Mexico based DJ-producer duo Young Drums have been on our radar since long time. Nice to finally reach out. As the winterish cold stays on the Baltic coast, while calendar is already counting the spring days, Young Drums occurs with a waft of warm, sweet smelling air. We are talking about the local scene, residency at Radio Bar, which they call home and future plans. 'One of our main duties is to put Salamanca on the map' - YD smiles. Vamos!

Salamanca, the forgotten city of Mexico. This is how you introduce the location you're from. It makes me curious. Tell me everything about Salamanca and its scene. 

Salamanca is a small city located in the centre of Mexico. 

Almost 70 years ago an Oil Refinery was located here, so since then, our sky is red and the streets are dusty, you can feel these Mordor/Mad Max vibes when you arrive. Actually, you can see the big flames from the boundaries. So basically, this industrial stuff is where our inspiration comes from. 

Here has never been a dance music oriented club, so most of the parties are on post-industrial venues or random places. We think it helped us to take risk on the decks, definitely.

We started to call it “The Forgotten City” cause here are things happening but nobody knows about it, its like time just running and nothing is changing.

And yes! It’s actually forgotten. We remember the very first time we played in Mexico City that some guys from the crowd asked us where were we from, we answered and some people were thinking we were from Salamanca, Spain, jaja. They didn’t know our town existed! 

So we are still working on one of our main duties to put Salamanca on the map :)

You have been actively working under the name of Young Drums since 2007. Hard to believe, but that was almost two decades ago. You definitely witnessed many changes in the music scene. What's your impression on the 21st century music world dynamics?

It's interesting how the scene is always getting new forms and how people transforms whit it. 

And these changes are cool because you get new opportunities, you can play different music, maybe music that before was more difficult to play or even sounds we didn't know. 

Like everything it's about tendencies, but nowadays the change is faster than before, many things are ephemeral and depends a lot on trendies or the skills to use the social media. You must not let yourself be surprised about these Instagram influencer DJ's, the key is not to get stuck, we have to stay updated, always seeking and discovering new sounds or new interesting projects (DJ's, producers, labels, parties, etc). 

We have a saying “that the future doesn't reach you” and this is one of our statements.

Young Drums sounds good. Is there a story behind the name? How did everything start?

At the very beginning we used to play with our real names as Diego y Josue, jaja, but people usually asked for a project name.

We started to DJ'ing when we were like 15/16 years old, and we were the youngest DJ's in the local scene, so they referred to us as “kids”, because of that we choose YOUNG. And DRUMS because we love the rhythm machines and all kind of latin perks, so we just put it together and YD was born.

You are the residents at the Radio Bar with an event series called 'Modern Speech'. What kind of concept are you looking for? What does 'Modern Speech' sound like?

We've been residents of Radio since they opened 6 years ago. 

About 2019 when Salamanca became dangerous af and was difficult to throw parties here because the drug cartels, we decided to move our base to Radio that is located in Irapuato (a city very close to Salamanca), so basically it's like home for us. 

Chema, the owner, is a very close friend, he trusts us a lot and always is supporting our ideas. 

So Modern Speech is a monthly party we started almost one year ago. It doesn't have a straight sound or music concept, the main idea is about to bring and spread the music and projects we like, find interesting ones which we can't hear around here. But it isn't only about music, cause we are working with amazing Mexican visual artists to achieve the complete message.

I'm sure that by curating a party series, you constantly stumble upon new discoveries. Trusting your recommendation, what are the artists or DJ's we should look up for?

We have a big list for this, and there are many pending artists to invite, we always wanted to recommend Mexican talents that are doing heavy things; but here’s our honourable mention: Top-Fav producers are Korsssakov, Zombies In Miami, Soos, Loris, Cautiverio, Niño Arbol, AAAA. And sick selectors: Kev, Lumberjack, Mnty, Arieshandmodel.

You both seem like a good team. Quality partnership in creative projects is always the key. How do you maintain it? Which is the bad cop and which is the good cop?   

Jajaja, Diego is 100% the good cop!, definitely Josué is the bad boy here.

We've been friends for over 20 years now. Basically we grew up in the same neighbourhood, we have the same roots, maybe this is the main fact, it feels like an organic and natural partnership.

So since we were kids we are team. With same ideals is very easy to maintain the relationship, the creative process becomes is very balanced. Actually it turns very difficult to try to do something without one of the parts. 

Mexico has always been on the map of every music enthusiast. The zeitgeist-y DJ's from around the world joyfully visit Mexico when touring - it seems that the club audience is also special. Can you tell me about the vibe of the Mexican dance scene?

Mexican crowd changes on every city, but there’s always energy/friendly vibes. Maybe that’s what people from other countries love here (tacos and clamatos as well). You will always listen to someone shouting a funny dance floor call or a whistler, this is classic. 

So yeah! Definitely México has one of the best club audience. Very easy to feel this Mexican warm vibe on the dance floor.  

We think Mexico is currently going through an important moment for the electronic music scene, a lot of things happening now, good producers, parties, DJ's, etc, and people supporting this is the key.

And definitely our favourite crowd is on small cities! People is not that wannabe-picky as in big cities. The fun level will be more if you are not pretending you are a nerd at the party.

It seems that the pandemic is ending bit by bit. What are your near future plans? What should we expect from 'Young Drums'?

We have plenty of plans! Our artists side has to grow more and more, we will deliver some tunes at the end of this year via our Haunted Space label. But also we really love our promotor side, so you can expect a consolidated residency at Radio Bar. And the most exciting, our baby UFO Camp is coming this summer; Imagine organizing a 24 hour rave with your favourite artists from Mexico at an abandoned water-park. Is gonna be nuts. And by the way, this is our fav gig of the year!

And a short glimpse to the past. What were the most exciting pieces or projects you guys ever worked on?

When we started UFO Camp it was just a friends thing, then we realized it wasn’t, first edition turned to be quite big. So we took advantage of it and formalized the event. This is gonna be the 5th edition and every year is more and more exciting. People is already asking about. We are so looking forward to drop that line up!

Pressing the 'play' button on your Digital Tsunami podcast. Chefs, please introduce us, what's on the menu?

This time Sonic Voyage is pretty spicy, most of it Mexican. You will find high-end electro by Korsssakov, modern Drone released by a Non-Binary/Women collective, Dusty Industrial from Mexican Band of the 80s and more! Special Mention to Gris Futuro; they’re almost Mexicanos! Enjoy!