We were lucky to catch up with Gio Alatriste recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Gio thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

Call it romanticizing, if you will. But I believe the most powerful force on earth is love. Love is behind all that is great. As human beings we have the gift of making tangible, those things we see in our heads. Under Los Angeles began because i wanted to create experiences, spaces, moments and memories of inclusion, safety, laugher, smiles, and love. Music has been the most constant presence in my life. From a young age, to now, I don’t believe there has been a single day music was not part of.
The music industry is dominated by the same usual characters that have typically held power in most industries. I wanted to put forth a proposal that, while not over-focusing on differences, created opportunities for those who may have gotten less opportunities than they deserved.

Women, people of color, the lbgt+ community and any other group of people who have felt ostracized from society before have a place to call home with us—those who decided that society as it stood, was not where they felt safe, accepted or comfortable.

Starting Under LA, was almost a protest of sorts. Being different is usually chastised in our society, but here, with us, being different is welcomed—championed, I dare say. As long as you are determined to be respectful, inclusive, and open to other people being different from you, you can be at peace here. XO

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Under Los Angeles hosts electronic music nights in LA, while also hosting several nights a year in Mexico. CDMX, Playa del Carmen, Tulum and Puebla. We have hosted events in high end hotels, beach clubs, rooftops, while always maintaining our ties to the underground scene and host pop ups in places like empty parking lots, warehouses, most of the time in overlooked communities that welcome the influx of commerce and opportunity. We strive to create immersive nights where love and energy becomes tangible, smiles abound, music is great and you leave knowing that the experience was “different” and different, if for one night, was good.

Love, diversity and inclusion are the main ingredients of Under LA but the forces that propel us are talent, innovation, and a fresh musical line of bookings that provides opportunities and spotlights to local and growing talent just as much as others would provide for established artists. Our team is diverse, our talent bookings are diverse and as a result, the makeup of our events is a diverse one.
Finding diamonds in the rough and elevating them however we can as they progress in their careers, is one of our favorite things to do.

As for me, along with organizing and curating nights with Under LA, i am a DJ and founded Eminent Artist Agency, where we represent an amazing team of international electronic music artists as well as states-based rising stars.
was born in Mexico and came to the US with my family as a young kid. I grew up in Boyle Heights, a community in Los Angeles east of the LA river. Adjacent to East LA and many times thought of as one the same, though people in both communities would intensely argue otherwise (go Rough Riders!)
I played sports my whole life and through college. I was lucky to attend Oklahoma Panhandle State on a football scholarship. The initial goal was to become a lawyer, funnily enough. But life had other plans and I couldn’t be happier.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I grew up in Boyle Heights, a community defined by overcoming adversity. My path has been less highway and more pot-hole, speed bump filled alley sometimes. I have taken the road less traveled, sometimes by choice and sometimes out of need. Ultimately, I was a three sport varsity player in high school, all league pick. All conference in community college, and earned a scholarship to play football in Oklahoma, where I was the only player on the team with a Political science major, public policy minor.
Failure is almost prescribed to many who grew up in Boyle Heights. I am just lucky to have had a circle around me that never let me fail. My amazing and loving parents who have sacrificed so much for me, teachers who would always make sure I was looked after, coaches who made sure I was doing what I needed to do in school to remain disciplined. Most importantly, though, and I credit this the most, I had friends who didn’t have the same choices and luck I had, whose path had taken them into a world of gangs, drugs, or otherwise negative patterns who always implored me to be the standard bearer and show the world what Boyle Heights really breeds: talent, innovation and resilience. Unwilling to quit and unfaltering in the resolve to get back up when we fall. The same is true for many who come from similar environments and I salute all who remained laser focused and refused to be just another statistic.

Can you open up about a time when you had a really close call with the business?

Many people don’t know, or realize, that when you hear, or encounter a business, Artist, or simply someone’s endeavor for the first time, most definitely is not how it’s always been. Part of what makes me motivated is never forgetting how the beginning used to look. The first couple of years, we ran negative balance sheets on almost every event we hosted. I was a civil litigation paralegal, and for quite some time, every available cent I had, went to this company. At times, even the cents I didn’t have. Friends and family helped. Strangers helped. The stories are wild to only choose one. There were many moments where I doubted. Many moments, also, where I had to apologize to vendors and staff, begging for just a couple of days until my next 9-5 paycheck in order to settle invoices. If not by their grace, perhaps we this dream would have remained as that, a dream. Looking back, the task was immense: creating and establishing a brand in a city like Los Angeles while also reaching for a position in other cities, (and countries no less) in an industry where you depend on familiarity and trust. Sometimes I smile at my innocence when looking back.
My steadfast belief that we could do it, that our proposal was a good one and one that was innovative enough to compete with the best…eventually. I just did not know what eventually meant. *insert laughing emoji*

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @under.losangeles / @alatriste.la
• Facebook: .com/underlosangeles | .com/alatriste.la
• Twitter: @underlosangeles
• Other: Email: [email protected] [email protected] For our events: https://ra.co/promoters/100237 For our artist management agency: eminentartistagency.com

Image Credits
Sara Saldivar