Nicola Cruz^EC

Committed to remodelling the folkloric roots of the past into a contemporary electronic framework, Nicola Cruz’s sun-soaked original productions are matched only by his fluid proficiency as a DJ. Born in Limoges to Ecuadorian parents, Cruz spent his youth between France, Quito and Mexico, where he honed the craft of music production and sound design. A half-decade of mastering production later and fueled by his exhaustive knowledge of various musical genres, Cruz released his debut LP Prender El Alma in 2015, a cohesive body of organic Afro-Latin textures pulsating with effervescent electronic flourishes that complement without overwhelming. A flurry of EPs and extensive travels across the globe eventually laid the foundation for 2019’s Siku, simultaneously a homage to his Ecuadorian heritage and a bridge to other cultures, with Cruz integrating African and Asian rhythms and instrumentation into his ever-growing signature “Andean step” sound.

Synthesizing these vast influences, Cruz’s live sets connect the dots between traditional musical folklore and pioneering music production, forming a groovy, dub-laden conversation between past, present and future. And just as his productions have grown in scope, so has demand for Cruz's always-shifting live shows, performed from a modular setup which stretches and reshapes his source material into ever-shifting improvised permutations.