Iñigo Vontier offers something stranger and more vital to modern electronic music's dim, tranced-out underworlds. The Guadalajara-born producer and DJ has spent over a decade quietly carving out a space marked by haunted vivacity—ritualistic and irreverent, laced with psychedelic mischief. His sound defies borders and genre orthodoxy, balancing regional specificity with cosmopolitan reach. The reach comes to Control Club on Friday, May 9, as Iñigo Vontier joins a bill that also sees a live set from Matias Aguayo.
His journey began around 2000, when Juan José “Iñigo Vontier” Navarro Velarde, then a curious pre-teen, stumbled on a cheap drum machine and began crafting rudimentary bedroom beats. By his twenties, that early fascination had grown into a full-blown passion for electronic sound, shaped by the influence of Daft Punk, Aphex Twin, and the psytrance rave scene in Guadalajara. A formative stint in Madrid in 2006 immersed Vontier in Europe’s electronic pulse through artists like Justice, Tiga, and Vitalic. Upon returning to Mexico, he committed himself to contributing to the emergence of a new Mexican electronic sound alongside contemporaries in his hometown.
In 2012, Vontier co-founded the indie label Mix Le Fun Records (MXF). His debut release, the Spiral EP, introduced his distinctive blend of cosmic house and dirty disco, tinged with psychedelic flair. The following year brought Soy Electrónico (2013), an EP that topped Junodownload’s sales charts for weeks. During this period, he also explored collaborative projects, notably as half of the electro-tropical duo Salon Acapulco.
By 2013, tracks like La Nueva Era were drawing global attention. Around the same time, he began releasing on various international labels. From the sleazy slo-mo house of Denver’s Gazeebo International to the dark analog funk of Mexico City’s Electrique Music, each release reflected a chameleonic creativity steeped in the club underground. A notable milestone came in 2015 with his signing to Turbo Recordings, where he released Furia. Tracks like Zu Zu Zu and the title cut showcased his talent for fusing raw textures with rhythmic force. By the late 2010s, Vontier was contributing to Jennifer Cardini’s Correspondant, Chloe's Lumière Noire, and Canada’s Multi Culti while also remixing several indie-dance mainstays.
Vontier’s influences span decades and continents. From his parents’ record collection, he absorbed the songwriting of The Beatles and the experimental pop of David Bowie. As a teenager, he was drawn to the intensity of big-beat and electronica pioneers. These inspirations manifest in his willingness to blur the boundaries between organic and synthetic elements. His 2022 EP Despierta, for instance, ranges from surf-rock-inflected synthwave to quasi-industrial electro within four tracks.
A strong current of Mexican cultural mysticism runs through Vontier’s work. He often describes a spiritual connection to his homeland, from the folklore of Jalisco’s forests to the sacred symbolism of maize. His debut album El Hijo Del Maíz – “The Son of the Corn” – was a tribute to this identity. For Vontier, the club is not merely a party space but a ritual ground where ancestral spirits coalesce with modern electronic rhythms. This mystical dimension often lends his music a hypnotic quality—whether in the slow-burning Marijuana from El Hijo Del Maíz or the stripped-down, swirling remix of Bo Ni Ke.
Collaboration has been central to Vontier’s artistic practice. Early on, he worked with producer Dan Solo in Salon Acapulco and formed Sonido Fantasma, another electro-tropical project. His most enduring partnership, however, is with Argentine DJ Thomass Jackson. In 2017, the two launched Calypso Records, a vinyl-focused label dedicated to showcasing emerging talent across Latin America. Calypso’s releases span from Andean disco to Amazonian acid, often with remix contributions from European producers.
In just a few years, Calypso established itself as a hub for leftfield dance music. Artists like Colossio and Simple Symmetry have featured on the label, as has Vontier himself. The label also led to a nomadic party series called Calypso Cvlt, where Vontier plays a central curatorial and DJ role. In Mexico, the series took up residence at Guadalajara’s Bar Americas and Mexico City’s Yu Yu; internationally, it’s appeared at venues like Opium in Vilnius and Berlin’s Sisyphos.
Beyond his label work, Vontier remains a sought-after remixer and collaborator. His reworkings of Metronomy and Yuksek have been praised for infusing their tracks with dark, tropical flair. On El Hijo Del Maíz, he invited contributions from DJ Rocca and vocalist Xen (of Red Axes’ circle). While his partnership with Thomass Jackson was initially more curatorial than musical, the two eventually released a full collaborative EP, born from an impromptu jam session. Vontier is also a member of the global Multi Culti collective, and his work regularly appears on international compilations and split EPs.
If Vontier’s studio output conjures a shamanic journey, his performances bring that experience to global dancefloors. By 2013, he was already DJing in Europe—at Paris’s Wanderlust, Marseille’s La Dame Noir, and Madrid’s Moroder Club. In the years since, he has played at festivals, including MUTEK's Mexico City edition, Day Zero in Tulum, and Germany’s Fusion Festival. His set atop the Mayan Warrior art car at Burning Man became the stuff of legend. Over time, he has built strong followings in cities like Paris and Vilnius while becoming a regular at tastemaker venues across North and South America, from New York to Buenos Aires.
Vontier’s rise parallels a broader redefinition of the Latin club sound. Alongside peers from Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico, he’s helped assert Latin America’s place within the global electronic conversation. His releases on international labels such as Correspondant, Her Majesty’s Ship, My Favorite Robot, Nang, Crosstown Rebels, and Lumière Noire have brought wide recognition. His tracks now appear in sets by the likes of Solomun, Dixon, Âme, and Maceo Plex, ensuring that the sound of Guadalajara reverberates from Ibiza to Berlin.
Ultimately, Iñigo Vontier’s work navigates the ancient-modern dialectic: sound as a spell, rhythm as resistance, groove as gathering. His music invites not just movement but transformation. It’s for conjuring as much as it is for dancing.
