DJ Rolando

Born Rolando Rocha and raised in Mexicantown, Detroit, DJ Rolando has developed since the late 1980s a sound that sits between Detroit techno and house, with clear roots in electro, hip-hop and the Latin freestyle he played early in his career. Deeply influenced by the local scene, he began DJing in 1987 and joined the collective Underground Resistance in 1994, where he refined an aesthetic that is at once direct, rhythmic and melodic. He releases under his own name and the alias The Aztec Mystic, notably on The Aztec Mystic (1996) and the Knights of the Jaguar EP (1999), a track that remains central to his trajectory for the way it links techno tension, Latin motifs and a sense of house uplift. After leaving Underground Resistance in 2004, DJ Rolando settled in Edinburgh and continued to perform regularly across Europe, appearing at venues associated with techno and house such as Tresor and Berghain. His discography also includes Hiatus EP and The Afterlife EP (2008), 5 To 9 EP (2010), D & N’s EP (2013) and Time to Jack EP (2017), on labels like Underground Resistance, Delsin and Ostgut Ton.