Behind his Latin house bangers, BOLO is building something real.
Over the last year, the San Diego-based artist has climbed from art cars to festival main stages on the back of his techy, percussive, and proudly Latino DJ sets and studio productions. But between the festival plays and outsized parties, this “sick ass foo on the 1’s and 2’s” is also quietly building a close-knit music ecosystem where Latino artists can thrive, from his community-focused label, Vibraza Records, to the cast of fellow SoCal DJs coming up with him.
This year, EDC Las Vegas took notice, booking the artist—born Edgar Avalos—for his main lineup debut on the festival’s Stereo Bloom stage, along with appearances from frequent collaborators and homies of the label like Rommii, Close Friends Only, and Juos.
Ahead of his sunrise set at EDC 2026, BOLO sat down with EDM Maniac to talk about the bucket list gig and what it means to see progress play out on dance music’s biggest stage. We also got the full scoop on his recent link-up with Mike Sherm and Shoreline Mafia’s OhGeesy.
EDM Maniac: We’re back at EDC. After playing an art car in 2024 and joining Deorro on stage last year, what does it mean to you to make the main lineup and conquer another massive gig?
BOLO: Two years ago, I did one of the art cars with Bacardi. That was really cool. My first time ever coming to EDC, so that was an insane experience. Last year, I was not on any activations or nothing, but the homie Deorro had a set on the main stage. He invited us up, he played some of my records, so that was really cool. And now we’re officially on the lineup for this year, so it’s a blessing. I’m excited to be here. Feels like things are moving in the right direction.
EDM Maniac: You’re playing a sunrise set this time. How are you feeling about the late-night slot, and what is your key to keeping the bodies moving at that point in the night?
BOLO: I came yesterday, San Pacho closed Cosmic Meadow, and I was kind of scoping it out, seeing what people’s vibes were, so it kind of actually made me rethink my strategy for my approach on my set today. I think usually I’ll start my sets very percussive, a lot of Latin house-type stuff, which is a lot of groove. But I think I always end up playing harder stuff towards the middle, towards the end of my set.
So I think for my set this time around, I have to start with the heavier, harder stuff, because people are already kind of hanging on by a thread, more than likely. So you kind of just got to grab them by the cojones and just keep them rocking. Going hard in the first half, and then towards the end of the night, once the sun comes up, go a little more percussive, a little more nostalgic. I’ve got some cool nostalgic records that’ll be good to throw in there. I’m excited. It’s a very long time from now. I’m like, damn, we still got like five hours, but it’s good.
EDM Maniac: What’s one track you’re stoked to play?
BOLO: I have a lot of new records that I’m playing today. There’s one record that I snuck in. We were about to head out for our ride, and last-second, I was just like, “Yo, I have this new song that I made.”
We did a little writing camp in Miami around Miami Music Week, and we made some banging records, bro. The writers that I was in the room with, they were not really like house or electronic writers or producers or vocalists, or anything like that, so it was cool because it allowed me to kind of step out of my comfort zone and work with some really talented songwriters.
We made this record that’s a little more like Afro; it’s a little slower than my other records, but I think it fits, and the way I see it, I was like, I don’t know if there’s gonna be a better time to test that record than today, so I threw it in my flash drive last-second. We’re gonna feel out the crowd. If the vibe is right, we’ll throw it in there. And if not, then we’ll have to wait another day, but I’m excited about that one.
EDM Maniac: Last-minute is often how the best stuff happens, right?
BOLO: Yeah. And a quick fun fact about that one. There’s a big song called “Pepas.” Huge anthem. The writer who wrote that one, his name is White Star, based out of Miami. We had this writing camp in Miami and they invited White Star. He pulled up, we caught an insane vibe, we wrote like four records together. This is one of the records.
That dude is crazy talented. We definitely got some stuff cooking up, so I’m excited to throw that record out.
EDM Maniac: You’re among many of your friends, collaborators, and fellow Latin house torchbearers playing EDC this weekend, such as Rommii, Juos, and Close Friends Only. What does it mean to see the culture you’re building together represented on this stage?
BOLO: It’s everything. To be honest, I think it makes this whole journey of trying to pursue being a DJ, being a producer, being an artist in the scene, it makes it a whole lot easier. Because now you got a crew of homies who are all chasing the same vision. I just think it’s dope. More than anything, I think it’s exciting to see more Latino representation on these lineups.
Deorro is a good friend of mine. He’s always vouched for us, and he’s really supportive of our group that we have. He’s part of the group too. He told me that when he was coming up in the scene, there was not too many other Latino artists that he’d really be able to kind of bounce ideas with or rub elbows with, so it’s really cool to be able to have that really close-knit group of friends. I could just FaceTime these dudes any time of the day, talk about anything. And then to end up at the same festival together, it’s amazing.
EDM Maniac: A few weeks back, you helped launch Beatport’s new Latin Electronic genre category. Tell us about that experience and what it means to have Latin electronic sounds represented on a platform like that.
BOLO: When we saw online that they were introducing the Latin electronic genre, that was a huge win. We have a label we started, Vibraza Records, and our whole vision for the label is just for more representation in the scene, whether it’s more Latino representation as artists, DJs, producers on the lineups, or it’s just creating environments for more Latino ravers, people in the crowds who are looking for an experience that they can share within the community, and dive into it.
That’s always been the vision, and so when Beatport reached out and said, “Hey, we’re introducing this Latin electronic genre, we’re doing a whole panel for it, would you like to be a part of it?” I was super grateful because things are moving really well, the vision we’ve had for the label, and just growing the opportunities for representation in the scene. It’s growing very beautifully, and I’m excited to be a part of it.
Obviously there’s the element of tying the Latino sounds into the electronic music, which is huge. But for the label, I think more than that, it’s letting anyone pursue the style that they want to pursue as an artist, as a DJ, as a producer. But just the fact that now there are more opportunities for more Latino representation in the scene is what’s really important to me. Having them reach out, it’s almost reassuring that we’re doing something right, things are moving in the right direction, and the right people are watching.
EDM Maniac: You were also recently joined on stage by Mike Sherm and OhGeesy at a college show. What was that crossover like, and how did you guys come together?
BOLO: That was the most last-minute thing. We got booked to do an event for the University of La Verne. They hit us up, they’re doing an event for their students, and they’re like, “Hey, do you want to come headline this show for the students?”
Last minute, they were like, “Hey we’re adding Mike Sherm onto the show.” I was like, that’s sick, that’s crazy, Mike Sherm? Let’s run that.” Last minute too they added on Close Friends Only, so we literally just had the whole group out there. OhGeesy, I got connected with him recently because I was trying to invite him out to Beyond Wonderland. He wasn’t available, but we kind of got in touch there.
Shoutout Mike Sherm’s DJ, Major Hype. He was there for Mike Sherm being on the show, and we all went out to like a team dinner before. We literally had like 30 minutes before we headed to the venue, and he’s like “Yo, OhGeesy told me that he’s in town. He want’s to know if you’re down for him to pull up. He’ll come out for your set.”
I have a remix of one of OhGeesy’s records, and so me and OhGeesy started texting ideas back and forth, super last-minute, super impromptu. He showed up while I was already DJing. I had all the songs queued up for him already. He popped out, did a few songs. It was insane. The whole crowd went crazy and we got to chop it up with OhGeesy after. It’s looking like we might be having some opportunities here to do some potential collab records together, which would be huge. We got some other cool stuff up our sleeves.
EDM Maniac: What’s the last thing that made you laugh?
BOLO: My tour manager, Chancho over there. You’ve met him before. That dude is a clown, bro. I love having that guy around. That guy could talk to a brick wall and be best friends with that brick wall. He’s funny. Every moment with him is hilarious. Every day I’m laughing with this guy, so it’s fun to have him on the road when I’m able to.
EDM Maniac: Give us your DJing “ick.”
BOLO: I don’t know why, but I find it such an ick when I hear a DJ start their own “ooh, ooh.” Their own little chant.
I don’t know what it is. I’ve heard it a few times. A lot of people don’t like it to begin with, but I feel like if you’re gonna get it, you’ve got to earn it. You can’t just start it yourself. But maybe that’s just the way I see it. Me and the homies will text about records and stuff, and be like, “Yo, I tested this record, and it got the “ooh, ooh.” That means something’s working.
Featured image courtesy: BOLO.