We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Pedro Night a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Pedro, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I first fell in love with music at the age of 5, it was Christmas in 1999 and my older brother Roberto and I were opening our presents. Our godfather, a Catholic priest, family friend, and jazz connoisseur had gifted us a few jazz CD’s featuring some of the greatest musicians of all time: Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald. My father gifted me a boom box speaker, so I took the Duke Ellington CD up to my room, started listening and immediately fell in love with the art form. It was at that moment that I knew I wanted to involves myself with this and try to recreate what I was hearing, and then I set out to learn as much as I could about music. I then began to play the piano and kept at it for 5 years, then switched to the saxophone and played that for 10 years, until I switched to DJ’ing. It wasn’t until I reached high school when I knew I wanted to pursue music professionally, though. This was the period of time when college applications were being sent out and teachers were encouraging us students to start thinking seriously about what we wanted to do with our lives. Coming from a Nicaraguan family that wanted a more conventional path for me, it was difficult coming to terms with this desire but I honestly saw no other path more me career-wise. That was 13 years ago, and I think I chose well.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My journey with music began at the age of five in Montgomery Village, MD when I was introduced to the piano and started taking weekly lessons. Throughout middle and high school, I switched to the saxophone and played the instrument for 10 years. I started DJing in 2010 at family parties, school and college events, and some private events here and there. When I started my undergrad studies at Montgomery College, I began promoting for Club Glow and Echostage in Washington, DC, setting off my career in music and nightlife. I worked my way up the ladder and by the time I was 21, I had a full-time position in the company, placed in charge of marketing and promotions. After 4 years at Glow, I began to set my own path as a professional DJ in DC. Very quickly I learned that one of the best ways to sustain oneself as a DJ is through creating and producing your own events and experiences. At the time, having spent several years in DC nightlife within the industry and as a patron, I was not satisfied with the scene as I felt that there was not a party or event in DC that truly celebrated and represented the DMV as a whole. In my eyes, the DMV has a level of diversity that is incomparable on a worldwide basis, but this wasn’t being reflected within our local nightlife. So, I began to conceptualize my own event to provide a safe space for people who represent Central & South America, the Caribbean, Africa, and the DC area to celebrate and empower their cultures under the same roof and to raise money and awareness for issues that affect these communities. To me, Central & South Americans, Caribbeans, Africans, and DMV natives were being kept away from each other with events in DC nightlife, you hardly saw an event with all of these people together dancing to each other’s music. This went against the upbringing that me and my business partner and childhood friend Walter Alvarado had in Gaithersburg and Montgomery Village, one of the most diverse areas in the entire country and perhaps the world. We grew up in Black and Brown dominant schools and communities where we were encouraged to be proud of our heritages and to recognize and respect each other’s cultures. We wanted to create an event that spoke to the huge level of diversity in the DMV area, one that was inclusive of anyone who wanted to hear and dance to dembow hip-hop, bachata, soca, R&B, dancehall, afrobeats, cumbia merengue, gogo, reggaeton, & salsa of course. So, in 2018, Walter and I partnered up with my mentor Marcus Dowling. We threw the first Adobo event in Bethesda for about 200 of our friends in a small bar. By focusing on uniting the different crowds and ethnic groups of the DMV and focusing on delivering an authentic cultural experience, we grew to throwing the best parties in the area and ended up creating a powerful coalition of multiethnic people in the area, something that has not been seen before. Since 2018, we’ve been blessed to be able to bring our experience to the Kennedy Center, Capital One Arena, the Smithsonian, and my alma mater Echostage, the #1 Club in the country and #2 in the world. None of this would’ve been possible if not for the beautiful and eclectic community that we have here in DC, Maryland, and Virginia.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I first began my professional music career in Washington, DC 11 years ago working as a college promoter for Club Glow, and set my sights on moving my way up within the company as well as the bustling EDM industry. Over the next 4 years, I learned as much as I could about the local nightlife + dance music scene, eventually getting to the point where I was helping administer the company’s marketing + social media duties as an intern and later full-time employee by the time I was 21. In late 2016 I made a mistake during an event that resulted in me getting fired from this job that I had moved out of my parent’s house for, dropped out of college to commit to, one that I had fought so hard to get and maintain. Up to that time I had been focused on operating in the EDM industry which at the time was bustling, but I was soon left with almost no opportunities, a little-to-no network, and moved back into my parent’s basement to start from square one again. I then spent the next 6 months plotting and sending job applications out to different venues and event companies, and at that point had been DJing on the side for about 6 years. In 2017 I decided to start DJing professionally and debuted to a sold-out DC crowd in the summer, quickly learning about the local DJ scene and the following year decided to create my own party with my business partner and childhood friend Walter Alvarado — which later turned out to be ADOBO DMV. I never planned to become a professional DJ, and even spent the first four years of my career avoiding this path, but I’m grateful that the pivot pulled off!

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarded aspect of what I do as a creative is that I’m able to bring together people from different backgrounds, ethnicity, class, race — all through the power of music and community. Through ADOBO we have created an experience that truly celebrates and captures the DMV area and the many cultures that are represented here. We started out as a party in Bethesda for 200 folks and are now a staple in DC that stands at the intersection between the different communities that exist in our local area. This is our crowning achievement and what we are most proud of through our work with ADOBO.

Contact Info:

• Website: adobodmv.com
• Instagram: elpedronight
• Twitter: elpedronight

Image Credits
@jadaimanim @trilljesus @preeterr