MEET THE ARTISTS: LAS TINAS
Leonela Guzmán and Sarah Alem make up the DJ duo Las Tinas (penned after their spirit animals Tina Belcher and Tina Fey). These ladies are taking over Baton Rouge.
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DJ: Hey ladies, thanks for meeting with us this week, and thanks for providing the tunes for the Teen Angst event Monday night! Tell us a bit about yourselves.
SA: Sarah Alem, I’m an International Studies senior with a focus on Latin America.
LG: Leonela Guzmán, a junior. I'm currently enrolled in independent study, and I’m a Political Science and History double major at LSU.
DJ: How long have you guys been friends?
LG: Two years?
SA: I don’t even know… We kind of started hanging out a lot and just clicked as friends. It works.
DJ: So you guys are kind of a DJ tag-team thing?
SA: Yeah. Individually, I'm DJ Niña and Leo is DJ Nena. "Nena" is a term of endearment and "niña" means "little girl" as a term of endearment as well.
LG: We’re playing on, I guess, my Hispanic background. Even though she’s…
SA: I’m half Lebanese…
LG: But you look Hispanic.
SA: I’m a wannabe.
DJ: When did this project start?
SA: It started with a house party. We pretty much took everything out of a room in my house and turned it into a giant blacked out dance box. It was pretty successful. We played until like 4... which is something you can’t do at a bar. Here at least.
LG: I think the reason that we did it, well, there are two things: There was the embodiment of the fact that there’s a boy’s club—an established boy’s club—that kind of runs Baton Rouge, and we’re trying to fill in the void and be the girls that start making things happen. Aside from that, there are these things called... “Chad Parties” that we've been to over the years.
DJ: What are “Chad Parties?”
SA: Our friend Chad used to throw these great parties in his apartment and all we would do is dance and play awesome music, and it’s not music that you’re typically going to hear in most places. So that’s what we want to bring to the public… like, outside of Chad’s apartment.
LG: We want to “Chad Party” everywhere.
DJ: Can we make that a hashtag?
SA/LG: "Chad Gon B Der"
SA: Yeah, it’s a thing.
DJ: How did you end up wanting to do this together?
SA: It was literally a 50/50 thing. We were always hanging out and talking about all of the things we wanted to do. We were like ‘Oh my god, there’s this potential that we’re sitting on - that’s just not being worked on.’
LG: I used to do an International show for KLSU, and I was always trying to get her on. We've always had an idea of working together.
DJ: What’s the next step?
SA: Working towards physical equipment and not just working from our computers... Hopefully making our own music and playing parties, but that’s something that we have to build towards. Have fun, make parties happen, create atmospheres.
LG: We’ll be around for a minute. We don't take ourselves too seriously though.
DJ: So what does DJ'ing mean to you guys? Do you feel like part of the party or fade into the background?
SA: You’re in the mix. You’re having fun, too. You’re not just in the background. I don’t feel like I’m doing a job; I’m contributing.
LG: It’s a blast. We’re really lucky to have freedom with what we do - that there are people embracing this fresh thing. Venues are welcoming, and we're gracious. There are some truly great people in this town.
DJ: So, Leo, you’re the Art Director for Delta Literary Journal. How did you get involved with Delta?
LG: For the last three years I’ve always been somewhat involved... with the readings at least. Being here and just being a part of the community. I have an emotional investment in a way… I didn’t plan on joining Delta, but it’s the best thing. I really just feel like there’s a new direction to push into, and we’re really onto something fresh. We have a great staff working to revamp the journal this year.
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Sarah Alem is a senior, International Studies (Latin America) major at LSU.
Leonela Guzmán is a junior, Political Science and History double major at LSU, as well as Art Director for Delta Literary Journal. She is also one of our readers in the ongoing Highland Reading Series this Thursday, October 17th at 7:00pm. For more information, check out our Events page.
To see more of Las Tinas and their mute interpretation of the recent film “Gravity”, check out @deltajournal on Instagram.