Revelations
Listen closely.
DJ, producer, and owner of De La Playa Records Eusébio Akasa wants to tell you a story.
“That’s what a DJ really offers, is being able to blend and mix songs and kind of tell a story with it,” Akasa explained. “My favorite part of DJing is bringing a wide array of sounds over time periods and landscapes and bringing it all into one and having it play like one long song. I want people to learn, I want each person to walk away with something.”
Akasa hopes to offer his listeners what he calls “revelations,” those moments when people discover new music and hear connectors to music they've already enjoyed.
The Los Angeles native has been DJing and producing around Los Angeles since he was 20, but when the Covid-19 pandemic shut down all the shows and residencies he was playing, Akasa started an online record shop to stay busy.
And if Akasa’s goal is to have people walk away with something, it's that De La Playa Records has an impressive array of diverse world music for sale that is sure to be new music for most listeners that don’t consider themselves DJs and would make any DJ jealous.
The 34-year-old Akasa calls the offerings at De La Playa Records a “coastal curated collection,” and claims that although the collection spans different genres, the common denominator is that they “all have a kinda coastal energy that can be played poolside or beachside.”
Since the online record shop was launched during the worst days of the pandemic, Hello Stranger’s second Oishi Barrio on June 13th will be the first time De La Playa Records steps out into the public for an appearance and Akasa is eager.
“Oishi Barrio will be my first actual market, so it’s really exciting to see it actually materialize,” Akasa revealed. He shared that De La Playa will have vinyl slip decks and towels on offer aside from their records and that the next goal is to transition into being a full lifestyle brand and record label.
But for the Long Beach-based artist, music will always be the spine of De La Playa and records will always be his first love.
“There won’t be one bad record on offer,” Akasa announced. “Everyone will respect the quality of the records.”