We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Talulah Rodriguez-Anderson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Talulah, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

The biggest risk I ever took was pursuing music in general. I’ve always had a passion for music but didn’t grow up in a musical environment and wasn’t classically trained, but deep down in my soul I knew it was the one thing that would make me feel truly fulfilled and motivated creatively. I grew up practicing visual arts as a child and went on to study communication design in college, but always had my heart in music. I would burn CDs for friends and later curate playlists religiously. I started DJing at the age of 17, with whatever equipment I could get my hands on, I was fascinated by everything about it. When it came time to go to LA for art school, I was immersed in a new culture of nightlife and different soundscapes. I frequently went to music festivals and events where I was being exposed to the underground culture of electronic music. I ended up buying my first DJ controller at age 20 and was primarily self taught in the mixing department. I listened to all kinds of music; being influenced by indie dance and west coast hip hop was only the beginning. I started learning more about house and dance music and found myself in the perfect place at the right time. I started playing gigs in LA and down in my hometown in Mexico. Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco is really where my DJ career began to flourish back in the 2010s. Later after finishing my design degree in 2015 I decided to take the next steps into the world of music. Going into music production was the biggest leap I was terrified to take, it’s like learning a new language and really doesn’t have much to do with DJing at all. I went to two different music schools in LA; Garnish in 2019 and Pointblank in 2020. Then right around the time when pandemic started I decided to really give production a shot full time; at first feeling a little frustrated with the technicality and tediousness of it all, but after putting more hours in, it started to become fun for me. Never in a million years would I have imagined myself releasing music with reputable record labels such as Tierra Sounds based in California. Now with various releases under my belt I can finally say I am proud of the work that I am doing and releasing for the world to hear. It took a little over a decade in music to become the artist I am today and none of that would have been possible without that initial risk. My advice for anyone yearning to pursue a different career or just feeling self doubt in general is to just go for it, if you put love and time into anything you do there will always be positive outcomes.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Talulah is a Mexican/American DJ and music producer from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. She was self taught during her teens and went on to master the craft of djing after studying
design in Los Angeles. Later in life she attended Pointblank Music School and Garnish Music School in LA where she began her journey into production in 2019.

With an emphasis in afro house; she travels the world with her organic/tribal signature sound which draws inspiration from the jungles of Latin American to coastline of Africa. Her past residencies include The Lash Social Club in Los Angeles CA, Casitas Maraika & Majahuitas Beach Club in Cabos Corrientes, Mexico.

She stands out above the crowd with her unique take on house vibes, striving in tropical settings for electronic lovers. Now writing, singing and producing her own original music independently with scheduled releases coming soon.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect about being an artist is that I can reinvent myself time and time again. I am ever evolving just like my signature sound and my vibe. I don’t have to fit into a box and I don’t have to make the same kind of music forever. I enjoy making and djing afro and latin house right now, but who knows what I will be doing 10 years from now. My essence as a creative person in general is to inspire others to pursue their ultimate goals, no matter how scary or unstable they might seem. Life is powered by giving yourself challenges and pushing yourself to the limits then realizing that those limits were always imaginary and you just built them in your head. There is no dream or goal that is too wild or extraordinary to achieve. The lesson I have learned throughout my years in the music realm is just keep creating, creating is the most important part of the journey, it doesn’t matter if it is horrible right now, the learning process is the optimum destination. For example when I am producing; I love releasing finalized tracks, it’s nice to see your hard work in action interacting with the public, but the main takeaway and learning aspect is always in the creation. The manifestation beforehand, the inspiration, the execution and the overall process are all pivotal to your growth. Does it really matter how many streams you are getting on your songs? You know that you are improving and finding yourself as you create. The freedom of being creative and expressing yourself in a way that feels authentic to you is priceless. Think about all your favorite musicians before they blew up; they are all so unapologetic and unique, that’s why you love them in the first place. Never losing that spark of genuine nature and always being able to stay true to yourself is my favorite part of being an artist.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

In my earlier years as a musician I wanted to do everything myself and that was becoming detrimental to my process. I wish I knew how to delegate tasks earlier on in my career; you are allowed to ask for help. For example I have had many music teachers and tutors; learning different useful skills from all of them. We have obvious resources like Youtube and asking friends for advice. But I want to get a little more specific for any aspiring music producers out there. So I like having vocals in my songs but don’t feel all that confident with my singing voice; I outsource this either by using a website called Splice where there are millions of samples or I look for specific artists I want to work with on Soundbetter.com. I have used both of these platforms for many tracks and always am pleased with the result. You know the saying “Work smarter, not harder”; that is what I am getting at. As an independent artist there are so many aspects to releasing a track, lighten your load by delegating tasks out to others. Another example is the mastering process of a finalized track (not my specialty) I recently was put on to the website called Landr.com by a friend and it actually generates pretty amazing mastered tracks, saving time and money. Same goes with the cover art; you don’t need to spend a ton of money or time on this… think of Rosalia’s recent singles, she probably did those in minutes herself. Get crafty and don’t overthink it.

https://splice.com/
https://soundbetter.com/
https://www.landr.com/

Contact Info:

• Website: https://soundcloud.com/talulahdj
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talulahmusic/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TalulahDJ/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/TalulahCarlota
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@talulahmusic

Image Credits
The main photo is by @damiandejulian All the rest of the photos are by @alelucaphoto