Rimarkable, Toribio, Mickey Perez, Qualia Trax

Who they are

• 

  Rimarkable

  New York City · 30 bookings since Sep 2023

  “Maria “Ri Ri” Garcia, known worldwide as Rimarkable, is not just a DJ, producer, and vocalist.”

  their own biography

  the whole biography

  Maria “Ri Ri” Garcia, known worldwide as Rimarkable, is not just a DJ, producer, and vocalist. She is a cultural architect, an Afro-Puerto Rican powerhouse who has been shaping the sound and spirit of dance music for more than two decades. Brought up in Detroit, sharpened during childhood summers in Chicago, and thriving in New York City, Rimarkable embodies the full spectrum of the Black diasporic tradition—gospel, funk, soul, jazz, house, and techno, all transformed into electrifying soundscapes that ignite dance floors across the globe. Her story begins in the sanctified heat of a Pentecostal church, where her mother, a classically trained pianist and music minister, saturated her childhood with gospel harmonies and discipline. Summers in Chicago exposed her to the earliest pulse of house music, embedding in her DNA a rhythm that would later define her life. By 1997 she was on the decks, and by 2006, frustrated with the industry’s barriers and biases, she became her own producer, turning resistance into innovation and claiming complete autonomy over her craft. Since then, Rimarkable has built a singular career that bridges worlds. She has shared stages with legends including George Clinton, Madonna, Erykah Badu, Louie Vega, Honey Dijon, Roger Sanchez, Pete Tong, and Francois K, while simultaneously cultivating underground spaces that honor community, authenticity, and radical joy. Her long-running events in Detroit, New York, and San Francisco have become touchstones for dancers and DJs alike, curating nights that are as spiritual as they are explosive. In 2021 she joined the storied Defected Records family, cementing her place among global house music royalty. As a host of the weekly Defected Radio Show, she now reaches millions of listeners across more than 170 FM stations worldwide, bringing her distinctive voice and impeccable taste to an international audience. Beyond the booth, Rimarkable is a celebrated educator and thought leader. She serves as an Adjunct Professor at NYU’s Clive Davis Institute, and instructor at Waajeed’s Underground Music Academy, where she teaches her groundbreaking course series, “The Alchemy of DJing.” This work frames DJing as both art and ritual, blending technique, history, spirituality, and cultural analysis into a visionary curriculum, with raw truth and resources for navigating the scene as a business. She has presented versions of this lecture and workshop in Nairobi, Berlin, Yale, and the Queens Museum, underscoring her mission to expand dance music’s role as a vehicle for healing, liberation, and collective power. Rimarkable’s artistry is rooted in more than beats. It is about presence, justice, and transformation. Whether unleashing a thunderous techno set, layering vocals over soulful house grooves, or leading students through the metaphysics of rhythm, she approaches every arena with the same intent: to elevate. To remind us that music is ceremony. To preserve the roots of dance music while pushing it fearlessly forward. With releases on labels including Classic Music Company, Big Love, Club Bad, and her forthcoming imprint Betty Jean’s Dream, Rimarkable continues to expand her sonic universe. Each project is a testament to her philosophy that excellence, dignity, and artistry are not optional but essential. Detroit is her foundation, New York is her canvas, and the world is her stage. To experience Rimarkable is to step into a revolution of rhythm, where every beat is an invitation, every set is a sermon, and every dance floor becomes a sanctuary. This is more than music. This is Rimarkable.
  SoundCloud ↗Bandcamp ↗Discography ↗
  Deep House on 1, Tech House on 1 and House on 1. styles on their catalogued releases

  Released on Catharsis (1) and Raisani Records (1); their RA profile also lists Defected Records, Planet E, Nervous Records, Liberate and 6 more. labels on their catalogued releases and on their RA profile

  Recently at Good Room, House of Yes, Industry City · often with Todd Edwards, Griffin Maxwell Brooks, Ksenyeah, none of them here that night

• 

  Toribio

  New York City · 119 bookings since Aug 2023

  “A triple threat who lights up a room when behind the decks, in the studio and on stage, TORIBIO is a lifelong student of rhythm.”

  their own biography

  the whole biography

  A triple threat who lights up a room when behind the decks, in the studio and on stage, TORIBIO is a lifelong student of rhythm. Analyzing melodies and chords with a musician's ear, the Dominican-American artist blends different genres and moods in all his creative pursuits–DJing, producing, singing, playing instruments, and even his skills on the mic. Thanks to a childhood spent playing in church and jazz drumming, the Florida-born, New York-based act has a natural sense of harmony. He takes on the role of musical cartographer in his Afro-Latin band, Conclave, whose debut album was named one of Resident Advisor's best in 2021 and praised by both Rolling Stone and the New Yorker. Acting as the ensemble's bandlander, vocalist, and key instrumentalist, TORIBIO connects jazz, soul, and house from various cultures with style and grace. His speciality in sonic connections are especially tangible in his DJing. Gliding from pan-Latin club to raw electro to jazz to old-school funk, his sets are a masterclass in building energy and tension. Whether playing Boiler Room or clubs in Mexico City and Tokyo, he knows how to work a crowd with selections and transitions that are as precise as they are powerful. As a producer, his edits and originals are DJ weapons, rinsed by the likes of Gilles Peterson, Rich Medina, and Theo Parrish. His original tracks have been remixed by the likes of Louie Vega, Joe Claussell, and DJ Spinna. Known for fostering community through movement, his Brooklyn block parties (Public Service NYC) embody the spirit of New York’s dance culture while his newly formed imprint B.D.A. is quickly becoming known for bringing these vibes to vinyl. A TORIBIO show is a full-body experience— as he always says, “bring dat ass, and your feet will follow.”
  SoundCloud ↗Bandcamp ↗
  House on 16, Deep House on 6, Disco on 6 and Downtempo on 6. styles on their catalogued releases

  Released on BDA (4) (2) and Bastard Jazz Recordings (1); their RA profile also lists BBE, Fool's Gold, Darker Than Wax, Razor-N-Tape and 4 more. labels on their catalogued releases and on their RA profile

  Recently at Xanadu, Dead Letter No. 9, Head Hifi · often with Love Injection, MUSCLECARS, Carozilla, none of them here that night

• 

  Qualia Trax

  Berlin, Germany

  “Rooted in the belief of the dancefloor as a space of infinite unique individual experiences, Qualia Trax embodies a playful genre-fluid approach to both DJing and curation.”

  their own biography

  the whole biography

  Rooted in the belief of the dancefloor as a space of infinite unique individual experiences, Qualia Trax embodies a playful genre-fluid approach to both DJing and curation. A long-time contributor to queer party scenes in Birmingham, London, Amsterdam and Berlin, Qualia Trax is founder, resident and booker for NEST, a queer, sex-positive party series and community in Berlin. This project seeks to 'queer-up' traditionally normative spaces and rituals to make them more accessible and enjoyable for marginalised groups, currently taking place at Kater Blau. They previously founded the VisionsKollektiv (fka Visionskultur), the highlight of which was the organisation and curation of the art and music programme for Kiek Beyond, a 3-day festival just outside Berlin in August 2023, and continue to support as a resident DJ and booker.
  SoundCloud ↗

  often with materia hache, HOPPER, ACID BOGEN, none of them here that night

• 

  Mickey Perez

  New York City · 74 bookings since Aug 2023

  “A Brooklyn resident since 2002, Mickey represents & presents a non-commercial, diasporic sound irrespective of national borders spanning many different styles of dance music across Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, Brasil & Black America.”

  their own biography

  the whole biography

  A Brooklyn resident since 2002, Mickey represents & presents a non-commercial, diasporic sound irrespective of national borders spanning many different styles of dance music across Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, Brasil & Black America. Mickey currently has a regular monthly show on NYC's The Lot Radio titled BeBop Porú which runs concurrently as a monthly to bi-monthly dance party in Brooklyn, Mexico City & Miami. In 2022, Mickey launched a community based summer music series for all ages with Toribio (Conclave/BDA) called Public Service that runs monthly across neighborhood parks in Bed-Stuy & Bushwick in Brooklyn. In addition to playing regularly throughout Brooklyn, NYC; Mickey's also rocked crowds abroad in London, Montreal, Toronto, Almaty, Kazakhstan, Mexico City, Guadalajara, Bogotá & Medellín in Colombia as well as Havana in Cuba in addition to doing his thing in Philadelphia, DC, St. Louis, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Las Vegas & Miami nationally in the United States. In 2018, Mickey became a member of the legendary New York City Salsa record label - Fania Records’ Collective of DJs/Producers just prior the acquisition of Fania by Concord Music Group.
  SoundCloud ↗

  Recently at Dead Letter No. 9, Eavesdrop, Nightmoves · often with Garo, Ali Coleman, King Klave, none of them here that night