Meet Taylor Nerz, the one-woman show bringing European techno to San Diego. She’s the brains behind Veluda: a new event company in the area focusing on the polarity between light and dark.
Veluda means “velvet” in Portuguese and the name pays homage to her late Portuguese grandmother. Their events are as luxurious and dark as velvet, but with a positive twist compiling a mutual love of music and wellness.
The first event will be held Sunday, July 10 at Revel Revel and is a part of their Disconnect series. Techno powerhouse Shlømo will be making his San Diego debut and playing hard techno as the sun sets in the background. We interviewed founder Taylor Nerz on all things techno and the balance between the underground sound and wellness:
EDM Maniac: How did you first get started with techno?
Taylor Nerz: My first event was EDC LA in 2010, but I was really introduced to techno in about 2017. That was when I started to understand it more and now it’s my true love.
I was born and raised in San Diego but lived in Los Angeles right before COVID started. I got to attend some of the shows that 6AM throws and that was my first warehouse experience. Here in San Diego, it is a little bit harder to come by warehouses as most of our venues stop around 4 AM.
We have those tunnel sewer raves that are really popular on Tik Tok that I never thought would be possible here. But I would say San Diego is definitely going to be on the map a lot more in the next few years.
EDM Maniac: Veluda focuses on the polarities in light and dark and creates events dark in tone but lavish in design. The Disconnect series is brand new to Veluda. What can attendees expect from these events?
Taylor Nerz: Techno in general comes with this vibe of dark, sweaty warehouses where people wear black. Most of the time the events occur at night. I kind of want to bring some light into it. These events will largely be daytime techno experiences.
San Diego loves Sunday parties-we call them “day-gers”. It’s a nice way to wind down from the week and still be able to experience the music without getting too crazy for work the next day.
Our events also have a limited capacity so they will be pretty intimate. I want someone to be able to come completely by themselves, make friends while they are there and discover a new artist they are obsessed with.
People can go out and go on their Sunday hike and come to the event and spend the rest of the day eating, drinking juices, dancing to techno, and then go home to sleep and get ready for the rest of the week. A lot of people get the Sunday scaries, Disconnect is a way to get away from that and still not trash your body before the week.
EDM Maniac: The Disconnect series emphasized bringing hard techno and wellness together. How do you plan to implement this?
Taylor Nerz: Sobriety is a huge part of my life as I recently made the decision to be completely sober. These events can be for people who are sober and haven’t really got to experience techno or don’t feel comfortable at some of the nightclub aspects here in San Diego.
I’ve also had a lot of people tell me when they go out, they wish they had other options than Redbull or soda with lime. I’ve been working extensively with Sam at Revel Revel to curate a mocktail menu. So tying in that aspect of wellness with mocktails, fresh juices, stuff like that.
EDM Maniac: What can we look forward to in the future from Veluda?
Taylor Nerz: In the future, I would just like to expand. I would love to find a warehouse in SD. I don’t know about a festival because I like keeping things intimate. But we are planning to be around for the long haul and we tentatively have shows booked for the rest of the year, so we are here to stay.
Right now, I am a one-woman show. I’m doing the flyers myself, all the booking, decorations, etc. So maybe some expanding partnerships.
EDM Maniac: I had no idea you were a one-woman show. Do you have any advice for women in the industry?
Taylor Nerz: Ya, hit me up we can work together *laughs*. I had some friends that let me shadow while they did their events and I learned so much: how to reach out to agents, how to book venues, how to do production. I thought I had to be this well-established person who had already have booked all these people.
But just be confident in who you are and that you are doing this for the right reasons and you are going to meet the right people. There are so many people in our industry in particular that are super genuine and want to see other people succeed. I thought there would have been a lot of competition but everyone is so great.
You have to be able to take a lot of rejection and don’t let that get to you. One artist will fall off and an even better one will cross your path. Things will fall into place if you are patient. If I can do it, anybody can do it!
Check out Veluda on Instagram to remain up-to-date with all their events.
All images provided by Taylor Nerz and Shlømo
