MIJO IS AN alias of producer Alec Sander, a hyperactive player in Mexico’s internationally hyped and ever-evolving dance music scene. Sander has been pumping out Techmex records as co-founder of innovative and prolific labels Electrique Music, Disque Discos, and Exxxtra Picante while maintaining a steady output of magnetic and mutated house music under the monikers Mijo, La Royale, Moon Runner, and Yesco.
“I think Mexican artists are always struggling to set their work apart from the obvious American and European influence that marks a colonized country—and besides that, in modern times, we can’t really escape American music because of radio and TV,” Sander says. As Mijo, he blends New York house bass lines, Detroit techno snares, and Italo disco, but what makes his music unique is the influence of street life in Mexico City.