Meme Bouquet, the DJ that entertains - 07/30/2016 - EL PAÍS Uruguay

—Your description on the networks says graphic designer and disc jockey, what appeared first?

—I studied graphic design, worked for three years in advertising agencies and in between came the disc jockey. I had been playing music with the Ipod in previews, I went to a friend's wedding in Tandil, the DJ was bad, and at two in the morning they began to tell me, "you play music with the phone." "It's nonsense," I answered. The boyfriend asked me to please, and I played music with my cell phone from two to six in the morning. After that night, what happened was great: "Hey, it's my wedding," "Hey, it's my birthday." So I said, "here's a vein." And that's where I started.

"Did you train?"

—At the beginning of zero. When I started to grow a little I said, "well, stop, I have to educate myself." I did a course that is the same as the one I give today but I teach it more personalized (10 students maximum), and much more fun. A month ago I did an intensive one in Montevideo, for four days, and it was great.

—Is it hard to make a name for yourself as a DJ?

—I started doing my own parties to make myself known, and when they were a success I started working under contract. I put a lot into social networks, design, I gave a lot of ball to marketing, and I made a little name for myself. First I worked on the loose, and I spent a year at the Asia bowling alley in Cuba.

—When did you make a living from music?

—I quit the advertising agency, and started at the same time with music and my own design studio. The music grew very fast, in five or six months, and I left the studio because it was much more paddling. Now I do that work for myself, with the flyers, the photos. I love it and it's a plus.

—When Mila was born they let them play music in the delivery room…

-It was crazy. María and I had seen a movie the previous week that I don't remember the name of but it starts with a song called Lava, we loved it, and when the contractions started I put on the song, and it seemed that the baby calmed down inside her belly, flash our. We asked permission and the obstetrician let us into the operating room with that. It was great, it was born with music.

—You don't consider yourself an artist because you don't produce or make music...

—Of course, I play music by another artist who created it, recorded it in a studio, and I take care of putting it on at the best moments and putting together the night. It sounds strange to me to say that I am an artist.

Are you interested in composing?

—I have a couple of proposals to start composing commercially. I'm thinking about it because it amuses me, maybe I will. Perhaps if I had started much younger I would have dedicated myself directly to composition, it's great, but my job doesn't require it either.

-Do you play any instrument?

—I've been singing since I was a child because my old man played the piano, and in my house we all have a good musical ear thanks to him, but I don't play any instrument. That is another slope that I will do at some point.

- What music do you listen to in your day to day?

-Everything you can think of. I can listen to anything from a Latin ballad, rock, funky, jazz. I am re against open, I like everything.

- Cumbia?

—Yes, I don't drop any ring listening to anything: cumbia, reggae, reggaeton, hip hop. Everything amuses me.

—Besides, your job requires you to be attentive to the musical trends that appear…

Yes, it is key. The big job is during the week: search, see what band, what sounds, what you like. And also set trends. You put a theme several times, it begins to impose, impose, suddenly it works, and it's great.

"What song did it happen to you with?"

—Reggaeton Party (DJ Sanny) was a success outside when I started. In Buenos Aires no one listened to it, I started to play it, and suddenly it was all the rage. Hit, hit.

—What theme is inevitable in your current set list?

—Now I'm involved with a Boyce Avenue song, it's an Ed Sheeran cover, and it's called Photograph.

—Each DJ has his style, how do you define yours?

—I don't have a pigeonholed style, I put what the client asks me, the track and what can work. I have a super open fan and I can put anything. Rock, house, cachengue. It amuses me to be versatile.

—What's so special about bowling when Meme Bouquet music plays?

—I start with a very explosive set of commercial electronics and I vary depending on the night. I think success is understanding what people want at the right time, putting it on and having fun. The wave that you transmit from the cabin is important. Yes, my style is to make it cool.

—How important is it to know how to decipher what is happening on the track?

—For me, a DJ is good if he understands the track. Beyond the technique, the most important thing is to understand and that people have fun. We are communicators, and we have to transmit the music that people like. If you're not having fun, you're not going to last long.

—Your partner, María del Cerro, is at Dancing for a Dream this year and it involves great exposure, how do you get along with that?

-Very good. She has it very clear, she works, she does a lot, she knows how to handle it. When she asked me, I told her, "You have to do it, it's great." The contest is very professional, and she takes it very well. There is much more exposure, it is seen everywhere, the networks explode, negative and positive comments, but ultimately what matters is who you are, and if you are clear about that, you can work on anything.

"And is it hard for you?"

-Zero. I love seeing her, accompanying her, when I can I go to the flat, I support her in everything. From the minute I became a boyfriend, I already knew that she was a model, an actress, that she appears in her underwear, that she has to kiss on TV. I am sure of her, she is a super faithful mine and I am very calm. I understand that it is her job.

—Is the rebound from that media exposure of Bailando useful to you ?

—I've been working for a long time and I have my clients half-armed, the places where I go, I don't know if it has an impact, I haven't noticed it yet. It's a monster, it splashes everywhere, everyone sees it, so I guess so, but I've already been working a lot, so I don't know how it's going to have an impact. The safest thing is that she is crazy, I am not very clear.

—Would you dare to participate in Dancing ?

-I don `t believe. In fact, now that there was salsa for three they thought of inviting me to dance and the truth is that it's not my style. It suits Maria very well.

—You uploaded a photo inside the bathtub with Mila and you had to go out to clarify because it generated controversy…

—That was when she was a newborn and now she came back because Marcelo (Tinelli) brought it up. At the time she had been picked up by TN, Chronicle, Paparazzi. The truth is that I didn't realize it. He wasn't naked, he had a bathing suit on. I recently uploaded another one. She loves to bathe with me, I uploaded it because it was an important moment for me and she took it anywhere. But I don't give it much importance. I share what I feel and I'm not too worried about what they will say.

—What are your future projects?

—I'm about to open my first bowling alley in Buenos Aires. It's going to be called Africa and I'm going to be able to dump everything I've done over the years. It will be a small bowling alley, with 500 people, super exclusive. That's the biggest plan I have this year. I will continue to play music, and then the usual, family, friends, who are the base for me.