Azul (Azul Zapata) stopped by Live & Local this week, following the release of her latest single, “Disco Never Died.”
Born in Argentina, Azul moved to the US at a young age – eventually attending UNC, settling in the Triangle, and emerging on the music scene in 2021 with her acclaimed debut EP “The View From Here.” “Disco Never Died” is the lead single off her second EP, “Death, Love and Disco,” forthcoming in early 2025.
“I started listening to a lot more disco during the pandemic, because I like to go out dancing and we didn’t have that,” Zapata says of the song. “I started learning more about where disco came from, how it’s still alive even though people tried to kill it…and I got the idea in my head that (even if) you try to kill it, it will transform itself…
“Disco is in every type of music. It’s in Nirvana songs. Dave Grohl will say he loves disco. A beat like that, it’s iconic. You can’t not have it in good music…(and) I wanted to add to the legacy of what disco is, which is something that’s about joy and surviving.”
“Disco Never Died” is the harbinger of what’s likely to be a big year for Azul: “Death, Love and Disco” is the first of two studio EPs that are in the works. (Why two EPs and not one album? “Our attention spans have really shrunk down,” she says, “and to me, an album has to have a story or a theme, and I haven’t gotten that yet.”)
And on top of the studio recordings, Azul is also planning to release a live EP early next year, from a July show at the Flat Iron in Greensboro. The live shows are a clearer display of Zapata’s political side – which manifests itself less in her lyrics (though it’s present there too) and more in her insistence on elevating queer, femme, and BIPOC representation on stage.
“Back when I (started doing music), as a woman you were expected to look a certain way, sound a certain way, act a certain way, if you wanted to make pop music – and I just thought that was gross,” she says. “(And) I lost count of how many times my band would show up and (it was clear) we were the DEI group for that show. Or before I created my own group, sometimes I’d be the only woman or female-presenting person on stage for six shows in a row. And it was just exhausting…
“So over time I decided the way that I could feel the most comfortable being myself was making sure that I was bringing other people along with me.”
You have two chances to see Azul in concert in the coming weeks: she’s MC’ing and performing at Durham’s downtown tree lighting ceremony on Saturday, November 23, from 1-7 p.m., and then she’s opening for Rachel Despard at Cats Cradle on Thursday, December 19.
Visit CatsCradle.com for tickets to the December 19 show.
Azul Zapata stopped by Live & Local (along with band member Emily Musolino, an acclaimed solo artist in her own right) to discuss “Disco Never Died” and the upcoming EPs and shows. They also played three songs live in studio: “Sleeps,” “Brujas,” and “Lies.” Listen:
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Comments on Chapelboro are moderated according to our Community Guidelines