My name is Slina, aka Slim Soledad, I am an artist working as a DJ, music producer, and performer. I started DJing about 6 years ago when I was still living in São Paulo. Before that, I already was in contact with music because I had studied contemporary dance and, in a certain way, there is a big influence coming from my parents since I was a little girl. I believe I have been diving into the world of music for a long time, and also experienced it in several layers – like producing, mixing, performing, singing – and I want to be able to continue working as an artist, but trusting without the fear of making mistakes and embracing chaos.

I love fashion and fashion loves me (laughs). I love the feeling of getting dressed up to go out or to dinner, looking chic, feeling the glamour to celebrate yourself, to celebrate other people, and to use this tool that fashion is to express yourself and to talk about yourself just as an outfit.
I think it's very powerful and important because it demarcates positions and groups. Even like in music, there is your way of being expressed, and I see a parallel connection that is between the message and the manifestation of communication.

It was one of my best gigs, without a doubt! I had never played such a big festival before; it was very gratifying and fun. I had a lot of moments that are memorable but two are the Tyler the Creator, show and the Maricxs party closing out the first weekend.

Yes, it does. I've been to many countries (laughs), but my travels influence the sound I create a lot. Every trip I feel like I get some kind of boost and inspiration to keep doing what I'm doing. I think what keeps me grounded is to rest well, eat well, understand the things in my surroundings that make me feel good and discard the things that make me sick and keep doing it because I'm passionate about it.

Quite the opposite, I would say Berlin has its two sides. I think there can be a certain chaos, but it also has a peaceful side! The name of the mix is precisely that because I know that after living almost 3 years in Berlin, my musical taste has changed a lot. Also, I had a key turning point in my process with music and mixing after coming here.

We've been doing parties and events in Brazil, but we slowed down because of some turbulence that one of our members went through, but now we are with the founder of the collective here in Europe. Unfortunately, we only did one edition of an event that was very special in 2020 in Berlin, but we have the idea of planning something out in Paris in the future.

The creation of the podcast came from Jota inviting me and Iki to be part of that, but then the whole process of the podcast was from the Zoom calls during the pandemic for the first time, where we were exchanging ideas and references to create the podcast. We ended up creating La Leche Travesti, it was a very short process of residence to make the three episodes, but we held and gave impulse to this sound space

These discussions connect with me because we have some meeting points as artists and experiences, exchanging thoughts about this flawed and abusive system regarding our bodies that does not guarantee us safety. This connects with my work in a way that takes us out of a place of subalternity, exchanging these ideas collectively to draw plans and arriving at impossible and unmentionable places, being it with music, politics, poetry and art, in a way where it's all connected. I also believe the work of Jota and Iki is beyond that.

I think it resonates in general, not just in Berlin. There is a romanticisation of precariousness in relation to racialised bodies in the art world. I see a sadism in consuming our traumas and pain and commodifying them in a ‘normal’ way, especially with non-white artists.
Resistance consists of denying the exploitation that often comes and appears in a very subtle way; at the same time, if you ‘deny’ it, you don't get to work, and sometimes the subtlety comes in an imperceptible way you only realise it later. So, it depends a lot on the negotiation of each individual between their professional and personal lives.

Actually, the last release was in 2021, commissioned by Gessnerallee, materialised in a 35-minute sound piece with two other guest artists Puta da Silva and Luan Okun, that even if you haven't heard, I recommend you to listen to it. We have planned some next steps for La Leche Travesti, but maybe it will be something else, for now, that will be a surprise. Something fresh and I can't be sure about the dates, but I would say maybe something for next year.

I've been working on a few projects at the moment, both related to dance and music, but other than that, I've been putting energy into some songs that I intend to release early next year. In the meantime, I'll release some surprises that I've been working on over the last few months, which consist of finding more power and noise from the voice to build beats. I'm looking forward to it and I've been doing it with a lot of love and making sure I enjoy every moment and part of the process.