You probably recognize her from the wonderful content she provides, but we’re thrilled to officially introduce you to Sandy Perez.  A graphic art director by day, she spends all her other hours as a vinyl selector and founding member of the Revuleta Vinyl Club. Revuleta is a collective that supports and empowers women through workshops to keep the vinyl culture alive. She is also part of the Fiesta Enferma collective that seeks to rediscover, revalue and transmit popular Peruvian music while preserving the format of analog recordings.

If you’re in South America, be sure to catch her in Argentina for the Pibas Vinileras event that will take place on Saturday, October 7. It is a collective of women DJs and vinyl selectors at the Pibas Vinyl Festival at Recoleta Cultural Center.

When not working Sandy is listening to her records at home, “I’m very passionate about it”.  She also really likes running and riding a bike to get away from the computer.

How did you get into your industry / What motivated you?

I was motivated by my grandfather, I used to listen to vinyl records with him while we cleaned the house on Saturdays. He taught me how to operate a turntable and cultivated my taste for collecting. When he passed away I started my own vinyl collection.

What is a day in the life like?

My day always starts at six in the morning, I feed my two beautiful cats, I put on a record randomly and prepare a breakfast. On weekdays I work as a freelance art director and have been working for years as a product designer.  I also coordinate with different brands and the “Revuelta” collective to carry out social media strategies and generate content on the internet.

At night on weekends it’s another story as a vinyl selector. I organize and work DJing in bars, clubs, cafeterias, and theme parties. Nightlife is very tiring but I have a lot of fun sharing music and people being interested in what I play is worth the effort.

In your opinion what has been your favorite / the coolest thing you’ve worked on?

As a music lover it is very important to share the music that I discover, or that I am listening to, and its what I do on my social media. This has allowed me to get closer to more women and dissidents who share the same love for music without them being afraid to ask. Giving them a safe space for consultation and sharing is something that has made me very happy. That is why I decided with a Peruvian DJ friend who lives in Brazil to form “Revuelta Collective” to bring knowledge about the world of vinyl collecting and vinyl selectors. Curiously, I met this DJ friend whose name is Cecilia not here in my country, but through the internet. She contact me through my instagram.

What has been / is the most difficult part of your job?

The truth is that it has not been very difficult for me to connect with different scenes of local musicians since I have always been related to music and I’m a person with social skills. However, in the world of collecting there is a lot of sexism and when I started my collection I had to deal with people who have constantly mansplained me or looked down on me for being a woman or younger than them.

There will always be people like that, but something that is super important to me is that the work of women in the industry begins to stand out, because the more female faces there are, the more chances that more girls get involved in this. I have talked to many girls who collect vinyl and are afraid to play them because at some point their father, grandfather or the person who had the turntable at home told them do not touch because you will ruin it.

What advice do you have for someone wanting to get into pursuing what you’re doing?

My advice is never to give up, being a musician here in my country is complicated since there is no support from either the state or the local scene. I fervently believe in the do-it-yourself ideology. It is costing us but I feel that we are making way for a new generation of people with more and more interest in the preservation of the analogue format and together we will fight for more changes and equality in this industry.

We are our best allies, connect and surround yourself with people who inspire you confidence to continue forming networks.

Are you a vinyl collector yourself? What drew you to it?

I’ve been collecting vinyl since I was 16, a lot in my collection is rock from the sixties made in my country. Peruvian music begun to interest me since at that time it was almost inaccessible to young people. From there I also began to collect psychedelic cumbia, guarachas, chicha, boogaloo, and other more tropical subgenres. From there was born another collective to which I belong called “Fiesta Enferma“, the name comes from the term “Ritmo y Enfermad” which would translate as “rhythm and disease” that was given to the unbridled rock of a band called “Los Yorks” that combined rock & roll, with psychedelia and “nueva ola“. A few years ago I coincided with the one who is now my partner in the collective and we decided to do it with the aim of decentralizing Peruvian music and revaluing the catalog of songs that these groups left us.

What types of things are happening in your industry / with vinyl that you’re excited or worried about? i.e. innovation, or trends you’re seeing.

I am very excited about the new generations that are growing up with this culture that they recognize as “vintage” but consume it with great passion. This is precisely an opportunity for more girls to be part of this vinyl industry. As a collective we want to give DJ workshops for children in the next vacations and I am very excited about what can happen.

Who has been influential to you and your growth as a professional in this industry? 

Much of the influence in my life is undoubtedly Kim Gordon, for me she has been a role model. Always transgressive and focusing her efforts and creativity to earn a credible place within the contemporary cultural scene. Once a friend told me not to discourage me from dabbling in music and gave me Kim Gordon as an example, she had the spotlight at the age of 35. That motivated me much more to dabble not only in vinyl DJing but also in social projects.

I am also very grateful to my friend Cecilia Yzarra who was the one who motivated me to form this collective in the absence of a female presence in the vinyl DJing in Peru.

Anything else you’d like to add; if not tell us what you’re listening to: 

At this moment I am very stuck listening to music made in Latin America of all time. And above all with disco music made in Peru in the 80s. I’ll be doing some articles and social media reels soon on this topic.

Find Sandy: 

Instagram: 

Sandy: @larutadelvinilo

Revuelta Vinyl Club: @revuelta.vinylclub

Linktree: www.linktr.ee/revuelta.vinylclub

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