Alex Anwandter Talks ‘Maricoteca’: Dance Music with Shades of BDSM

After a three-year hiatus from releasing new music, Alex Anwandter has reemerged more built looking like a sex idol, and armed with an anthem for weekend reveries. “Maricoteca” is a risky wide-eyed NSFW statement, where spectators can see Anwandter fortifying his identity politics with a side of mischief — an alluring-yet-provocative queer artist with an unmatched talent for glimmering dance music. The single, however, is an excitingly pervasive dance cut that sinks into the sins of party culture and BDSM… and cautions, like the song affirms in Spanish, “Don’t look for your mother, nobody will save you here.”

The video for “Maricoteca” was co-directed by himself and Josefina Alen and filmed in Buenos Aires. “I wrote ‘Maricoteca’ as an ode to losing yourself on the dancefloor, a place where you might find love, heartbreak, and the ‘perversion’ of society,” he explains in a statement. “‘Maricoteca’ is also the first song of a new album coming next year, which will explore dance culture and discothèques as the ultimate world where you can become who you really want to be.”

The Chilean multi-hyphenate artist broke into the spotlight at the start of the 2010s with the cult classic album Rebeldes, at a time when Chilean indie pop acts with a passion for electronic productions began to rise — the beloved Javiera Mena, Dënver, Adrianigual, and Astro. Anwandter has always displayed his insatiable knack for dancefloor music persuasions with a riveting queer perspective — look no further than his 2011 breakout single “Como puedes vivir contigo mismo,” which highlights New York ball culture à la Paris Is Burning, or to the iridescent synths and glowing production throughout his discography, including albums like Amiga (2016) and Latinoamericana (2018). 

Recently, Anwandter teamed up with Argentina’s Juliana Gattas of electro-pop duo Miranda! fame as the producer for her upcoming debut solo album, due out next year. The dance electronic artist is also the beatmaker behind Mexico’s esteemed Julieta Venegas’ highly anticipated eighth studio album Tu Historia, out Friday, Nov. 11. Billboard caught up with the now Brooklyn-based provocateur to discuss his recent rendezvous. 

“Maricoteca” is your first single in three years — what did you do during that break?

The break had to do with the pandemic, obviously — but it wasn’t so much of a break because I was making this new album, and I’m going to start releasing singles; I was also producing two other albums, one for Julieta Venegas which comes out this Friday, and the debut album of Juliana Gattas of Miranda! which is coming out next year. So between these two albums, and my album, [it’s been] a lot.

Then “break” is the wrong word. 

All good. The world stopped and I stopped doing shows too. For me it is very important to be with people physically. I didn’t feel like doing shows on Zoom either.

Well, thank you for having this Zoom call with me and talking about your single. It’s a dance track about wildly partying, and indulging in pleasures. What inspired it?

Part of it was moving to New York, which put me in more direct contact with a subculture in dance music that have always been interested in. I’ve made dance music before, but I found it stimulating to be here, and experiencing it as well.

You helped spearhead the Chilean indie-pop wave of the 2010s. Talk to me about that transition — from having participated in that movement in your native country to now mixing new sounds with New York influences. 

It was a quite natural expansion actually. Being Chilean is not the only thing I am. I’m also Latino, and I’m part of the, quote unquote, queer community. Those identities are beginning to blur. For me it is a purpose to transcend identity politics in music. To be honest, I wanted to make a very entertaining record that was about having a good time, feeling pleasure — which is a pretty close thing to me — and in my case, in dance music. It’s a less cerebral and more corporeal record.

You bring to the forefront topics of identity that can feel profound because they are associated with a political movement. But at the same time the music is playful, and ready for the dance floor. How do you balance expressing your identity politics while making music to release?

That’s a good question. On the one hand, [it’s important for me] to make music that I find entertaining, music that really makes me dance and have a good time — and on the other hand, to be genuine, which I always tried to cultivate. Sincerity is very important in my art. And when you combine those two things, you can read an identity, but I’m not trying to sell it.

I find it a bit tiring that at this point in time identities have been commodified. This music has to do a little bit with getting away from discourses that don’t mean much anymore. It’s a little more abstract, but at the same time it’s much more entertaining, dark and mysterious.

Can you share some details about your upcoming album?

It’s an album that will explore dance music and dance culture as a place of expression and pleasure.

I heard you moved to Brooklyn — what brought you to New York? 

I moved to the U.S. five years ago. I lived two years in L.A. and moved three years ago to New York. It’s very crazy here, but it’s very crazy everywhere. Life is very crazy. [Laughs.] Chile is far away, but it’s still intense. I think the world is an intense place, and you just have to get used to the idea. [New York] is very entertaining and I have met very special people. I really like being in a place where people from all over the world live. That’s very nice for me.

Julieta Venegas’ next album, which you produced, maintains her unmistakable style, but your essence and impulse is also noticeable.

The collaboration was a dream for me, in the sense that I have always admired Julieta very much. She is one of the most talented musicians we have had in Latin America. It was a dream in the sense that we had a great time. We have been friends for ten years. I feel that this took our friendship to a different artistic level.

It was a really beautiful experience. As a composer and producer, it was incredible to see someone of Julieta’s level working. When I was with her in the studio, I was thinking, “Wow, that’s why Julieta is doing amazingly well — because she’s a genius.” To see a genius working for me was very impressive. I had a great time.

The minimalist guitar on Venegas’ “La Nostalgia” is beautiful. Her love letter to Tijuana is very poetic, a reflection on her hometown. In your case, do you feel nostalgia for Chile? 

I think I go there too much to feel nostalgic. I’m there all the time — I mean, not all the time, but I travel a lot to do shows. But I’m not a person who looks back, for now, maybe because I’ll feel nostalgic.

Aside from the crazy partying shown in the video for “Maricoteca,” it looks like you’ve been working out. Can you tell me a bit about your fitness routine? 

Is this also going to be in GQ Magazine? I do normal types of exercise, but nothing crazy. I think the music video has that gymnasium imagery — a prison for physical standards and stuff like that. It’s a very gay world, and [the video is] about being a fan of that.

This interview was originally conducted in Spanish.