There is something to be said about the queer alternative music and dance scene here in McAllen. You open the doors to a venue, whether that be The Gremlin, La Bandida Bar, or the historic Cine El Rey, and a wave of sound hits you. You have your best dancing outfit on and the beat is fierce, unleashing a sickening catwalk that’s been dying to come out. Tonight you have the chance to dance the night away before returning to that nine to five. This is the break you needed: A night of liberation, fun, pleasure, and dance.
If you’re in the know, Downtown McAllen, while small, is a hub where consistent fun is always happening at places where like-minded queer and alternative folks seek a good time on the weekend, whether that be at a drag show, a concert, a rave, or a free double feature movie night. The organizers who curate music events give us a taste of the talent born right here at home, on top of headliners from Way Out There, one might say (jokingly, but not really). There is one talented soul who gets to have the best of both worlds: Shy Margiela.
Shy Margiela (he/they) is a self-taught DJ, producer, and nightlife curator born and raised in McAllen, Texas. You may have had the chance to listen to his DJ sets at Cine El Rey or La Bandida Bar, in collaboration with Touching Infinite and Chronically Online, two community-driven rave and dance party organizers. I had the pleasure of interviewing Shy while he was in town to play Chronically Online’s recent show featuring headliner 550am. After living in McAllen until he was twenty, Shy made the decision to move to Houston, where his DJ skills practically metastasized and infected the Montrose neighborhood in places like Boondocks, a dive bar and nightlife venue, and Club Shugga, a pop-up dance party for queer POC. But trust, the crowd was happy to be plagued with the sexy, drum-heavy beats Shy brought to the places. Soon, Shy will be making another move to New York! More on that later.
Sonic Concoctions & Inspirations
Shy’s journey goes back to high school, in his bedroom, when he yearned for a sense of liberation and community with like-minded people. Where did he find that? Why, the club, of course, which became the driving force in his desire to DJ. After experiencing what a club was like at a young age, Shy began “living vicariously through people in New York, Houston, LA, Chicago,” as he watched lively moments of community via music at clubs. “Nightlife, in a queer sense,” he described it.
So he bought himself a DDJ FLX4 and got to work, taking inspiration from the sounds he cloaked himself with, a comfort from a discriminating world. Eventually Shy perfected his technique in Houston alongside his best friend and fellow DJ, Amarji King.
Shy grew up around banda music and listened to a lot of nineties pop divas, such as Destiny’s Child, who he loves to reference in his music. Very sexy, seductive sounds, something that’ll get people feeling themselves and in the mood to dance and be confident. Sonically, Shy is attracted to “anything and everything” and describes their style as “genre fluid.”
“I kinda feel like a scientist… conducting research and seeing what fits and what doesn’t … That’s my favorite thing to do,” they said, as they went on to talk about, for example, mixing a drum-heavy “Temple Run” sounding track into a “booty shaking vocal track with light percussion.” Something primal and out of a jungle, but techno. Shy referenced DJ Babatr, someone who is also very drum-heavy. Something Shy would like to experiment with is more horns. Something that sounds ritualistic, like tribal (3ball), for example, and fusing it with techno.
Shy is interested in mixing things people wouldn’t expect and making it work, like surviving midnight hunger in an ingredient household (we’ve all been there), but let it be known Shy’s access to sound is abundant and always tells a story. These sonic fusions shock the dancefloor and turn heads, presenting the audience with something different to dance to that just works and flows.
“It’s an easy job to just go into the top 40… and just blend them together. I think there’s definitely spaces for that already, but in these specific spaces that I’m a part of … it’s a little bit more complex … as they [the clubgoers] come into these very niche spaces they’re almost coming in with an open ear … my hope is that I can play something for them that they’ll walk away from … they’ll learn something new, basically … they’ll be like, ‘Oh, well, that track was different, but I loved it,’” Shy explained.
Everyone has idols and inspirations, so what are Shy’s? To start, their dear friend Wilhelmina, whose electronic, hypnotic, and seductive sounds match Shy’s ear and genre-fluidity mentioned before, similarly to another favorite DJ of Shy’s, Tygapaw. Then there is Eqal, who the crowd goes wild for every time Shy plays them in a club, as Eqal blends American rap in a unique way. Finally, Archangel, whose tracks are heavily inspired by anime and video games, enchanting her audience and transporting them to another world while they listen.
Planting Seeds of Support
“I think there’s so many spaces for dancing in general and not many of them are dedicated towards, like … queer, trans, Black and Brown people,” Shy pointed out.
Family is crucial to Mexican culture, and as Latinx people, it’s imperative that we have people we can lean on, especially if we are queer. Shy expressed that their chosen family is entirely queer, and while community can mean many things, to Shy it means to always stick by each other even through inconvenient and painful times. Queer people are not promised things that come easy to others, such as close-knit families or even secure finances, according to the Institute for Research on Poverty, due to discrimination and systemic homophobia, misogyny, and transphobia. Because of this, Shy thinks part of being in a healthy community is making events accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities. No matter the location, Shy believes queer people can show up for each other and bond over shared experiences.
“I think no matter where you go, there will be reflections of the same extensions of the same branch, is the best way to put it… it doesn’t matter what part of the tree you’re from. We’re all having similar experiences,” Shy said.
Of course, different parts of the tree (the community) will feel different levels of a storm (racism, homophobia, transphobia, misogyny, etc.). What Shy wants people to hold on to and remember is that we face this storm together, so we should support each other regardless.
Taking the Train to A New Home
Moving to New York City is a big step! A milestone event for an artist. Valley natives will often joke about our humble home and how much we can do with it, calling it names like McAngeles or Brownsvilleyork, but frankly, what we do here and are capable of is not far off from what is happening on the coasts. The Valley is full of talent and promise. When artists move out and away to places with the tools they need to succeed, the magic they were able to make here at home flourishes into something untouchable, something almost holy. Shy doesn’t believe he benefits an audience or gets anything out of a gig–it’s simply a privilege to play and connect with a crowd at various locations and he is so excited to take his talents and sounds to The Big Apple, whether people “get it” or not.
“Honestly, truthfully, to be completely transparent, it doesn’t always land, but that’s the point … As long as you’re influencing people’s sound, whether they get it immediately or not is like, no, because at least you’re exposing them to something different … I plan on playing some Tejano sounds … Southern club sound from East Houston … tribal (3Ball) … in a more obscure context that resonates more with New York City’s nightlife,” Shy explained.
You might be wondering how sounds like the ones mentioned could “work” in an NYC club, and the answer is mixing them with techno. According to Shy, you’d be surprised at how well techno works with practically anything. Even then, Shy blends everything with intention.
Finally, Shy wants to shout out Houston and McAllen forever. He is so proud of being from the South and of Mexican descent, from Houston and the Valley. He says he’ll never let anyone forget.
