Nicola Cruz

Nicola Cruz is a charting electronic musician, producer, and DJ who has been making music since he was 12. His international, beat-conscious, trance-inducing sound seamlessly melds South American folk instruments, African percussion instruments, dubwise production, sitar, and electronica, resulting in a continually flowing range of harmonics, polyrhythms, and interweaving melodies. His music invokes the landscapes and rituals of his Ecuadorian ancestral heritage and explores ancient mythologies and folkloric traditions in a 21st century setting. Though he has been active since 2012 — mostly with Nicolas Jaar on the Clown & Sunset label — Cruz’s first full-length album, Prender el Alma, was issued by ZZK in 2015 and took listeners by surprise with its original, organic-sounding strategy. In 2018, the EP Inversions placed historical instruments at the forefront of his mix. The album Siku and remix collection Siku Reworks appeared in 2019, and Cruz released a split EP with Pigmaleão in 2020. The six-track Sentimientos Encontrados followed in 2021, along with a range of singles. He issued the Self Oscillation EP in 2022.
Born to Ecuadorian parents in Limoges, France, then relocating to the village of Quito in Ecuador at age three, Cruz’s musical education began shortly after he was able to walk. His parents surrounded him with a rich musical and cultural education in both indigenous traditions and Western theories. His first formal training was on percussion instruments, and by age 12, he became interested in electronic and folkloric music simultaneously, inspired by Ecuador’s landscapes and ritualistic rhythms. He was soon creating his first mixes and began DJ’ing; by 16, he was working clubs. His break came through another N.Y.C.-based South American producer, Jaar, in 2012. He’d sent the producer a tape and, impressed, Jaar took Cruz on tour across the U.S. Upon their return, Cruz performed DJ sessions that melded his heady “Andean Step” with the lineage of traditional sounds of Colombian singers such as Totó La Momposina and Petrona Martínez, using cumbia rhythms and instruments alongside a bevy of keys and drum machines. In 2013, he dropped the Noise Within Us EP, whose A-side was a collaboration with Fernanda K. In 2015, Cruz scored on the international club scene with the single “Colibria” that featured the vocals of then-unknown Huaira Ukay. The album Prender el Alma followed in October on ZZK and garnered positive critical notice globally. Cruz was on a tear over the next three years, remixing more than 15 singles by other artists including Sabo, Xique-Xique, and Viken Arman. His full-length was so popular in EDM circles, ZZK issued a remix of the entire album that featured tracks by Umoja, Captain Planet, and Ninze & Thomash, to name a few. Over the next year, Cruz toured and issued a slew of singles and EPs, including the track “Tzantza” on the Cantos de Vision EP. He teamed with Brazilian artist Renata Chebel to shoot a video that added a heavily psychedelic visual dimension to his hypnotic music. In May, the “Espiritu” single followed alongside Puente Roto (in addition to the original cut, the recording included two remixes by Quantic).
In the summer of 2018, Cruz issued the Inversions EP, which contained the title cut, original versions, and remixed tracks from earlier recordings. In the fall of 2018, Cruz garnered a great deal of international press and chart attention for the pre-release singles “Sieta” and “Arka,” the former for its use of sitar and balafon, and the latter for its gorgeous palette of bansuri flutes and the sikú. The singles prepped fans for the release of his second full-length, Sikú, in January 2019. The set went beyond the use of Andean ancestral sounds: he experimented with samba rhythms on the track “Criançada,” featuring Brazilian singer and poet Castello Branco. For “Esu Enia,” he traveled to Africa with Marcio Pinto, a Portuguese musician he met in Lisbon, and on “Hacia Delante,” he worked with charting Spanish flamenco singer Chato. That same month, Cruz was named one of “10 Latin Artists to Watch in 2019” by Billboard. Later that year, the songs were remixed under the title Siku Reworks.
Cruz kicked off 2020 with a five-song EP with Brazilian artist Pigmaleão (Daniel Lucas), offering two tracks each and the collaboration “Formante.” The tribal five-track EP Hybridism appeared in February before the pandemic forced the world into quarantine. Cruz returned to recording with Subtropique in February 2021 and issued the Hybridisim Remixes EP in March. The four-track Nuevo Fuego also appeared in March. After three more singles, he concluded the year with the Sentimientos Encontrados EP in November. Isabella Lovestory sang on opener “Oh Sea, Si Te Quiero,” and Italian/Ivorian producer and DJ Ehua remixed closer “Sin Retorno.” Cruz introduced 2022 with the punchy dancefloor singles “Vai Sentir” in February, “Cadera” in May, and “Surface Tension” in June. All received extensive club play from international DJs. The two latter singles appeared on the globally acclaimed six-track Self Oscillation EP in July. ~ Thom Jurek