Chulita Vinyl Club (CVC) is made up of women, gender-non-conforming, non-binary, LGBTQ+ and self-identifying people of color. Each Chulita identifies with their own identity. There is no music genre policy – everything goes. Each Chulita brings their own style and choice of genre to the sets — from dancehall and indie pop to cumbia and corridos.
Before CVC existed, I knew there were mujer DJs around, but I felt there was a need for a platform for vinyl-loving girls that wanted to DJ or learn to DJ. As a woman of color, I didn’t see myself behind the turntables as the DJ culture existed. There were no handbooks or history books or how-to blogs that could tell me how to do what I wanted to with my mission with Chulita Vinyl Club. I wanted to collect vinyl, DJ, DJ music that comes from my roots and I wanted to do it alongside other women of color that I knew existed out there.
Individual women DJs have always been around in DJ culture and I find respect, inspiration and admiration for them. I found that there hadn’t been many platforms for women, and platforms for women of color to skillshare, learn to mix, book gigs, play gigs or to talk about records. As CVC progressed, Chulitas became empowered, found self-confidence and inspired others to represent themselves. We have infiltrated spaces that probably wouldn’t previously take a second look at a woman of color behind turntables previously.
Chulita Vinyl Club has chapters in Austin, San Antonio, Rio Grande Valley, Bay Area, San Diego, Santa Ana and Los Angeles.
2018 was a year of growth, love and of course filled with good tunes from our vinyl collections. We hope that through our bi-monthly mixes, workshops and dance parties helped you dance a little. We’re excited for 2019 and we’re going to keep digging and collecting, dancing and playing those good tunes.
To all of you that support us and show us love, thank you for sharing an amazing year with us.
From myself and from all Chulitas, Happy New Year! ¡Feliz Año Nuevo! See you soon 2019!
- founder of CVC, Chulita Tear Drop 💧
