Natalia Roth Grooves With Jean Pierre on the Collaborative Pitch Black

If you've ever caught a set by DJ/producer Natalia Roth, like at her Melódie party series at Floyd, you're familiar with her minimal-techno style, complete with sleek and alluring basslines. But on her upcoming collaborative EP with New York City producer Jean Pierre, Pitch Black — set for release on December 1 off Pierre's Pakate Records — Roth had to match her style with Pierre's.

"It's something different from what I usually do," Roth tells New Times. "It's infusing Jean Pierre's style with mine — not as dark and a little more synthy with an eerie vibe."

Roth moved to Miami five years ago from her native Puerto Rico, where she started DJing as part of the club scene in San Juan after retiring from modeling. Her first experience behind the decks was at San Juan's Atlantic Room in 2017.

"I couldn't help but feel — I don't know — freeing," Roth previously told New Times in 2021. "I started to go to the parties more, and I was like, 'Why not DJ? I can do it for my friends and hang out.'"

After her move to Miami, Roth met Pierre, and the duo instantly clicked. Eager to build a foundation for her production side, Pierre lent Roth a helping hand, and the two have been a source of inspiration for each other ever since, with Roth going on to have releases on famed minimal techno labels like Inwave and Dubfire's Sci+Tec.

"Jean Pierre was one of the first people to help me get into producing," Roth says. "I already had knowledge of producing, but he helped me go deeper, and that created a really nice friendship. We started collaborating to the point that it united us so much that we're family now."

Aside from working together in the studio, Pitch Black is the pair's first official collaboration. Despite the name, the EP's sound is warmer than it lets on. Still, there's a tinge of darkness lurking in the background.
The title track kicks off the five-track EP. Roth's vocals, something she tries to incorporate in most of her work, add a sophisticated touch to the hefty bass and explosive percussion.

"Monologue" follows, with Roth lending a distorted soliloquy reminiscent of Ricardo Villalobos's "Skinfummel" but with more roughness. "I wrote and recorded the vocals," Roth explains. "I wanted something that came naturally — a laidback vibe as opposed to in-your-face actual singing. 'Monologue' is basically me talking in the process of recording the vocals."

The lyrics don't touch on anything profound, like heartbreak or revenge; instead, Roth laments about mundane topics, like the bureaucratic sludge of getting her driver's license. "Just stupidness, just talking to myself and being in my head," she says, chuckling. "We then chopped it out and decided what could be cool and made it into a story."

Pitch Black also boosts three remixes from Mexico's Sakro, while French producer Djebali takes two swings at "Monologue" with a "main" and "dub" remix. On the former, Djebali tweaks and toys with the formula and takes the original with a more bubbly, effusive twist. He takes it slow on the latter, working in hypnotic synths and a sharper persuasion to accentuate the dub techno theme.

Roth has dropped tracks from Pitch Black during her sets around Miami, with producers Archie Hamilton, Paco Osuna, and Ms. Mada also responding positively to it.

Looking ahead to next year, Roth is ready to take her music worldwide. "I'm definitely grateful for the new chapters in life and the people around me and the support and the love," she says.