Born in Queens, New York, and now based in Milan, WhereIsFenix is a DJ, producer, and curator whose musical identity has developed through years of travel and immersion in different underground scenes. Drawing on experiences in New York, Detroit, Tokyo, Berlin, and beyond, his approach combines raw percussion, house music, and influences that extend beyond conventional genre boundaries.
Photo credit: MackBoner
Alongside his productions and DJ performances, WhereIsFenix has developed projects including the ‘WhereAmI?’ mix series and the all-vinyl ‘LaidBackStacks’ series. His work reflects a continuing interest in musical discovery, personal connections, and the different communities that have influenced his creative development.
That perspective comes together on his debut album, ‘Curiosity’, out now through his own label, Legacy System. Featuring 18 tracks across three chapters, the project explores house, minimal, electronica, jazz, and raw club sounds, connecting dancefloor-focused material with personal memories and experiences.
The album is divided into ‘Wander Where Wonder Wanders’, ‘Motion Not Wasted’, and ‘Sueños y Memorias’. It also features contributions from Robert Owens, Patrick Mason, Dantiez Saunderson, and Boris Werner, bringing together artists from different generations of electronic music. A vinyl edition is also planned.
In this conversation with EG, WhereIsFenix discusses the creative decisions behind ‘Curiosity’, the influence of the cities he has lived in, his approach to collaboration, and the personal experiences embedded in the music. He also reflects on stepping away from the usual promotional cycle and his ambitions for Legacy System.
EG: Hi Fenix, welcome to Electronic Groove. It’s great to have you with us. How have you been, and how does it feel to finally share ‘Curiosity’ with the world?
WhereIsFenix: Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it. I’ve been good. I’ve just returned to Milan after a couple of weeks on the road. To be honest, I haven’t even had time to process the album coming out. I was throwing an album release party at my friend DJ Tjizza’s record shop, Tanzform, in Berlin. Right after that, I went straight to ADE in Amsterdam. Now I’m sitting at my desk in silence, responding to this interview, and I think I’ll finally be able to start processing everything tomorrow. Ha ha!
EG: ‘Curiosity’ brings together 18 tracks across three chapters, moving from discovery and club energy toward more personal memories. When did you realize these different sides of your musical world belonged together in one album?
WhereIsFenix: I don’t think there was an exact moment when I realized that everything belonged together. As I worked on the project and created the album, everything fell into place at the right time.
I do believe that albums should show the versatility of the artist presenting them. It’s very rare in music nowadays to find that specific essence of true expression and artistry, as it has been taken over by digital analytics, numbers, and all this unnecessary stuff that takes away from what an artist truly wants to create.
I know for a fact that there are artists out there releasing projects a certain way because they’re following some kind of status quo. Deep down, I know they have amazing music that they’re afraid to share with their audiences because of everything that’s happening right now.
EG: Each chapter has its own character: ‘Wander Where Wonder Wanders’ leaves room for exploration, ‘Motion Not Wasted’ leans into physical movement, and ‘Sueños y Memorias’ turns toward more intimate territory. How did you develop this structure, and did you always envision the album unfolding in three parts?
WhereIsFenix: When I started making this album, I honestly had no idea where it would go. As I worked on the music, I began noticing that certain songs connected. I started speaking to some of my artist friends and people in the industry who are also close friends of mine about the concept.
Initially, I told them that the album was going to be a full-length project with a lot of songs and tracks. Some of them suggested cutting it down a little because of people’s attention spans these days. My artist friends also gave me suggestions about how to make everything work.
After hearing everyone out, I took a step back. I didn’t want to diminish what I was striving for with this project, so I took their suggestions and mixed everything together. Once the recipe came together, I thought, “Okay, yeah, I can make this work in a really cool way.”
I found a way to create a full-length album with the number of songs I wanted while keeping everything cohesive. That’s how I was able to bring the whole thing together.
EG: You’ve said that the record came together when you stopped looking for a place in the scene and started creating your own universe. What changed in your approach to music, and perhaps to your own identity as an artist, to bring you to that point?
WhereIsFenix: I was just tired of seeing the same things all the time, whether it was the same artists appearing on lineups all around the world or the same artists getting all the publicity across digital platforms. No disrespect to any of them. I respect the hustle, and if that’s what makes them happy, that’s fine.
But I want my music to outlast my life ten times over. I’m not trying to end up in the graveyard of music. There’s so much music out there that disappears within a week of being released. The music I created for this project is something I truly believe will resonate with people from now until whenever they discover it, or whenever the music discovers them.
Not everybody is going to like it when they first hear it. Not everybody is going to like it at all. But if I can connect with at least one person on this planet, somebody I don’t know, from a different country or continent, or maybe even from another planet in the future, then my job is done.
“The music will always outlast the artists. That’s a really important thing to remember. When we’re no longer here, our music will still be here to represent us. It’s the legacy we leave behind”
EG: House sits at the heart of the album, but minimal, jazz, electronica, and raw club sounds all find their way into it. How do you keep that range connected to a recognizable musical identity without forcing everything into one sound?
WhereIsFenix: I think all of us artists in this world and realm of electronica appreciate all kinds of music, not just electronic music, but music from everywhere. There’s a lot of sampling within our genre and our little bubble of music, and I think that allows all these different inspirations to blend quite naturally when we’re working on something.
From my experience, it’s better to go with the flow when you’re in the studio and walk into a session without a preliminary idea of what you want to make, because usually that shit doesn’t work. The best music is made intuitively, almost randomly, without overthinking it. That’s the kind of process that allows different influences to blend together naturally, and I believe that’s how my project fell into place.
EG: Your life has taken you between New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Berlin, Detroit, and Milan, each with its own musical communities and club culture. How have those different places influenced your sound, and are there particular experiences that found their way directly into ‘Curiosity’?
WhereIsFenix: All these cities are different, but they’re also the same in a way. We’re all there for one reason: the music and the dance floor. They’ve definitely influenced my sound and everything that makes me who I am as an artist and as a person.
There are too many particular experiences that found their way onto my album to speak about them all, but each song is connected to a memory or an experience.
For example, with my track ‘Una Noche en Shibuya,’ whenever I listen to it or work on it, I envision a moment from when I was living in Japan about a decade ago. After midnight, the trains stopped running, so the only way to get home was to take a cab or walk.
I remember leaving the club, putting my headphones on, and wandering the streets of Tokyo, almost dozing off. I wasn’t even really looking at my maps. Instead, I was remembering specific elements of the city and mapping out my journey through them.
When I was working on this song, it always brought me back to those visuals, but in flashing moments rather than one clear image. That experience helped bring the song to life. When I think about the track and how I made it, I’m taken back to that night when I didn’t know exactly where I was going, but I eventually made it to my destination. However long it took, I still managed to get from point A to the finish line.
EG: The album brings together artists from different generations, including Robert Owens, Patrick Mason, Dantiez Saunderson, and Boris Werner. What did you want those collaborations to contribute to the project, and how did you approach bringing such different musical histories into the same world?
WhereIsFenix: To be fair, the collaborations on this album came from the communities I’ve built in each city. None of them were forced. Some of these songs had been sitting in my vaults for six or seven years, while others were made within the last year.
My approach was simply to be myself and speak to these artists directly. More than anything, it was about getting along and getting to know each other beyond the music. I think that getting to know someone as a person before working with them artistically can unlock a very deep connection between artists.
Being able to create something together and have it become part of our musical history is quite profound to me. Being able to release that music is priceless, too, because there’s so much music out there that the average listener will never get to hear. Sometimes it’s because of disagreements between people who were once friends, and other times it’s because of deadlines or other obstacles behind the scenes that people don’t know about.
That’s why, when collaborations genuinely come together and are delivered the way they should be, I believe they become something beautiful. I feel that way about my tracks with these colleagues, friends, and homies. They’re a beautiful contribution not just to my project, but also to the genres we work in and the whole essence of what electronic music is about.
EG: You kept your DJ appearances rare and largely unannounced while making the album, playing special gigs away from the usual promotional cycle. What was behind that decision, and did stepping back from visibility change your relationship with the music?
WhereIsFenix: When I started playing unannounced DJ sets, I also deactivated my Instagram because I wanted to meet people the way we used to back in the day. I wanted to be able to go to a party, talk to people without pulling out my phone, and connect with them in person. I wanted to exchange phone numbers and say, “Hey, what are you doing? Let’s go digging. What are you doing? Let’s grab a coffee. Hey, Bubba!” Ha ha.
I think that’s also part of the mystique that a lot of artists don’t really have these days because of the way the industry works. I wanted to bring that essence of mystique back, although not to the point of becoming a rare Pokémon or something like that.
I just wanted people to experience something that many people in this generation, the previous generation, and future generations might not get to experience in the same way because of everything that’s happening right now.
EG: The third chapter, ‘Sueños y Memorias’, draws on personal recordings and voices to bring the people and places behind the music closer to the surface. How comfortable are you with allowing elements of your own life into your work, and does that change what you want the listener to experience?
WhereIsFenix: I’m extremely comfortable with allowing elements of my own life into my work. I definitely want the listener to experience and feel what I feel. I don’t like oversaturated stuff. I truly believe authenticity is missing in this industry and in the scene. Through my lyrics and what I say, I just want to deliver something that I can connect with whoever listens.
One of the songs, ‘SMS’, wasn’t pre-written. I had a loop that I made, and the words just came out of me. That’s literally what happened when I made that song, and I left it as it was. Obviously, I EQ’d it and did all the other production work, but the lyrics themselves didn’t get a second take. It was all done in one take.
Looking back, the messages I deliver through my music come from a very personal place. They’re from me to you.
On the first track of the first chapter, I have a song with Mayla J, who is one of the best producers I’ve ever worked with. The lyrics I speak were originally written and performed by an Argentine folk singer named Jorge Cafrune, if I’m not mistaken. He was a folk singer who sang about politics, corruption, and other issues back in the day, and he passed away abruptly.
My father used to manage him before I was born. I later found his records, and there was one song I really loved. I paid homage to this Argentine folk singer by using his lyrics on the album. So, there’s always a connection to what I do when it comes to that form of expression.
EG: ‘Curiosity’ is also the first full-length release on your own label, Legacy System, and the beginning of an open-ended series. What do you want the label to make possible for you creatively that might be harder to pursue within someone else’s framework?
WhereIsFenix: What I want Legacy System to represent is a moment in time for every artist who releases music on the label. I want each release to become part of that artist’s legacy, whether they become commercial or remain underground.
The label is meant for anyone who discovers the essence of Legacy System. It’s a treat, and from that tree, the branches will spread out. Each branch will represent an artist I’ve signed, but it will also have its own place within the electronic music community. I want people to discover whatever they’re looking for through the label. If someone discovers a release and finds something in an artist’s music that they love, then that’s what matters. Whatever comes out, comes out.
“The best music is made intuitively, almost randomly, without overthinking it”
EG: With the album now out and a vinyl edition to follow, what would you like this first chapter of the Legacy System story to make possible next, both for your own music and for the wider community you’re building around it?
WhereIsFenix: I just want to be able to create a moment in time for every artist who becomes part of this family. I want them to remember why they’re doing what they’re doing.
The music will always outlast the artists. That’s a really important thing to remember. When we’re no longer here, our music will still be here to represent us. It’s the legacy we leave behind.
This tree called Legacy System is for everyone to discover, sit beneath its shade, and simply enjoy the listening.
EG: Thank you so much for your time. We wish you all the best with ‘Curiosity’ and everything ahead. Take care!
WhereIsFenix: Thank you! I look forward to seeing you guys sooner rather than later, either on the dance floor or right back here. Big love.
WhereIsFenix’s ‘Curiosity’ is out now via Legacy System. Stream the three chapters above and download your copies here.
Follow WhereIsFenix: Spotify | SoundCloud | Instagram
