DJ Rolando (born Rolando Rocha) a.k.a. The Aztec Mystic is an American

techno Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...

DJ and producer from

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, United States. A former member of Detroit’s famed

Underground Resistance Underground Resistance (commonly abbreviated to UR) are an American musical collective from Detroit, Michigan. Producing primarily Detroit techno since 1990 with a grungy four-track musical aesthetic, they are also renowned for their militant p ...

from 1994 to 2004, he is best known for his song "Knights of the Jaguar." Rolando parted ways with UR and relocated to

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

in 2004, where he remains an active DJ, frequently appearing at prominent European venues including Tresor and

Berghain Berghain () is a nightclub in Berlin, Germany. It is named after its location near the border between Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain in Berlin, and is a short walk from Berlin Ostbahnhof main line railway station.

Personal life

Rolando grew up in

Mexicantown, Detroit Mexicantown is a neighborhood located in Detroit, Michigan.Mcewen, Meghan.Mexicantown Visiting Guide" '' Model D''. Tuesday February 28, 2006. Andrew Eckhous, a columnist for the ''Michigan Daily'', said that Mexicantown was "one of Detroit’s m ...

. He states that his father was a musician: "He was a very talented guy. He was one of these dudes who just picked up an instrument and—BOOM—played it right away. I wish I had half the talent he had." Rolando moved to Edinburgh in the mid-2000s.

Career

Rolando was inspired by seeing

Jeff Mills Jeff Mills (born June 18, 1963, in Detroit, Michigan) is an American DJ, record producer, and composer. Thanks to his technical abilities as a DJ, Mills became known as ''The Wizard'' in the early to mid 1980s. In the late 1980s Mills founded ...

perform in 1986, and began DJing the subsequent year. He first got his DJing equipment in 1987. He played at neighborhood venues and started off playing early hip-hop, electro, and

Latin freestyle Freestyle music, also called Latin freestyle or Latin hip-hop ''( sic)'' is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in the New York metropolitan area and Philadelphia, primarily among Hispanic Americans and Italian Americans in the 1980s. ...

. He started attending techno and house parties in the early and mid-1990s, stating that "it was unbelievable to hear a whole night of this music. It was life changing." Rolando was introduced to Underground Resistance in 1994, being in conversation with Mike Banks,

James Pennington James Pennington, also known as Suburban Knight, is a DJ and producer with ''Underground Resistance'' (UR), an independent record label based in Detroit, United States. Music by Pennington and other UR members was featured in the video game M ...

, James Stinson, and Andre Holland. In 1999, his track "Knights of the Jaguar" became the subject of a heated copyright battle with Sony BMG, who were "seemingly unaware of the collective’s stance towards corporate entities ndfirst attempted to license, and then bootlegged he trackas a cover version, before being issued a cease-and-desist." Billed as "Jaguar" it peaked at #43 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in October 2000. The track's reputation and popularity has continued to grow. Matthew Kershaw, music editor of the magazine ''

Mixmag ''Mixmag'' is a British electronic dance and clubbing magazine published in London. Launched in 1983 as a print magazine, it has branched into dance events, including festivals and club nights. History The first issue of ''Mixmag'' was prin ...

'', named "Jaguar" among 2000's "uncategorisable" club tracks in the liner notes of the

Kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

mix album ''Kiss House Nation 2001'', highlighting its "builds and constantly evolving structure". In 2013, it was voted the 26th best House track of all time by ''

'' readers.

Discography

Singles / Extended Plays * ''The Aztec Mystic'' (1996) * ''Octave One - Aztlan / DayStar Rising'' (1998) w/ Mike Banks * ''Knights Of The Jaguar EP'' (1999) * ''Revenge Of The Jaguar - The Mixes'' (2000) * ''Hiatus EP'' (2008) * ''The Afterlife EP'' (2008) * ''5 To 9 EP'' (2010) * ''The Test'' (2011) w/ Nic Fanciulli * ''The Lost Mixes Part 2 EP'' (2012) w/ Nic Fanciulli * ''D & N's EP'' (2013) * ''Wheesht EP'' (2014) * ''Juu EP'' (2014) * ''Undercover EP'' (2015) * ''Time to Jack EP'' (2017)

References

External links

https://web.archive.org/web/20120208124949/http://www.renegaderhythms.com/home.html?main=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.renegaderhythms.com%2Farticles%2Fur%2Fhome.htmlhttp://everything2.com/index.pl?node=jaguarhttp://www.residentadvisor.net/feature-read.aspx?id=354

DJ Rolando
at

Discogs.com Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the l ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rolando, Dj American dance musicians American electronic musicians American techno musicians American DJs Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Club DJs Remixers Electronic dance music DJs