allan grew up to love dark and dirty techno in the mountains of cali, colombia. he lived through most of his childhood and young adulthood there, recently moving back to miami beach in 2008. “when i was 14, i first saw marco bailey at a dirty, dirty rave. I was so in shock and in love, and had a ‘what the hell is this’ kind of moment. from there, I understood what it was.” he started djing with friends when he was 17, opening up for openers in cali, slowly moving up the chain. he had to start fresh once he moved back to miami beach, and ended up doing random gigs like at a sex shop on 5th street. eventually in 2011, he officially became a space resident at the loft and has been playing every saturday night since.

having played in amsterdam and various cities across colombia, he recalls one of his favorite dj moments in the past was playing at a random rave in iowa, for it made him realize that there was a us scene he never knew or heard of beyond detroit or california.

however, when it comes to miami, he sticks to space for several good reasons. “once in a while, I’ll do treehouse, and human alike parties. I love to support the people that I’m friends with, but I don’t want to play around at various venues across the city and be a ‘dj whore.’ you’re selling yourself out, people get bored of you, and it ruins the market when you play all around the city. I want people to come to my shows, to listen to my specific sound.” allan respects the guys that kept true to their original sounds, guys like ben sims from the uk, len faki, dave clarke, who’s big time and very opinionated. “you can’t blame other dj’s when they want to be rich and famous, but I’d prefer to stick to my music and not be popular.”

in fact, his sound is quite exclusive to miami, for you can hear very much of swedish and german-type techno in his sets, stuff that’s renowned in the underground world of berlin and eastern europe. you don’t hear any house influence, unlike other local dj’s. “growing up, my influence was always trance and european techno. miami has a long way to go compared to europe. if miami were a label, it’d be hot creations type of music, playful & fun house. I think we’ll have more of a techno crowd eventually.. the thing is that there are huge misconceptions about it. people think it’s “techno” when it’s really tech-house. it’s a challenge being a dj down here, trying to get people to understand what I’m playing. I want people to be open to the spookier side, but I believe with movement festival, which has a big hype, people are gonna listen to the techno I’m talking about and not just the ‘house-ier’ side.”

in the beginning of his dj career, he admits to being selfish and cocky, but has learned that it’s all about balance. “I’ve learned not to be that person. it’s not their fault that people aren’t brought up the same way you are, so I’m not a fan of dj’s like that. you just have to give it time.” for those interested in techno, look more into it, know a little more about it, and be on the lookout for this type of music. if you want to learn more about the ominous side of techno, allan gallego recommends looking into these labels: dystopian, life and death (great dj’s like recondite), m-plant (he especially loves), klockworks (run by ben klock), and stockholm ltd (founded by pär grindvik); as well as huge influential dj’s like mhonolink and robert hood. be sure to support him (and the movement) on instagram and facebook.