Localized: dj tyrinha

SLUG Localized on Monday, September 15 will showcase the electrifying sounds of VI:BRA, tyrinha and Spaz. With diverse inspirations and a fluid approach to music, these queer DJs have carved out their own space in the cis, white, straight bar and club scene. Sponsored by Riso-Geist, the show costs just $5 for entry. Doors at Kilby Court open at 7 p.m. and music kicks off at 8 p.m. Get your tickets here!

As a resident DJ at The SunTrapp — Utah’s historic, first openly gay bar that reopened last year under new ownership — Tyra Imbico (they/she) draws on an upbringing spent at the intersection of different worlds.

Known on stage as dj tyrinha, Imbico began honing their diverse musical taste as a child. Their mother is Diné and grew up on the reservation while their father is Brazilian and immigrated here with family, all of whom lived with Imbico growing up. “The Diné side is a more serious culture, while the Brazilian side is loud, full of big personalities, music and dancing,” they say. Imbico existed between the two sides and learned to adapt and find themself along the way, also spending a lot of time online and getting into emo music. “I was listening to Paramore, My Chemical Romance, Sleeping with Sirens, all of that stuff,” they say. “So having these different worlds colliding was where I developed my music taste.”

With the huge variety of influences came a tendency to compartmentalize. At home, Imbico was often loud. In school, she was quieter. Eventually, as she went to the University of Utah to study mathematics and contended with being in a male-dominated program, COVID-19 hit and change felt possible. “The pandemic gave me a second chance to be like, ‘I don’t want to be quiet anymore,’” she says. “I don’t want to be a quiet person. I want to be loud. I want to be heard.”

“Having these different worlds colliding was where I developed my music taste.”

Imbico started to take up more space — and to figure out where they belonged. When they turned 21, they began going out to local bars and clubs. Some places felt queer but too white, while others felt diverse but not queer enough. “It just felt like I wasn’t fully myself in those spaces,” Imbico says. Sometimes the vibe would be right, but then the DJ would do something weird. “Those moments where I [was] like, ‘What was that? I could have done something better,’… And I [was] like, ‘Wait, I could do this. Why not?’” They received a DJ controller as a graduation gift and began learning to mix, drawing on their diverse library of music and embracing their eclectic taste.

DJing has become a way for Imbico to create her own space in the world. “It was hard for me growing up trying to be like, ‘Oh, I need to be a specific way in each of these spaces.’ And being fluid, where I can be all these versions of myself at the same time, was something that really helped me,” she says.

“Being fluid, where I can be all these versions of myself at the same time, was something that really helped me.”

Now, they play at The SunTrapp a few times a month, usually from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Imbico starts the night with throwbacks for the older crowd and eventually moves to their own mixes, never sticking to any one genre but always looking to create a space that’s welcoming to queer and trans people of color — which has been an important part of their identity as a performer. “That was a big thing for me that I wanted to make important for bars … that I DJ at,” they say. “I’m like, ‘Okay, I am this person. I’m gonna let you know right now: This is what I play, and we need this.’ Advocating for that was a big thing for me.”

For her upcoming Localized set, Imbico plans to incorporate baile funk, the familiar Brazilian beats that she grew up hearing. “That’s gonna be the underlying tone of all the music that I play,” she says. “I always try to add those beats, but I also love house music. And I want to also bring in that queerness … Chicago house, you know. That’s very big and important to me.”

As always, they’ll make it all work together. Follow @dj.tyrinha on Instagram and listen to their mixes at soundcloud.com/dj-tyrinha.

Read more Localized features here: 
Localized: Kirk Dath Band
Localized: Whisperhawk