Known for his cinematic productions and immersive DJ sets, Rinzen has built an international following through releases on This Never Happened, Bedrock, and mau5trap, as well as performances at venues like Printworks, Fabric, and Sound LA. Meanwhile, Dominican artist Oscar Rodriguez has been a key figure in the Caribbean scene, shaping floors with a deep, melodic style developed over years behind the decks in Santo Domingo.
Photo credit: Rinzen / Oscar Rodriguez – Official
Now stepping into the global spotlight, Rodriguez makes his official debut as a producer with ‘Finale’—a collaboration with Rinzen released via Lane 8’s This Never Happened imprint. The track marks a high point for both artists: a cinematic, late-night anthem that fuses narrative-driven composition with emotional depth and dancefloor sensibility.
In this conversation, Rinzen and Oscar Rodriguez open up about mentorship, remote creative flow, and the growing global threads tying together scenes from Los Angeles to Santo Domingo.
EG: Welcome to EG guys, and congrats on ‘Finale’, it really feels like a journey. What does that title mean to you both as the entry point for this collab?
Rinzen: The song has this climatic emotion to it. Like you’ve been listening to an entire DJ set and this comes on and just caps off the emotion. It just had the energy of a ‘Finale’.
Oscar: For me, ‘Finale’ marks both an ending and a beginning. It’s my debut as a producer, so it symbolizes closing one chapter as just a DJ and stepping into a new one as an artist.
EG: Oscar, this is your official producer debut, a huge moment. What sparked “it’s time,” and why did Rinzen feel like the perfect partner?
Oscar Rodriguez: Everything came together once Rinzen offered his support and agreed to collaborate—knowing he was willing to put his name next to mine gave me the green light to go for it.
EG: Rinzen, what about Oscar’s initial demo cut through the noise of incoming stems and made you invest in this project?
Rinzen: So actually, Oscar and I have been working together for over 2 years as part of my Patreon mentorship program. I’ve heard his music develop tremendously in that time span. There have been a few ideas from him that caught my ear for a potential collab, but this one with its hooky melody and bassline immediately spoke to me and I knew it had big potential.
EG: Let’s talk tech, what DAW features, stems-sharing tools or plug-ins became indispensable, and did any errors turn into happy accidents?
Rinzen: So, as I mentioned with the mentorship program, we actually work together at least once a month over Zoom. I share my Ableton screen and am able to share the audio directly as well. This one came about pretty quickly, with Oscar showing me his initial idea and then sending over the Ableton project folder and me finishing it in the next few weeks.
Oscar: Through this mentorship with Michael, I was able to dive deeper into Serum and start designing my own sounds—something that was one of my original goals from the beginning.
EG: Beyond the tech, what was the biggest human challenge in forging trust when you’d never met in person?
Rinzen: Whilst we’ve never met in person, as we’ve been working together over Zoom for two years, we feel very aligned creatively, I think! Oscar is an idea factory and consistently amazes me with how quickly he is writing and finishing new songs.
Oscar: I had already heard his work and, of course, had complete trust in any recommendations he might have for mine.
EG: Connecting L.A. to Santo Domingo feels emblematic of 2025’s scene. In one sentence, what trend excites you most right now, and which one worries you?
Rinzen: I like that the scene has really returned to melodic music. There is heavy emphasis on chords and melodies, which to me is the heart of emotion in dance music. I’m also enjoying that there’s a market for slower, under 125BPM music. So much of the scene has gotten so fast, but I’m glad there’s such a healthy love for slower tempos again as well.
Oscar: What excites me most is seeing how many of the newer artists in Santo Domingo are diving straight into music production. A few years ago, the focus was mostly on DJing, but now there’s a real shift toward creating original music, which is amazing to see. What worries me, though, is that the scene feels a bit saturated—especially for such a small island and tight-knit community.
“It symbolizes closing one chapter as just a DJ and stepping into a new one as an artist”
EG: Your music is often called cinematic. Beyond making people dance, do you feel a responsibility to tell a story or create emotional spaces?
Rinzen: I just genuinely love music that sounds like it could be scoring an imaginary movie. I want to make something that captures the full spectrum of emotion, while still making someone dance. It’s not necessarily a responsibility as much as a passion for creating that kind of music.
EG: Social media can make or break an emerging artist. Oscar, how are you approaching it in your debut? Rinzen, how has your relationship with it evolved over your career?
Rinzen: For me personally, I’ve never been able to “force” the social media aspect. It’s too time consuming and never has the results I’d want anyways. Rather, I focus on social media and marketing only when I have something to say or to share. Which, as a working artist, is luckily quite often.
Oscar: Social media isn’t something that comes naturally to me, so I’m grateful to have my publicist, Lindsay from LCPR, guiding me through it. She’s helping shape my online presence and strategy, which allows me to focus on the music while still showing up in the right ways. I understand how important it is in today’s industry, and I’m learning to embrace it more with the right support.
EG: Geography and time-zone juggling: did they ever spark a fresh musical idea you’d never find in a hometown studio?
Rinzen: I actually love when I’m on tour and in a different city and I seek out a nice cafe to work on music in. It always brings new ideas or puts me in a different headspace which is helpful creatively.
Oscar: It’s funny—one of my latest projects, which is turning out really well, actually started from an idea I had outside the studio. I had mentioned it to Michael during our last class and told him I was bringing my laptop along, just in case inspiration struck.
EG: What lessons from this remote session will you carry into future studio or live collaborations?
Rinzen: I think if more collaborators embraced a “quantity” approach and evaluated more potential ideas together instead of just working on the first thing that comes out, they might have better collaborative success. It’s hard to stumble across a good idea, and not rushing the process and waiting till you have a strong seed of an idea makes things so much easier.
Oscar: I have a feeling that one day Michael will take a vacation here in the Dominican Republic—and who knows, we might even have some “live classes” while he’s here.
“I’m glad there’s such a healthy love for slower tempos again”
EG: Oscar, after ‘Finale,’ what’s next for your solo projects? What’s your vision?
Oscar: I have other finished projects that I plan to start sending to labels after this release to keep the momentum going.
EG: Rinzen, when you drop this in a big club this summer, what moment in the night is it built for?
Rinzen: Definitely it’s intended to be played at the peak of the night (or close to end). Every time I’ve dropped it thus far, it’s gotten a huge reaction, especially at the breakdown. So it’s definitely designed for those peaktime moments.
EG: Any final message for fans and aspiring producers tuning in?
Rinzen: I think Oscar’s story is an inspirational one. He’s been quietly making music for a long time and focusing on getting better. He’s never been in a rush to get things out; he instead just keeps writing new songs and polishing his skills. It’s because of that, that this song idea came about and I heard it.
Oscar: I’m just focused on continuing to make music—and like Michael always tells me, “your best work is still ahead of you.”
Rinzen and Oscar Rodriguez’s ‘Finale’ is out now on This Never Happened. Stream and download here.
Follow Rinzen: Spotify | Soundcloud | Instagram | Facebook
Follow Oscar Rodriguez: Spotify | Soundcloud | Instagram
