A Special Porncast for PRNCPTL: Alírio in Conversation with Rakans
Rakans: DJ Alírio carries Brazil in every beat. Born in Uberlândia in Minas Gerais, she came up shaping her local ballroom scene through BAILE034 and later expanded into São Paulo’s fierce underground, where she grew a reputation for powerful, sensual, bass-driven sets. She is also a cofounder of Tandera Records, a label rooted in queer Latin energy and dedicated to uplifting dissident sounds from across the region. Her performances at events like WHOLE Festival and venues such as Tresor and Refuge Worldwide have positioned her as one of Brazil’s most magnetic electronic voices.
Today, we dive into the world of Alírio. Pure rhythm. Pure presence. Pure power.
Interview by Rakans – Answers by Alírio
Rakans: Salam Alírio love. What mood did you wake up with today. Saint. Sinner. Sound sorceress. And tell us your pronouns and the track that is currently eating your brain.
Alírio: Today I actually woke up feeling saintly — and tired. Last night (Thursday) we went out for a drink to celebrate the release of the first EP by my best friend, Tuxe, on our label. The night went on longer than expected, and you can probably imagine the rest…
So today I just want to cook something delicious and rest, because the weekend will be long.
My pronouns are she/her, and every day there’s a different track eating my brain — today it’s “Control” by Akumen.
Rakans: You started your journey in Uberlândia helping build BAILE034 and organizing ballroom parties. How did that scene and that community shape the artist you grew into.
Alírio: That period was absolutely essential in my trajectory. At the time, I was a psychiatry student living in a very provincial city — Uberlândia — where there wasn’t much happening around electronic music, let alone anything queer.
I was already involved with the trans community because I worked in a health service dedicated to their care. Around the same time, ballroom culture started growing in Brazil, and as I followed that movement online, I had the idea — together with friends and people who already danced vogue in the city — to start producing a party that would open with a ball. And that’s how the scene started to take form locally, back in 2019.
It was during that period that I decided to learn how to DJ, and by the end of that year I also began my gender transition. I feel like every stage from that moment was crucial to me becoming the artist I am today.
Rakans: You cofounded Tandera Records with a crew of powerful names including Guza, Bassan, Lady Letal and Tuxe. What vision did you want this label to embody and how does it reflect your identity as a queer Brazilian artist.
Alírio: There aren’t many labels in Brazil for us to release our music. On top of that, I noticed a kind of segregation even within our own community — as if parties with different sonic identities didn’t really interact. In my view, that weakens the whole movement.
With the label, I wanted to create a space to showcase the music we are making here and throughout Latin America, and to promote real dialogue — to celebrate our artists and our diversity.
Rakans: Your sets carry this unmistakable Brazilian pulse. A mix of sensual energy. Storytelling. And club heat. How do you build a set that feels like a narrative. And which parts of your musical heritage guide that process.
Alírio: It’s something very natural to me — I don’t plan much. It’s about how the music makes me feel and the energy I receive from the dance floor.
I’m always searching for sensuality in sound, regardless of genre, and I know sensuality is a subjective concept — I think that’s what makes each set bring out something different.
My musical heritage comes from pop — what played on the radio. At the end of my childhood, I became obsessed with what pop divas like Madonna and Britney created. Confessions on a Dance Floor marked me deeply.
Rakans: You have performed internationally from WHOLE Festival to Tresor and radio platforms that move global audiences. Was there a moment on tour that made you look around and think this is bigger than I imagined.
Alírio: Traveling the world, that feeling comes to me often. It’s extremely special for me to experience new places and meet new people. This year I spent five months traveling, and I never imagined I would be living this through art.
I remember feeling that very strongly while dancing to a Juliana Huxtable set at Nowadays in NYC earlier this year — I had flown there to play at Basement — and seeing the community 100% surrendered to her was magical. It made me realize how powerful and important everything we do truly is.
Rakans: Your B2B with Tedesco on Foundation fm merged Latin textures. Tribal bass. And deep rhythmic tension. How did you two find that chemistry and what made that set come alive.
Alírio: I met Tedesco in the summer of 2024 in Berlin — she was producing her party there with two other collectives of immigrants; it was a 2C Latin Mess at Aeden. I went out dancing with some friends and it was incredible, and her set in particular really struck me. We exchanged just a few words that night.
The following year I went to London to play for the first time, she lives there, and I got a slot on Foundation.fm. I invited her to do a B2B because I already sensed we shared similar sonic paths. Everything happened very organically.
Now we’re great friends. I’ve been back to London a couple more times and we’re always together when I’m there. I love her deeply.
Rakans: You talk often about researching and elevating sounds from Latin America along with dissident artists. How do you use your platform to push these voices into rooms that might not always hear them.
Alírio: At Tandera Records we release only projects by Latin American artists, and I always carry their productions on my USB. I closely follow the work of many artists online — independent releases, other Latin labels. I’m a researcher at heart, and I love doing this.
Rakans: Tabloid moment. If you could add one outrageous diva request to your rider purely for the entertainment value of watching promoters sweat what would it be.
Alírio: I love eating and I love cooking. It might not even be that extravagant, but I would ask for a pre-party dinner that introduces me to the most delicious, local food of the city I’m playing in.
I’m a simple and curious girl.
Rakans: Fast forward to 2030. Who is Alírio in your dream timeline. A global tastemaker. A label visionary. An unstoppable touring force. Or something the world has never even seen yet.
Alírio: I want to do all of that — but above all, I want to become more and more of a musician. I started DJing already dreaming of the day I would be producing my own tracks, and now this is finally becoming real.
I’m currently working on my first EP, which will probably be released in February 2026.
Rakans: Someone experiencing you for the first time asks what am I walking into when I come to your set. What is the single sentence that prepares them.
Alírio: You’re going to hear beautiful music.
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