In his synthesis of LATAM club music styles and genres culled from the varied history of British bass music, the Manchester-Colombian DJ and producer Florentino has long established himself as an important voice within the past decade of forward-thinking club music. His newest EP, Systems of Reflection, which is out now on the artist’s own Club Romantico imprint, serves as a continuation and deepening of the styles he has explored over his body of releases. The trilogy of tunes on the EP are pure club ammo, both personal to the producer’s narrative and universal in their ability to fuse multiple genres into a satisfying contemporary whole. I sent some questions over to the artist—give the interview a read and listen to Systems of Reflection below.
What does the phrase “sonic hedonism” mean to you?
Florentino: It's about isolating the sounds and textures that bring you the most excitement, and finding a way to turn them up to 11. The process goes from learning how to make particular sounds, experimenting in a field of sound that's new to you, and finding certain drum/vocal samples, then refining them and pushing all these things to something that feels new. It's an obsessive practice, very self-indulgent, but cracking that code gives me the feeling I’m always chasing when it comes to making new music.
Within certain constraints, this EP is pretty eclectic. How did you, say, find room for a bassline moment on “evol/ǝʌol?”
While I had to practice a lot of restraint with certain sounds on this EP, I'm from the north and those kind of let loose bassline moments in dance music from this region have been something I’ve been exposed to since school days. I wouldn't say I found room for it, it’s abrupt and comes out of nowhere in the track, it just happened and I’m very okay with that.
What is your relationship with collaboration? How did your collaboration with Clara! come about?
Growing up, I’d go out of my way to spend time on my own but in my adult life, friendship and shared experiences are what give me the most joy. My relationship with music is the same. Clara! and I have been friends for many years at this point, I flew to Brussels and stayed with her for a few days at the end of last summer and the vocals for “Dame Materia” happened—shout out to Julien for his feature also.
Do you think that dance music can be a tool for self-discovery?
In so many capacities. I'm constantly talking to myself throughout the process of making music, asking myself questions around which direction I want to go in a track and why. Investigating those feelings leads to a lot of growth and understanding of one's self.
Are there any formative Colombian clubbing experiences you could share? How did those experiences help shape you as a producer?
I've been to some great nights, mostly in Bogota but my most formative moments around music there have been at family functions. As a kid, sometimes I'd sit back and listen/observe the rhythm tracks and what the bass was doing, zoning into those things and what was happening. That's informed my feel/touch when making music.
What about British clubbing experiences?
Illegal raves were big for me in my early teens, the free spiritedness of it all felt like actually pushing back on living life the way we're told. Swing Ting at Soup taught me about respecting the flow of energy, from the warm up to the peak time moment and then the closing of the night. Since then the White Hotel has given me so many memorable experiences as a raver. We're truly blessed with some of, if not the best clubbing experiences in the UK, up in Manchester.
What’s a track in your “crate” that has been working with the dancers in 2025?
It’s a forthcoming one but that'd be “Hazes” by Styn, who to me is leading the next wave of Dutch Bubbling. I’ve been working closely with him and he has a new EP on my label coming very soon. It's fucking nuts and his work rate is like no one else's right now.
Over a decade into your career, what still excites you about making music and DJing?
There’s never ever a moment that you can’t push things further and if you ever feel that there isn’t, it's time to stop. Luckily, I’ve never felt that and I don't think I ever will.
