Listen to 'Demonico,' the Debut EP of Latin Club Scorchers From Kamixlo

When Kamixlo's "Paleta" surfaced on SoundCloud a few months back, the track's insistent hook—a sample yoinked from a Daddy Yankee-featuring Wisin y Yandel song of the same name—became a choice chant in the underground club scene this summer. "Paleta, dame la paleta..." you sang-sung to your friends while doing your best booty roll to the splattering, machine-gun kick drums. "Paleta," named after the Spanish word for an ice pop, was a taste of what makes the Chilean-British producer so hype: the brilliant marriage of colorful Latin riddims and vocals with industrial, bone-crushing bass.

On October 16, shit gets real as Kamixlo drops his anticipated debut EP, Demonico, on CODES, the imprint run by Berlin label PAN and grime producer Visionist. Its four original tracks (plus one Visionist remix) are like non-stop punches in the stomach, tramping between reggaeton, cumbia, dancehall, grime, noise, and abstract club music. It comes as no surprise that many of the song titles are named after professional wrestling moves. The EP also serves as a wiretap into South London (and fledging record label) Endless, which Kamixlo and his crew—Lexxi, Uli K, Blaze Kidd, and Endgame—have been running out of roving DIY spaces.

In a way, Demonico is a testament to London's cultural melting pot, which is giving rise to an underground dance music scene with the kind of diversity that other cities in Europe can only dream of. "I fuck with Latin music way more than anything," Kamixlo tells us over email. "The rhythms in music like reggaeton, bachata and cumbia are like the most beautiful things ever." Plug in your subwoofer and listen to the EP while reading the rest of our interview below.

THUMP: This EP is very hotly tipped—how did you approach it? Did you have an initial concept going in?
Kamixlo: I wanted the EP to sound really distressing but still turn up at the same time. A few of the songs are named after professional wrestling moves too. I wanted "Lariat" to sound like you're getting hit with a Stan Hansen Lariat and "Splxcity" to sound like you're eating a thousand suplexes.

You're based in London, but you've said before that "Chile is in my blood." How do your cultural roots play out in the tracks on the EP?Yeah I'm Chilean and I fuck with Latin music way more than anything. The rhythm is a heavy influence on my music. The rhythms in music like reggaeton, bachata and cumbia are like the most beautiful things ever.

Yet your music still sounds distinctly British, or at least it belongs to a certain corner of experimental club music that I associate with the UK. Do you feel like London—or Brixton—had a direct influence on this EP as well?
Maybe Brixton did before it became gentrified as fuck... I'd kinda hope my music doesn't sound distinctly British tho hehe.

How did you end up on CODES? What makes the label the best home for your debut?
Visionist approached me about making an EP for the label earlier this year. This label seemed like the best place for the EP because no one was trying to change what I was making and I can tell they're fully about releasing good music.

You've been throwing the Endless party in London with your crew. How has that party—which sounds so dope by the way—shaped your sound?
S/o Endless. It's so hard to describe Endless but it definitely has influenced my sound. Demonico kinda sounds like an Endless party tbh. Next Endless is on November 12 at Rye Wax in Peckham, and also come thru to my EP release party tomorrow at BAR A BAR in Stoke Newington. S/o Uli k, Blaze Kidd, Lexxi, Endgame and the rest of my blood.

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Kamixlo's Demonico EP is out October 16, 2015 on CODES. Get more info on the release party here.