Rising: Coffintexts is embracing her dance music era

“Calm, restoration and inspiration,” says Alexandra Muggli without missing a beat.

The DJ and artist known as Coffintexts, an alias nicked from an old PlayStation display name, is pondering what she gains creatively from trips to Lima, Peru, where her mother’s family is based. “I feel more clear-headed,” she continues. “It’s very family-oriented and the slower pace [inspires me to] take a step back. That helps me really focus on what’s important in life; I can transfer that into the music I make.”

On first glance, this affinity for reflection somewhat conflicts with the propulsive club workouts Muggli creates as Coffintexts. There’s a live-wire energy to her tunes which speaks more directly to her home city of Miami, where she’s among a throng of contemporary stars such as Nick León, INVT and Bitter Babe – producers who are making a name for themselves and bringing the cross-pollinated electronic sounds rooted in their city to the world. A recent EP entitled Touch – a first for new Local Action sub-label, Clasico – distils this creative energy across four potent cuts that zigzag between techno and house; Miami, the UK and Latin America; simmering and out-right explosive. Touch also picks up right where 2022 releases like Body and Questionable Goods left off: at 3 a.m. on a dark, sticky dancefloor.

“I mean, she’s in her club era. She’s in her dance music era,” laughs Muggli, who’s dialling in from her home in Miami Beach. A large window behind her doubles as a picture frame for the lush vegetation swaying in the rain outside. “I’m in this tribal dance music mood,” she says slowly, surveying her surroundings as she discusses the influences behind Touch. “That was very heavy in Miami [when I was growing up]. I used to go to gay clubs here like Twist, Sugar and Vagabond, and they would play that style of music, which is very percussive with heavy, chunky drums.”

Prior to discovering these spaces, it was beach bars, DIY pop-ups and more touristy spots, like the Clevelander Hotel on South Beach, that introduced a then-teenage Muggli (and her fake ID) to the city’s nightlife scene. And it was the act of observation – of friends making moves in her vicinity, of fellow clubbers lost in sound and, more tangibly, the hardware on the shelves in her local Best Buy (“I would stare at the CDJs like, ‘This is awesome!’”) – that galvanised her to experiment with DJing, and later producing, in 2013.

Her family also helped steer her toward her current course. Growing up in West Kendall, suburbs located about an hour away from the downtown bustle, Muggli’s formative interests came by way of her parents. As a child, she would bounce between their houses; they divorced when she was five, but lived close enough. Her father, a former drummer, collects everything from old-school rap to rock, trance, techno and metal. “He would always blast music really loud, at all times of day,” she grins. Meanwhile, her mother had been a singer in her native Peru before Muggli was born, and opted for a palette of bossa nova, Sade and “a lot of classical music” within her four walls. “She used to tour all over Lima, and growing up, I would go to her shows [as] she sang a lot in Miami. She would also take me to the studio,” says Muggli.

Now it’s Muggli in the studio, on the road and in front of devoted audiences. The last 12 months have seen her traverse the US for shows in LA, Denver and New York – where she first caught the ear of Clasico curator Eleanor – with plenty of hometown action, on bills alongside the likes of Physical Therapy, Sister System, Bored Lord and Jonny from Space, who she linked with last year for the Cienfuegos EP. “It’s just felt very natural for me,” she says, firmly back in reflection mode. “This is what I’ve always wanted, and this is how it’s supposed to go; how it’s supposed to continue.”

Sounds like: Peak-time percussive club heaters
Soundtrack for: A pre-party so good you won’t want to leave
File next to: Yushh, Bitter Babe
Our favourite tune: Ur Body So Smooth
Find her: @coffintexts