Chilean DJ, producer and now singer Alejandra Del Pilar Iglesias Rivera, AKA Dinky, will definitely be reading this interview. In contrast to the many music artists who view today’s 24-7 media culture with cold suspicion – a constant surge of comment and criticism that often, perhaps inevitably, digresses from the source material it is meant to cover – Dinky is happy to engage with the medium and subsequently digest it, believing the opinions of others can actually help her hone her already prodigious craft, as Defected’s Ben Lovett found out.
“Ultimately, I didn’t take it [criticism] personally” she begins. “How can you worry? Music is like food; it’s about subjective tastes. What one person likes is different to what another likes, no matter if they’re a journalist or not. Of course, my first two albums had horrible reviews. I am human, so things can hurt; but it’s better now; I have learnt to see criticism as something that can sometimes help. I am an artist who is not always so sure of themselves so I like to take people’s comments on board. Some critics can give you valuable input in terms of what ideas and directions you pursue in the future.”
Dinky is promoting her new – fifth – studio album Dimension D, just released via the Visionquest stable. How has it gone down so far? “I have to say the reaction has been really positive” she confirms. “There have been a couple of neutral reviews, which is fine, but many excellent ones. On the whole I always prepare myself for the worst. As an artist, releasing an album is like taking a school test where certain teachers already have preconceived ideas about how you’ll do, regardless of actually looking at what you’ve done there and then. There is a certain prejudice within the music industry where people take a view on you before they even listen to anything, but on the whole I am open... prepared for the worst. It’s therefore really good to see the reaction to the new record. Moving forwards, I’d like to have more attention from the indie scene, but there’s a lot of support in the electronic community and that is really fantastic.”
Dimension D, released in the past few days, is a striking fusion of club and indie sensibilities. Dinky unrolls her 4-4 rhythms with care and precision but these are sonic backdrop rather than the album’s driving force. As such, Dimension D generates rich, transcendental atmosphere through the organic combination of meandering keys, acoustic and electric guitar and ethereal vocals (Dinky’s own), and heightens the feeling with clear song structure and direction. By turns light and dark, simple and complicated, it is a cool but powerful, wholly memorable swirl of indie-dance.
“The record is definitely a big progression for me” she says. “I mean I’m singing to start with. I spent a year practising with my vocals. Not many people realise that. People often think such things are just there naturally but they’re not. I didn’t just want to be speaking on this record with intonation, as nice as this is. I wanted to sing, with all the personality that that brings, and, for me, that was a big step. It’s been a good process because it has helped me come even further away from my shyness and create more personality around what I do.
With that in mind, Dinky actually sees Dimension D as a career stepping stone – important but by no means her biggest moment; not yet, at least. “For now” she explains, “I view the album as a bridge record. It will hopefully help me move the next phase of my career. Of course, I am still learning and Dimension D reflects that. It represents the first time I have sung properly and written songs. I don’t see it as my biggest achievement, there’s still a lot more to do.”
The Visionquest crew – Troxler, Reeves, Curtiss, Crosson – have been an undoubtedly strong source of creative support, renowned for their own electric brand of free-wheeling thinking. “For sure, we have a super good relationship” she smiles. “It’s really open. And any ideas are able to breathe. At the same time, Visionquest offered a traditional way to promote my album, which I’ve not had before. We released singles beforehand; we had a clearly mapped out idea of what we wanted to do. All of that helps reinforce and build you as an artist.”
That said Visionquest weren’t able to offer Dinky the kind of tour environment that might best compliment Dimension D. It has forced her into organising her own live show. “That’s fine, Visionquest do clubs” she says. “So, the live touring is on me, which is an exciting challenge but much more difficult.”
Not least, it seems, because of the fashion-following politics of booking and talent agents. “A lot of agencies I was speaking to wanted me to DJ all the time” she reveals. “They weren’t interested in anything acoustic or different...experimental. I’m with the right agency now but there was some pressure beforehand to conform to regular DJing. It’s not been an easy transition from that side of things, because of all the elements involved... the keys, the vocals, the acoustic instruments, the lack of computers.”
But that vast melting point of sounds and instruments should, Dinky believes, reap long-term rewards, a wider spectrum of listeners able to identify with her stagecraft, as well as fully visualise her as an artist – as opposed to simply naming a shadowy disc-spinner who spends all their time in dark basement clubs.
“It’s disappointing that there aren’t more opportunities to put on these artistic shows, rather than just booking DJs but I do what I do,” she remarks. “Once people hear an artistic show, with all the different sounds, there are able to look at the artist. They realise there is more to those performers and can relate to them. I think someone like Nicolas Jaar is a great example; he plays clubs but brings in vocalists, and guitarists... different elements which bring together club crowds, and crowds from other music scenes.”
Dinky has been busy, amidst heavy promotion for Dimension D, building her live platform. No effort is being spared to ensure the show sounds absolutely perfect (both to fan and artist alike) which means it will actually present itself in two different formats - one akin to the album, one more forcibly aligned to the club: “Eventually, I think, the format will evolve into one defined thing that I love but I want to be flexible so having two ideas for a show isn’t a bad idea. Right now I’m rehearsing lots and testing things out. It’s so much work but totally rewarding when it comes together.”
Dinky grew up in Santiago, Chile, learning the piano from a young age but eventually training to become a professional dancer and choreographer. In the late Nineties, she moved to New York to join the prestigious Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance but, by then, had already been swayed by the futuristic pulse of electronic music. Dinky’s sister, living in Berlin, would supplement her love of bands like Depeche Mode and Cocteau Twins with Carl Craig and Aphex Twin. During the mid-Nineties, still in Chile, Dinky would meet influential compatriots Ricardo Villalobos and Luciano, learn to mix records and make her first trips to Berlin to experience renowned techno clubs such as Tresor and E-Werk.
Dinky’s move to New York, another major bastion of underground clubbing, would promptly turbo-charge her feelings towards electronic music; enough to compel a switch from dancing to DJing. Cult Big Apple club residencies and parties with friend Magda complimented taut studio output for Carpark Records, Sonic Groove and influential German imprint Traum Schallplatten. Dinky’s eventual move to Berlin – owing to new US visa restrictions, post-September 11 – cemented a promising discography with EP releases for Horizontal, Wagon Repair, Cocoon, Ostgut Ton, Crosstown Rebels and Visionquest. She has also released studio albums Melodias Venenosas (2001), Blackcabaret (2003), May Be Later (2008) and critically-acclaimed Anemik (2009).
Where much of Dinky’s production past has associated with dub techno, deep house and experimental electronica, her production present – perhaps catalysed by the bold, folk-edged release of Anemik – very much takes her in exciting, organic new directions. All of it, however, owes a great deal to her time in Chile as a youngster learning to dance.
“Dance and music are so closely entwined,” Dinky urges. “As a dancer and choreographer I was studying rhythm, musical movement and expression, and all of that plays into my life today as a musician and artist. The two will always be linked together. I gave dance up partly because the lifestyle required to be a dancer is crazy – so many rehearsals, keeping healthy, early nights, no going out.... It was unrealistic. But the music was always there, and I am really happy about my progression. I was listening to Kraftwerk at the age of 12, and having all those feelings that something exciting and different was happening; something I wanted to be part of. I loved intelligent dance music...still love it. And Berlin is such a great city to be working in, doing what I love.”
Which brings us nicely on to the future and what that possibly holds for Dinky? “In the short term, it’s about writing more songs, writing more music and developing my confidence with that,” she explains. “I also want to build momentum with the performances; playing to a crowd as a musician is an amazing feeling. I definitely want to expand my repertoire, as much as I also like to DJ.”
Is there anything beyond that? Dinky is finally, it seems, hitting a new and assured creative stride at the very edges of electronic clubland. Audiences will therefore watch what happens next with huge interest. “I’m going to take my time; take things slowly” she counters. “I am free right now and that is all I need, the rest will fall into place I’m sure. But certainly I don’t want to be in front of a computer all the time; I have never believed in that. There is so much in the world still to explore; so many sounds and influences. I’m excited about pursuing my own distinct vision and seeing where that leads me.”
Words: Ben Lovett
Dinky’s new album Dimension D is our now on Visionquest (Ger)
