Vetor Entrevista: Dandarona

Dandarona introduces us to the core of who she is in “Lastro”: With ease and confidence, the producer from Recife builds her sound right before our eyes on her newest EP, weaving together collaborations and different sonic textures with total mastery.

Text and interview by Pedro Paulo Furlan

Photography by Mariana Tinoco

Dandarona is a name that has echoed throughout Brazil’s underground scene for more than eight years of career. Taking her blend of funk, club music, and drum’n’bass across the country, the artist Dandara Luz has established herself as one of the biggest promises in the Brazilian electronic scene—especially with her newest EP, Lastro, released in early November.

“Lastro is a synthesis of everything I’ve been building over the past few years,” Dandarona tells me when I ask her to introduce the EP in her own words. With this project, the artist brings together all the references present in her sets, in addition to extensive research she’s been developing precisely for this moment. “I definitely got butterflies before releasing it—that always happens—but above all there was this feeling of ‘This is it!’ Now you can hear everything I’ve been preparing.”

Originally from Recife, but with an unmistakable presence in São Paulo’s scene, the name Dandarona on a lineup is always a guarantee of a moment of extremely high energy on the dancefloor. Fully and completely engaging the crowd, a set by the DJ and producer showcases her signature mix of funk, club, drum’n’bass, and house—all rhythms that are strongly present on Lastro.

“I followed what truly belongs to my lived experience as a producer and DJ throughout these eight years on the dancefloor; everything was already present in my research. I think it was never about trying to fit different styles together, but about showing what already flows through me naturally.”

Photography by Mariana Tinoco

This sense of naturalness was also part of the EP’s production process itself. When I ask about when she had the idea to create Lastro, Dandara explains that it wasn’t exactly a fully voluntary decision—it was actually quite instinctive. “The idea came when I realized that everything I had researched had the strength to become its own project,” she explains, adding: “I was living a very creative moment, you know? I needed to materialize that.”

“It was beautiful to see the tracks take shape, when each song started to clearly show that it had its own personality, yet still made sense within the Dandarona universe.”

On Lastro, Dandarona also features contributions from standout names in Brazilian music—IDLIBRA, Potyguara Bardo, Kaya Conky, RKills, and Janvita from the group Taj Ma House all bring their identities into Dandara’s new project. “Being surrounded by artists who create, experiment, and support each other gives me strength and motivation to keep producing. It’s an environment that inspires the kind of sound I want to build,” she says.

Regarding the collaborations with artists from Brazil’s Northeast—a region that for a long time was not recognized for its power in electronic music—I ask about the importance of maintaining that connection to her roots.

Photography by Mariana Tinoco

“All of this happened very naturally; these artists, besides being friends, are references for me,” Dandarona tells me about IDLIBRA, Potyguara Bardo, Kaya Conky, and Janvita. “It wasn’t a deliberate choice to represent the Northeast, but I knew it would happen anyway, because it’s part of who I am.”

“Wherever I am, I will always be a Northeastern travesti. And that appears in my artistic language in an organic way, without needing to be forced.”

This rejection of anything “forced” lies at the very core of Lastro. The EP is made up of six tracks that sound like the most natural expression of Dandarona, bringing together all her references and inspirations while ensuring the project reflects as much of herself as possible—yet still leaving space for us, the audience, to be left hungry for more.