Rising: SoFTT are serious about having fun

When Trevor McFedries and Kablito, a.k.a. Karen Freire, dial in for our interview, it’s from Los Angeles, where they are about to spend their first Thanksgiving together with McFedries’ family. It’s a milestone event for the collaborators-turned-couple, whose relationship has evolved over the past year of producing and performing as South Florida Trance Team – abbreviated to SoFTT.

Despite McFedries hailing from Iowa and Kablito from the Ecuadorian city of Guayaquil, it’s Miami – the city they now call home – that has had the biggest influence on their music. SoFTT’s ostentatious blend of Eurodance, trance and pop is an attempt to replicate the vibrancy of Miami’s wildly varied club landscape. “Miami has often been looked down on for being too playful, fun and decadent,” Trevor admits. “Our music is totally a response to that. We’re really trying to champion the scene.”

In their flamboyant productions, the duo nod to their respective pop antecedents. McFedries earned his stripes in the late noughties as DJ Skeet Skeet (later Yung Skeeter) – a DJ and member of Hot 100-charting rap outfit Shwayze. This kickstarted a production career that would eventually see his name stamped on projects by the likes of Sky Ferreira and Azealia Banks. Kablito’s solo endeavours, on the other hand, include tracks like Bitxx Cara (Spanglish for ‘expensive bitch’), on which she layered her commanding vocals over reggaeton and dancehall beats, paying homage to the Latin pop sounds she grew up on.

After first crossing paths in LA five years ago, the pair reconnected in 2023 off the back of a social media plea posted by Kablito when she was looking for somewhere to live in Miami. “I didn’t even know he made music when I first moved in!” Kablito laughs. But it wasn’t long before the pair were swapping tunes in what would prove to be a productive exchange. For McFedries, this meant sharing beloved hard house classics (think Dutch Alice Deejay producers Danski & Delmundo), while Kablito countered with Shakira deep cuts that she holds equally as dear. The main crossover? Kablito erupts into laughter. “We were both emo kids! You can hear it in our songs. The lyrics are simple but we try to evoke a really strong mood and feeling.”

As their tongue-in-cheek name would suggest, SoFTT’s music is as kitsch as it gets. They released their effervescent debut single Kiero K Me Kieras (Spanish for ‘I want you to want me’) in May 2023, later unveiling percussive remixes by Mexican producer Regal86 and local Miami heroes Danny Daze and Nick León. The Vengaboys-indebted Eurodance smash comes chock-full of epic build-ups, with Kablito’s catchy lyrics resembling a typical pop narrative that laments a toxic love made more desirable by its dysfunction. It was the first in a string of tracks that range from the Tegan and Sara-esque angsty indie-pop banger Cállate La Boca, to Besos en el Club – their most recent single, which leans into the excess of hyperpop.

Following the success of their singles, the past few months have seen SoFTT take their live show to Mexico and New York, playing alongside kindred spirits Miss Bashful, Dinamarca and horsegiirL. Having grown accustomed to the more abundant dynamics of pop shows, these rave settings have opened Kablito’s eyes to the holy communion taking place in smaller, sweat-soaked clubs. “We’re both just getting high off each other’s energy,” she says emphatically. “I’d never experienced anything like that.”

Instagram videos of enraptured club-goers singing along to SoFTT tracks stand as a testament to the warm response greeting the duo’s unpretentious strain of club music. “Even though it’s all very silly,” McFedries poses with a wry smile, “we’re serious about this. We take fun very seriously”.

Sounds like: Trance and pan-Latin influences shot through a confetti cannon
Soundtrack for: Embracing your bestie in the club
File next to: Miss Bashful, horsegiirL
Our favourite song: Cállate La Boca
Where to find them: @softt.softt

Tusi Ojos is out now via SoFTT