Dzasko Will Not ‘Fade Away’ Any Time Soon...
Photo by Alexis Rodriguez
Diego Zevallos, better known as Dzasko is a composer, producer, and DJ from Lima, Peru. While growing up in Lima's electronic music scene, he constantly experimented with programming instruments and gradually gravitated towards the openness and versatility of electronic music. During those early years, he produced songs like ‘Why Do You Love Me’, ‘Conquer’, and ‘Time Is on Your Side' which charted at number 4 on Beatport's Progressive House Charts. In 2019, he began experimenting with different genres, releasing songs like "Numb" (2020) and "Eclipse" (2021) with J.Laser.
“What would you say if you see me now
Since I’ve been away
What would you say if you see me now
In the same old ways”
In 2021, he released his debut EP, Letters from California, which was recorded between Los Angeles and Joshua Tree. The EP features a retro-futuristic sound and incorporates a live band for live performances.
We caught Dzasko in the wake of him releasing his newest track, ‘Fade Away’ and here’s what he had to say about this highly emotive piece.
'FADE AWAY' COMES OFF AS A SONG FULL OF HEARTBREAK AND LONGING. DID IT COME FROM A PERSONAL PLACE? WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THE SONG NOW THAT IT'S OUT?
Yeah, it came from a personal place, I may not be fully conscious of it at the beginning but I start to understand the meaning the more it starts to develop during the creation and production process.
It's definitely a good feeling to know I'm expressing myself in such a crazy outlet that is music, now it's on the Internet probably for eternity. I think it's a great song and live it's even better.
ON THAT SAME NOTE. HOW DO YOU USUALLY APPROACH SONGWRITING? WHAT TOPICS DO YOU LIKE TO COVER OR EXPLORE?
I really get a lot of ideas from movies, sometimes there is a certain feeling that is portrayed throughout films. I kind of use that feeling to address my own daydreams, past experiences, and how I'm currently feeling at the moment. I explore different topics and situations, interestingly most of them are written from the perspective of an outsider. For example, Scorpio Rising in some way is about going back to my hometown after many years and surrendering to nostalgia.
Another one is Bande à part, it’s about someone walking by and being completely lost in his own head (Daydreaming) and stumbling into a full-scale riot in the streets. That one is autobiographical and it was the last song that I’ve managed to add to the EP. As this basically happened recently, there is a lot of political turmoil that Peru’s been dealing with for the past months.
AND IN YOUR CREATIVE PROCESS, WHAT DO YOU USUALLY START WITH? I GET THE FEELING THAT YOU'RE A MELODY/BEAT-FIRST KIND OF MUSICIAN.
It's different every time, it could be on an instrument or by making sounds/beats on Ableton. I mean, that software is great for resampling and really manipulating audio until it sounds crazy, sometimes a particular texture can trigger a song idea, and sometimes that sound is not necessarily musical at all.
I push myself to be more “traditional” in the first stages of creation and get the main idea on a single instrument like a guitar or piano, which happened to 50% of this EP. But I’m a Gen Z, and I’ve discovered music composition with the means of technology it’s way easier for me to start on a computer, doing sounds, layering instruments, and sampling. I can forget ideas quickly so it’s good for me to jump straight to recording/production mode rather than spending days or weeks playing around with a song on an instrument.
YOU WERE BORN IN LIMA, PERÚ. ANY KEY MUSICAL INFLUENCES FROM THERE OR THE GREATER SOUTH-AMERICAN SCENE IN PARTICULAR?
There’s plenty of great music in Peru, I like the late 60s Cumbia that came from the jungle, all that Amazon area. It's very tropical and psychedelic, unfortunately, most of the music that comes from Peru stays underground. There’s not really an industry to push artists and no one really has ever broken through.
Mostly, the music that comes to Peru and really stays there is the music that comes from Argentina, Chile, and Colombia. I’ve been influenced by Argentinian acts a lot. My biggest musical influence from South America is Charly Garcia.
CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR NAME, DZASKO?
Dzasko is basically a wordplay, it’s a combination of my real name and last name, which is Diego Zevallos Santillan. I’ve been making music under that alias since I was 16.
WHO IS DZASKO? IN PERSONAL AND/OR MUSICAL TERMS, WHERE ARE YOU RIGHT NOW?
Dzasko is the medium that I use to express myself in musical terms, not tied to a certain genre or something. I’m at a point in my life where I want to see it that way, when I was around 18/19 years old, I did tried to create a duality and give a lot of thought between Dzasko and me (Diego), which can be a bit nutty and you can get lost.
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT HOW THINGS ARE GOING FOR YOUR CAREER RIGHT NOW? ARE YOU WORKING TOWARDS SPECIFIC GOALS OR MILESTONES?
Things are going great so far, I’ve started to get involved in other people's music too, it's interesting how things fall into place. Since 2022 I’ve been performing with a backing band and singing live which is completely different from what I was used to as a DJ.
Yes, I'm working towards specific goals at the moment, like for example getting signed, playing as much as possible, and building a larger team of people to work with.
MEET THE AUTHOR
Samuel Aponte is Venezuelan-born raised and based.
I joined Rival Magazine after a few years of doing PR work for independent musicians of all stripes; understanding their struggles to be heard in a sea of constant ADHD noise and paywalled access to platforms, I now bring a willingness to always appreciate and encourage the effort and creativity that artists put into their work . Can also find some of my writings on LADYGUNN and We Found New Music.