Interview with Renata by: Juan Izguerra

Juan Izguerra: Hey Renata! Thank you so much for contributing to our mix series. Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?

Renata Do Valle: So excited to be part of the series, thanks for having me! I was born and raised in Florianopolis, Brasil and now living in Brooklyn, NY for the past 14 years.

JI: When did you leave Brazil? And was it difficult starting fresh In a big city?

RDV: I left São Paulo in 2009 where I was living at the time. I had to move my entire life to NY, it was very hard, my personal life brought me here, and was undergoing some changes. It’s a tough city for sure, living in that constant love & hate relationship. Nonetheless, I’m proud of my journey and accomplishments. It finally feels like it’s coming full circle and with it, a greater sense of belonging and happiness. 

JI: I first came across your label Hello Sailor when you released Street Soul Brasil. Can you tell me how the concept came about? And were those songs you were surrounded by in Brazil or something you came across as you started DJ’ing?

RDV: I worked with Augusto and Millos while producing Hello Sailor’s second 7”, the friendship pertained and a few years later I reached out to Augusto to possibly work on a compilation for the label. He suggested the street soul route and we both wanted to do something that hadn’t been done before. I did grow up with these tracks in my teen years and so did Augusto, it was a wonderful experience to work together with him and revisit that time. The shared sentiment was that we wanted to expose this feeling to a larger audience worldwide and showcase a lesser-known musicality from Brasil. I often DJ all Brazilian sets, and have had people come to me and ask to play Brazilian music all while I was indeed playing Brazilian songs (laugh)! People are more familiar with the bossa nova-jazzy sounds of Brasil, so I wanted to challenge that notion, through the complication and my DJ sets I guess. 

JI: You played at Dekmantel Selectors in 2022, which looked like an amazing time. How do you balance being a mom, work a full-time job, all while carving out time to find new music to play and prepare for gigs? 

RDV: I just barely balance it all! It was wonderful to play in Croatia absolutely, but leaving my son for a short period to travel is no easy task and I couldn’t do it without a great co-parenting relationship. It’s also important to acknowledge our hard-earned work, so kudos to me! You have to be on top of everything, wake up early, stay healthy, do lots of planning on Google calendar, do music research on my days off, and make sure to find time in between it all for quality time with the kid. 

JI: Is there anything you are excited about this year?

RDV: Excited to be able to travel more this year! I’m going down to Brasil in April after 5 years! My son is getting older too so I’m hoping to take him with me to Europe this summer for my little tour. Looking forward to showing him another side of the world, meeting new people, play music :)

JI: Can you tell us a bit about this mix you put together for us?

RDV: I had no theme initially for this mix, I just started putting together songs I’ve been currently playing and some recent dig finds. I am not so attached to specific genres or matching bpm's, but rather the storytelling, the sonority, and the feeling of a song, a certain vibe that clicks with my aesthetic. While I was recording I realized I had geography in mind for this one. LA sits in between the Pacific and Atlantic, the east and west. You can spot sounds from the Middle East, South America, and beyond.