Cuban-born, Miami-based rising DJ/producer Malóne has been coming up through the underground music scene in the last couple of years with releases on labels such as Saved, Toolroom, Club Sweat, and Abracadabra. Malone is a resident with his own weekly show RITMO on Blond:ish’s AbracadabraTV label/Livestream platform, showcasing his talents and passion for everything Afro House, Minimal/Deep House & Tech.
His newest and biggest project in 2021 will be the launch of his own label, ‘Hurry Up Slowly’, based out of Miami. The artist is set to have a very strong 2021 campaign and continue growing through the underground house music scene with the outlook to breakout in 2022.
Today, we catch up with Malóne to talk about his upcoming release, ‘Sentido’, the launch of his brand new label, connecting via Livestreams, and more.
Electronic Groove: Hi Malóne! We’re delighted to have you here with us. How have you’ve been doing? How have you been keeping yourself entertained through this whole ordeal?
Malóne: What’s up guys?!… Thank you for having me. I’ve been staying busy, man. Luckily I’ve been able to travel and play a lot of shows as of late that I’m super grateful for. But during lockdowns last year I mainly focused on writing music, and was involved in one of the best projects I’ve ever been a part of, which was becoming a resident for Blond:ish’s & Liana Hillison’s AbracadabraTV. In a time where we were all in lockdown and in probably one of our worst mental states, they gave me the opportunity of a lifetime to share my music/vibe on Twitch every week and connect with sooo many amazing people from all over the world! It really gave me the opportunity to reinvent myself and truly find who I was as an artist.
Electronic Groove: That sounds amazing. Let’s rewind a bit from the beginning…How did you get into music? When did electronic dance music catch your ears? Was there a particular track or record that ‘changed the game’ for you?
Malóne: I grew up in a family that loved music. Ever since I was a little kid, I could remember music always being present and such a big part of my family. My uncle was a DJ in Miami in the 80s and taught me how to DJ when I was 10 years old. I was DJing parties by the time I was 11. One of my biggest influences growing up were The Bee Gees, my mom’s favorite group. Growing up on disco & retro music for sure is the link to my love for Electronic Dance Music.
Electronic Groove: And now you’ve been doing this for a long time with releases on labels like Toolroom, Saved, or Club Sweat…How would you define your sound and sets to someone who’s never heard of you before? Is that the same sound you set out for at the beginning of your career?
Malóne: Yeah man, can’t believe it’s about to be 9 years in October. My sound has definitely changed over the years and rightfully so. I think it takes time to find who you really are as an artist. Especially in dance music, I feel like the sound and what’s relevant changes every year, so throughout my career I have had a couple of rebrands and shifts in my sound to get to the point where I am I’m really happy with what I am doing with this Afro/Tech House vibe. A more worldly sound that represents more of who I am, my heritage of Cuba. A lot more drums & percussion, but with big heavy baselines that keep a proper groove and OG sexy feeling going…
Electronic Groove: Speaking about releases, you’ve got your upcoming single ‘Sentido’ on the way. What’s this one all about? What stories or sensations can be heard in your tracks? What kind of things move you?
Malóne: This track means a lot to me because I was writing it during the last couple of months, throughout everything that has been happening with Cuba and the Cuban people’s struggle for freedom. ‘Sentido’ which means ‘sense/feeling or to make sense of’ really stood out to me because of the many Cuban voices/artists/talents that are never discovered, spoken about, or even noticed because of the current situation that’s been going on in Cuba for over 60 years. So I wanted to give the Cuban artist in general more sense, more meaning.
“I think it takes time to find who you really are as an artist. Especially in dance music, I feel like the sound
and what’s relevant changes every year”
Electronic Groove: Now you’re also launching your own label, ‘Hurry Up Slowly’. How did the decision come about? What kind of dynamic can we expect regarding releases? What kind of music will you be on the lookout for?
Malóne: Hurry Up Slowly was started as an event/party curation by Cuban/Miami native Gino Gomez along with his original partners/Miami industry veterans Erick Espinal & DJ Youssef. Gino & I have known each other for years and always supported each other’s music and parties. We originally spoke of the idea years ago, about how great it would be to have a label in Miami (since we thought it was so weird that they weren’t many here) but nothing came of it. Then last year during lockdown, we reconnected and started talking about the idea again, one thing led to the other, and after 4-6 months of writing music, organizing & coming up with a proper game plan we decided to launch the label side of Hurry Up Slowly in 2021. You can expect many different styles and tracks on Hurry Up Slowly but all along this classy sophisticated line. Whether it’s Afro, Melodic, Deep, or Tech, it will carry a distinct HUS vibe.
Electronic Groove: Is there an A&R or manager helping you with the day-to-day? Or are you managing your career and the label on your own?
Malóne: Right now it’s just Calussa (Gino & Andrew) & I. I handle everything on my own to go along with touring and my career. I’m not signed to any agency yet and up to recently had no management either, so I was handling all my own bookings and schedules, releases, gigs, etc…
Electronic Groove: What piece of advice would you give to anyone thinking about starting their own label? What were the key questions you had to answer yourself?
Malóne: The biggest thing, for me, in starting the label, was to be able to create a platform for myself and other up & coming artists. I was getting so tired of consistently being rejected by these big labels or having to wait months to release a track that I knew was just as good or better than what some of these labels were putting out. I think everything in life is about timing. Understanding who you are as an artist and where you are with your brand/career is everything. After releasing a couple of tracks on such legendary labels, getting the support and seeing some of my tracks being played on the biggest stages, and working so hard to continue the momentum in this industry (which to me is the hardest thing to do), I wanted to give myself a platform to be able to release my own music, but more importantly, also support other up & coming artists from all over the world.
Electronic Groove: What’s in store for Malóne in this second half of 2021? What new milestones are you looking forwards to?
Malóne: I’m super excited about the rest of this year and even more so for 2022. I’ve been fortunate enough to really accomplish some of my biggest goals this year like signing music to Nic Fanciulli’s Saved Records (my favorite label) and being booked to play on the Space Miami terrace (bucket list career goal) and headline shows all over the world as of late. My biggest focus is to continue building Hurry Up Slowly Records and the brand with my partners Gino, Erick, Youssef & Diego. We have done some insane and legendary parties in such a short time like the first Abracadabra Festival in Miami during Crypto Weekend or the 2000 person secret party with Nic Fanciulli lol… We are really focused on building something real & special that will be around for a long time. Continuing to create special experiences & parties that will go hand in hand with special music being released on the label. We have some MASSIVE projects in the pipeline that I cannot wait to share.
Electronic Groove: Thank you for sitting down with us Malóne! We wish you all the best!
Malóne: Thank you for having me on guys, appreciate all the love & support. Much love!
Malóne ‘s ‘Sentido’ will be out soon via his own label, Hurry Up Slowly. You can pre-order your copy here.
Follow Malóne: Soundcloud | Facebook | Instagram
