It often seems like electronic dance music's big names are almost all from Europe. So it's refreshing to see a DJ rise straight out of the 305 and into the national spotlight.
Over the last few years, Henrix has been making a name for himself by touring hard and making killer club music. With his heavy drops and catchy melodies, this MIA native has been gaining followers and building an international rep.
So we recently got him on the phone to talk about his relationship with Miami, the key to a good DJ set, and our city's infamous bottle-service crowds.
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Crossfade: We keep hearing that Henrix came from out of nowhere. What's your story?
Henrix: It's not as quick as everyone likes to say it is. The thing is before becoming Henrix, I was performing under my birth name for quite some time. I was Pedro Henriques in the Miami underground. Back when Nocturnal was open. It wasn't until the last two or three years that I hooked up with my management team and they suggested that I change my name to something more marketable. How did you get the name Henrix? It's a funny story actually. Tiesto gave it to me kind of. Well he didn't give it to me, but he was playing an edit of one of my tracks on his radio show and he mispronounced my last name, Henriques. He pronounced it Henrix, and I liked that, so it's been my artist name ever since.
How would you describe your relationship with the city of Miami?
I'm all about it, man. I've always represented, and I always will. No matter where I am. I remember I was in New York a while back, it was when Miami eliminated the Knicks from the playoffs and I was wearing my Heat jersey in Governors Island. I was born in Brazil, but I moved to the states when I was five. I was raised in Miami, that my home.
Why did you start DJing? I've always been really big on music. I love all kind of music. But I remember back in 2006, I went to see Tiesto at the Hardrock. Some friends invited me, they were like lets go and I ended up amazed. I fell in love and after that I started going out to shows in the Miami underground. Pretty soon after that I was like this is what I want to do. I went out and got some equipment and I would just DJ in my room. My first gig was at a friends birthday bash.
What are some of your musical inspirations?
I've never just been about one type of thing. I'm a fan of a bunch of different kinds of music. When I'm feeling melodic I'll listen to Pink Floyd, my all-time favorite band. But I'll also listen to a lot of Hip-Hop, I love like old school Dr. Dre. I love Zedd, Nero, even Dedmau5. I've always though that a great producer doesn't just produce one kind of sound. You need to evolve.
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What's the key to a good DJ set?
You have to focus on the room. The room will determine your set. It depends on the location, whether it's big or small. Different cities react differently. I'll play different styles of music depending on what city I'm in. You've got to vibe off the crowd.
What do you think about performing in Miami?
I love it. But it also depends on where you play. Mansion is a lot of fun, I've always thought that Space is one of the best venues to DJ at. LIV is cool too but it's more a bottle-service crowd. A lot of places you go and it's just people sitting at tables, ordering drinks and that's not fun. I don't enjoying playing venues like that. But some places people really get down and they'll be dancing all night.
What are your plans for the near future?
I've got lots of music coming. Touring, obviously. But the music is coming. Remixes, originals. There's a big name artists doing an edit of one of my tracks, that should be dropping soon. There's a lot in the works.
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