We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Javier Rivera. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Javier below.

Alright, Javier thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

Everything’s been self taught for the most part. I started out with drums maybe around 12 years old? I picked up guitar right after. I did take guitar lessons when I was a teen too but that didn’t last long since I wanted to learn songs that I liked and not the stuff the professors would teach. I started picking up producing around after high school and into college. I learned GarageBand then switched to logic 9. The producing was also all self taught. I would literally just watch YouTube videos of studio engineers and how they approach the craft. Til this day I still do this to be honest to keep up with new ways of approaching production and recording.

To speed up the process, I probably wouldn’t have gone to college and if I did, I would have studied audio. That would have gotten me a bit more ahead than where I am at now. Instead of wasting my time in college, I would have spent those years learning more about engineering and getting involved in the performing arts.

Skills that I believe is needed in this medium for sure is having a good ear for music. You also have to know what sounds good and what fits for your style of production to figure out your taste in sonics. That will eventually develop into you finding your own sonic identity. You have to also really be diverse in what you listen to. There is a lot you can learn from listening to different genres of music and also listening to film scores as well.

Javier, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a musician and producer that goes by the name malasurfcartel. Id like to say that I am an artist all around because I am involved in everything I need as a musician such as the show flyers, cover art and anything that is required to get the job done. I draw a lot of inspiration from different mediums as well such as painters, photographers, etc. I got my start in music by making beats for local rappers here in Houston, than started gigging as a guitarist and producing records. I’m pretty much known for all of that here locally. Right now I gig as a dj but I really enjoy being stuck in the studio. I do my best to take this craft seriously and treat it like audio art. I started taking producing seriously when blogs and random people would reach out and mention how good the music was/is. My previous band got a lot of recognition in South America and I am still looked at as one of the up and comers in that region since I was producing the records for the band. The UK has picked up my electronic production and I am honing in on those types of records right now.

When I started gigging, I would see the crowd reacting to the music in a positive way and would even get complimented afterwards. That’s when I knew, “okay I got something here.” The best feeling though is when random people dm me and tell me how the music got them through hardships and really appreciated what I do. This I think is what we have to do when we have this type of gift or talent. Sort of our job to let the people have it and enjoy it and take it how they need it. Some people will get it and some people won’t, but I think it’s more of the reaction we get from people and accept that as the accomplishment of what we made. Even if the reactions are negative or positive.

I am currently ending the year by just being in the studio and will gig full throttle at the start of next year.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

Sometimes being a creative, we don’t have much time to spend with the people we care about. At least in my case, it’s tough to keep up with family and friends when I am really focused and honed in on the craft. Some people understand and some take it the wrong way. For me, this is all I really know how to do and I want to be great at it, which requires me to learn and practice as much as I can. I try my best to communicate this to the people I care about and not take their responses personally.

: Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

To be the best at what I do and be the one that challenges what’s already here. How can we move the art/craft forward to new directions or heights? At this point and age in my life, I’m already well invested in this passion of mine and plan to take it to places that people haven’t. What can this art do for people and how much can art alter a humans mindset or outlook on life. This is what gives me my drive to figure out. It all takes time.

Contact Info:

• Website: malasurfcartel.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/malasurfcartel
• Twitter: Twitter.com/malasurfcartel
• Youtube: YouTube.com/malasurfcartel
• Other: SoundCloud.com/Malasurfcartel

Image Credits
Zane