“We are chula because we are beautiful, poised confident,” she said. Saenz gave it new meaning by incorporating it into the group’s name as a declaration of female empowerment. “Chulita” is a Spanish term of endearment, and Saenz remembers her grandmother telling her “ay, que chula,” or “oh, how cute,” when she was a child. “Because there’s such an under-representation of women and women of color in all industries in society, Chulita Vinyl Club – even if it’s a small-scale movement – builds a platform for girls to inspire each other, to learn how to work together and value the importance of togetherness,” said Saenz, who works for a nonprofit. Each week, a member or a chapter uploads a new mix to SoundCloud as a way for the women to get to know one another through music. Since moving to San Jose, California, in 2016, Saenz has helped launch chapters of the Chulita Vinyl Club in the Bay Area, Los Angeles, Santa Ana and San Diego. In addition to Austin and San Antonio, the Edinburg-native started a chapter in the Rio Grande Valley. Within hours of publishing her Facebook post, she was flooded with emails from longtime, female record collectors interested in sharing their music with the public. She put out a call on social media looking for fellow vinyl enthusiasts in Austin and San Antonio. “You don’t really see female DJs out there, especially DJs that are women of color,” Saenz said. Women are underrepresented in the music industry, and they made up only 12 percent of acts booked at 10 of the nation’s largest music festivals in 2016, according to data compiled by The Huffington Post. It didn’t help that Saenz saw few female DJs behind the decks at local clubs and event spaces. “I just never really knew how to get out there and do it.” The club began in Austin in late 2014 and now has 58 members spread across its seven chapters in Texas and California.ĭJing is “basically what I was doing by myself at home – playing records and dancing – and now I’m doing it in public for more people,” said Rodríguez.Ĭlaudia Saenz, 28, began the club as a way to connect women of color who collect vinyl with the DJ industry. She’s a member of the Chulita Vinyl Club, a DJ collective of women of color. Since moving to Austin, Rodríguez has made the jump from record collector to DJ. “I got one and then it never stopped,” she said. She left the store that day as a collector. Her face still lights up when she recalls her first vinyl purchase after she stepped into a record store by chance. During her college years in Mexico, Rodríguez, 31, wrote album reviews for campus publications and hosted a radio show about rock music on the student-run station. Music has been a constant throughout her academic career. Her records are more than just a connection to home: They offer an escape from academia and the never-ending reading lists and papers confronting the aspiring professor. It was not an easy feat, considering she had been collecting them for nearly a decade. in Latin American studies at the University of Texas, she made sure to bring her vinyl records with her. When Yoalli Rodríguez moved to Austin from Mexico to pursue a Ph.D. Erin Gentry, a DJ with the Chulita Vinyl Club, plays a record at Al Volta’s Midnight Bar during the Fusebox Festival in April.
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