn’t always make space for women (especially Latina women) in electronic music. I’ve carved out my spot by staying true to myself, pushing boundaries, and letting the music speak louder than any stereotype.

Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
My advice to anyone wanting to make space for themselves is to just do it, sounds cliche I know. Ready or not, just put yourself out there. You will fail more times than you succeed but it’s part of the process. Reach out to different collectives, dm anyone or any stage you’d like to be included in. As long as you’re confident in what you know and the abilities you have there’s nothing stopping you.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mas.elli/
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/carolilina

Image Credits
Danitza Munoz
Karol Bolivar
Patricia Correa
Ricardo Garcia
Sara Islas/Gustavo Escalona
Victor Gutierrez