Meet Your Moombahtonistas #10 – Sazon Booya

What the fuck is a SAZON BOOYA?!  Hint: It’s not a chicken seasoning.  Nor is it a Spanish war cry.  It’s more like the NYC-based DJ and production duo consisting of Mr. Vega and DJ SAV.  But the musical output of Sazon Booya is just as tasty as the finest adobo and just as powerful as the toughest Spanish army.

The Sazon Booya project doesn’t have as extensive of a history as the individual DJ careers of Mr. Vega and DJ SAV, but you would never be able to tell if you just looked at their list of accomplishments this year.  In fact, they’re on pace to become one of the most successful artists in the game.

Sazon Booya released their first EP, La Bomba, on Beatport this summer via their label, Rot10 Musik.  La Bomba is classic Sazon Booya – hardcore, energetic, and danceable tunes infused with global flair.  But to hype up the release, they created the first moombahton video ever to the title track, “La Bomba”.  This was a huge landmark for the moombahton as it legitimized genre by bridging the gap between the underground and the mainstream.  Since the debut of “La Bomba”, some of the genre’s greats have proceeded to create innovative music videos for their own tracks, including Tittsworth and Alvin Risk for their summer hit, “Pendejas”, and Nadastrom for their latest single, “i!!”

But don’t get it twisted.  Sazon Booya knows how to create a big room banger, but they’re definitely not scared to show their softer side.  They’ve produced some super suave tracks for David Heartbreak’s Moombahsoul compilations and kept it really sexy during their Midnight Moombah Sessions, but they really nailed it on the head with their Moonlight EP.  They released Moonlight in November of 2011 and by that time, it’s obvious they perfected a unique sound combination of hardcore energy harnessed by smooth vocals.  And come this release, Sazon Booya stepped it up a notch.  There was no moombahton video to accompany the Moonlight EP (yet) but instead a US tour that spanned twelve cities from the East Coast to the West Coast with guests like Nadastrom, Billy the Gent, Cam Jus, and Benzona, to name a few.  With the Moonlight release and promo tour, it’s become clear that Sazon Booya is wiser beyond its years.  They seriously handle business with prompt releases, music videos, country-wide tours.  Sazon Booya is headed straight to the top and they’re taking moombahton with them.

Hard-working moombahton artists will always find success by honing and maintaining a unique, flavorful sound.  With mentors like Skrillex and Dave Nada, there’s no way that Sazon Booya will fall to the middle of the pack.  They’re a standout duo, through and through.  It’s even better to know that these dudes are some rad individuals who made time to answer some questions for Cool Breezy.  Read up!

Cool Breezy:  How’d you two come together to form Sazon Booya and what first interested you in moombahton?

SAV:  I had always been a fan of Josh’s ‘Mr. Vega’ project and I’m not much of a producer but I had a collection of ideas brewing in my head that I knew would work well if the right producer helped make them come to fruition. We worked on a track called “’Lluvia” which was 115BPM. The sound was leaning more towards tribal house, but it didn’t feel right. The minute I heard Diplo drop Munchi’s “La Brasilena Ta Montao” at Electric Zoo, I started brainstorming the notion of turning that track into Moombahton, and so we did. A month later we sat with the track and then I decided to send it over to Dave Nada. He loved it and posted it on his SoundCloud. The track was downloaded over a hundred times in less than two hours. A week later I approached Josh with the project ‘Sazon Booya’, he was with it and the rest is, of course, history.

Mr. Vega:  What he said, lol.

CB:  How do New Yorkers take to moombahton?

SAV:  It’s getting there. We have a huge Latin community that is forward thinking, primarily the younger more open-minded second to third generation listeners who were once fans of Reggaeton and have now fallen in love with dance music. Moombahton blends those styles together seamlessly and ingeniously; they’re starting to take note of that. Hopefully we can get more NYC promoters/DJs to keep pushing the sound into their sets.

Mr. Vega:  Slowly the people are getting it. I give it another year and its gonna be full on insanity at all the moombahton events here. We always keep pushing it in NYC.

CB:  You guys just launched a three-week headlining tour across the country and have been getting so much love from moombahton innovators since the beginning.  What have been some of your proudest moments so far?

SAV:  For me it was watching Dave Nada and Dillon Francis drop two of our tracks in the same night. That was probably the most rewarding moment/feeling. We slave over these concepts/tracks for months to finally see/hear our peers play them for hundreds of kids.  Luckily I was able to capture the moment.

Mr. Vega:  Yeah, definitely having our peers and guys we look up to accept us with open arms and play out our music. It’s a blessing to have someone like Skrillex mentor us and push us in the right direction.

CB:  With two successful EPs under your belt, what’s next for Sazon Booya?

SAV:  Sky’s the limit, my friend. Disney World possibly? What do you think Josh? I’m down for some tea cup action.

Mr. Vega:  Yeah, we can only go up right now. We’ll continue to give quality tunes with fresh ideas every time, ok. Disney world is the move too! Lol.

CB:  Any advice for up and coming producers and DJs?

SAV:  Hate to go with the conventional ‘Follow your dreams’ tripe that a lot of people answer when asked, but truthfully, never give up and just keep at it. There will be many supporters and opposers on your journey but always keep your head straight and keep your goals in plain sight. Never compromise and never let anyone tell you that you’re not good enough.

Mr. Vega:  The best thing I could say (because it’s a little frustrating to see) is that you should definitely perfect your sound before you start flooding the market with tunes if you just started making music. I know everyone wants to be famous but it doesn’t happen over night and it takes lots of time and experience. We’re lucky to be in the position we’re in but it didn’t happen over night. So keep following your dreams and never stop being a student. There’s always something new to learn.