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Ela Minus

Colombia-born and -raised musician Gabriela Jimeno, known as Ela Minus, wrote, performed, and produced the collection entirely alone. Ela melds machines with her living body, creating complex, technical electronic music that exudes a vibrant warmth, and a stark, celebratory affirmation that our breaths aren't infinite.

Self-made and punk in spirit, Ela puts her own spin on traditional electronic music. As a self-imposed rule, no sound in her work is generated inside a computer. Preferring a human, analog approach, Ela—who spent years studying how to design and build synthesizers—only uses hardware to perform, write, and record. She rejected laptops largely because of her background as a musician who, for years, played acoustic instruments professionally. She cites Kraftwerk and early Daft Punk as inspirations: electronic artists who, in her words, “can exist both inside and outside the club context.” “I deeply identify with club culture, and want to make music to dance to,” she says. “I also want to make songs in the more traditional sense, with melodies, lyrics, and singing. I want to make songs that stay with people through the years”. As a teenager, she saw a clear connection between the freedom of the DIY scene she grew up on and club culture—the power of people being in a room, present, experiencing something unique and powerful together.