Alicia

Southern Italian born Alicia Mariano developed a strong affinity for dance and electronic music at an early age. Beginning her classical training on the piano at the age of 5, she has used her musical upbringing as the launchpad for her DJ career. Her experience of living and working in multiple countries - from her hometown in Italy to London, Spain, Hong Kong, Dublin and, now, San Francisco - has exposed her to broad range of techno and house music. Inspired by this, she began contributing to the body of music she loves through regular performance as well as the curation and production of nightlife events, an annual festival and other artistic performances. When she moved to San Francisco in 2016, her passion for music and art fed her interest to start curating techno events for the city's underground community. From European Techno to the Tribal Techno of her homeland, Alicia harnesses the inspiration from her influencers and her diverse upbringing to provide the gift of beautiful and diverse techno music to all who seek it. Alicia’s formative years were spent surrounded by the classical and experimental songs of her father’s record and cassette collection from his time as a DJ, and the light sculpture designs from her family’s architectural work. A precocious musician, she soon began composing and by the age of 12 was performing across Italy. A few awards and exams later, she earned her Conservatory diploma at the age of 16, which also marked the time she left Italy to study and work abroad. Alicia’s creativity draws heavily from the colorful music of the Elrow day parties, the local techno and house summer clubs in Gallipoli, Guendalina Club in Santa Cesarea, as well as record labels such as Cocoon, Steyoyoke, Get Physical, and Diynamic. Her move to SF in 2016 marked the rebirth of her music with a developing and stronger connection to the techno genre. Her DJ career began in earnest in 2017 through a series of sell-out shows at San Francisco’s Public Works through her own creation: the Because Techno event series. The inspiration for these initial shows came from her desire to educate and to create a space for people to fully immerse themselves in the techno genre. Each event in the series was constructed as a chapter to explore one subgenre of techno and house music, with live instrumental accompaniment at selected performances. These shows were also characterised by a spectacular and growing visual component, drawing on influences from her family’s architectural and light-art heritage. Her initial success in San Francisco led to invites to perform at other clubs in the city as well as in New York and Medellin, and a number of private and public music festivals in California, Nevada, and South Africa. In 2018 Alicia founded Arboria TechnoLabs, which took the visual production component of Because Techno to a new level. With the same educational roots as its predecessor events, Arboria focuses on building venue, visual, and artistic partnerships to create entirely immersive environments through comprehensive visual and structural production. Arboria TechnoLabs’ roots draw heavily from Alicia’s belief in the power of building communities at the intersection of experimental arts, technology and the healing properties of sound. Each of these components come into play at every Arboria Chapter, and every chapter provides a new version and combination of them. Alicia has also found unparalleled success as a festival organiser. In September 2017 she launched Expansion Festival, the first non-profit 24-hour techno music festival in California. Expansion embodies a collective of people from all over the state who come together annually in a reservation in Mendocino. June 2018 was Expansion’s second annual event and the festival and community is growing fast, with bonds deepened through fundraisers and smaller events before and after the main event. In her short career, Alicia has quickly proved to be a capable performer beyond her years and her distinct sound has found a unique place in the hearts of her followers on the West Coast. Influences from classical music, 90’s house and Italian techno drive her musical journey and the journey of her mixes. Her music has been described as driving and melodic and her sets ethereal and fun, always with an element of surprise. Alicia has also recently started dedicating her time to learning music production and getting back to her piano compositions.