DJ Trapella: "There are men who do it poorly and no one says anything to them."

Born in Premià de Mar, Marta Riera (1996), better known as DJ Trapella, became interested in selecting music as a child: "I was in charge of preparing the CDs for family car trips." She was interested in music and during her adolescence she saw "very clearly that I wanted to be a rock star," but she wasn't quite sure how. "When I was 18, I went into a nightclub for the first time and saw the DJs juggling with live music. And I said: that's it," she explains.Companies.

In fact, the artist from Maresme is a very curious person: "When I was little, every summer I would take advantage of a project. One year I wanted to learn to paint in oils, another to make a gadget." During one of these "diries," she signed up for a competition to play songs at her town's festival: "I bought a second-hand table for 50 euros and got to work, because I wanted to be up to scratch." Later, when the pandemic hit, she saw the perfect opportunity: "I was still at university and decided that if I had to make some money DJing, I had to at least train myself; I didn't want to be a labor intruder."

Even so, Riera continued her professional career in the scientific world: "I did a master's degree in microbiology, because it's something I love." Later, she combined music with her work in the lab: "I didn't play many concerts either, because it was hard. Some Fridays I'd work from eight in the morning until eight the next morning, 24 hours straight." A turning point came when she was offered a tour in South America. "I had to choose, because I didn't have any more vacation time," she says. It was a risky bet, and she left her stable job, which she also liked. From then on, she has triumphed in this sector, and has DJed all over Catalonia, in private venues and even on the radio.

Hers is a very masculinized environment, and despite the fact that she's well-enclosed, there is still pressure to be perfect: "We can't do it halfway well. We can't be mediocre. Because if women don't do it perfectly, they say it was handpicked. And look, there are men who do it very mediocrely."

On the other hand, the artist complains that until recently, DJs were unregulated: "We've been on fairly low wages for a few years now, considering the number of hours we put in, including nights and the fact that we work weekends. We're talking 80 euros in cash for a whole night, six hours nonstop, six hours nonstop, and the exposure you have on stage." Added to this is around 1,500 euros for equipment and licensing and software costs. "But we're now reaching minimums of 200, 300, 350, or even 450 euros a night, whether you're on a contract or self-employed. A sector in which it was difficult to survive is starting to become less precarious," she explains.

Self-employed and thrifty

Since becoming self-employed, she's been learning to manage her finances: "In college, I used to argue that wage labor was horrible, dead in the hands of employers. But now there are days when I think, damn, I'd kill to clock in in the morning and clock back in in the afternoon and forget about everything." During this time, she's taken counseling courses to learn how to organize the project's bills and finances. Now she's more in control of it.

Regarding personal finances, she considers herself a thrifty person: "All of us who lived through 2008 as teenagers were traumatized by the crisis. Teachers told us, 'You won't find work, there's no need to study because everything is terrible and we're all adrift.' That stayed with me, and now it's stayed with me, and now it's. However, now that she has a stable job, she's learning not to worry too much."

DJ Trapella now lives in a rental with a friend: "My family and I are considering forming a common species. Go live all together on some farm or some place where we can build three separate homes and be able to share as many expenses as possible and still build community and family." Currently, the Catalan artist is preparing her next album and working on the live show. "I want it to be a special and super unique experience. I would also like to finish launching my career as a producer and really kick ass at making remixes and his own songs for other artists," he says.