Name: Lorenzo Gonzalez Lamassonne aka zorenLo
Nationality: Colombian-American
Occupation: Producer, songwriter, vocalist
Current release: zorenLo's debut album PERREO inTECHNO is out via Rollup Vibe Conglomerate.
Recomendations: Jesus Christ Superstar, the greatest and most underrated musical and rock opera of all time! Just a random personal favorite of mine I’ll always have a soft spot for, and you don’t need to be a Christian or musical theatre fan to appreciate it.
Also, “Silver Apples of the Moon”, the two-part piece by composer Morton Subotnick from 1967. It was the first electronic work commissioned by a record company, a very important LP that often doesn’t get the credit it deserves. The second side in particular is an incredible listen to this day, an absolute trip.

If you enjoyed this zorenLo interview and would like to stay up to date with his music, visit him on Instagram, Soundcloud, twitter, and Facebook.



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

Music feels visceral for me, more so than visual. I often close my eyes when I listen, whether it's in the studio or at the club, but that darkness connects me more to my body and the physical movement triggered by the music.

I do however love listening to music on my headphones when I’m walking around the city and taking in the sights, people watching… the dynamic visual experience and sustained motion totally reshapes your perspective of the music. It unlocks core memories while also creating new ones.

What were your very first steps in music like and how would you rate the gains made through experience - can one train/learn being an artist?

My dad is a musician, playing guitar and singing in various bands throughout my childhood - so from an early age he exposed me to this world and pushed me in that direction. As early as 5 I was playing drumset and started playing guitar around 10, which are experiences I’m very thankful for as I do believe practicing from a young age does give you a huge advantage in terms of skill and music theory understanding.

When it comes to creativity and being a good artist, I think some things just come naturally, and this is a muscle that is much harder to train. Not impossible, but much more difficult.

Developing these abilities at a younger age also helps tremendously, through active listening and developing your taste and even your personal style beyond music, which are both things my parents encouraged me to do.

According to scientific studies, we make our deepest and most incisive musical experiences between the ages of 13-16. What did music mean to you at that age and what’s changed since then?

That definitely checks out for me. Those were key years in which I played guitar obsessively, started singing and writing songs for the first time.

Then around 16 I started getting into production, making beats on Garageband, rapping, which soon led to DJing and a focus on electronic music overall. That was the biggest turning point for me when I really started getting serious.

I look back on those years rather fondly, and there are many memories that bring me joy.

What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music and what motivates you to create?

Innovation. Now, that doesn’t mean that music needs to be innovative to be good, because as a listener I’m all over the place, and as a DJ it’s more about the way in which you mix together certain songs that makes it innovative.

But with the music I make, I get motivated by creating something groundbreaking that hasn’t been done before. To me, this means combining genres and styles in new ways, and presenting thematic contrasts that create an interesting dialogue between elements in the music.

For example, I love when music has an ironic or irreverent quality, where the artist is their authentic self while also maintaining the elevated taste level that comes with being innovative. Kanye West masterfully struck this balance throughout his career in a way that marked me and inspired me from a very early age. He’s quite problematic now, but I’m still thankful for how his music shaped the way I look at the creative process.



I like to say that “I’m very serious about not taking myself seriously”, and I want that energy to permeate through what I create. Innovation should feel exciting, fun … entertaining. We are in the entertainment business, after all.

To quote a question by the great Bruce Duffie: When you come up with a musical idea, have you created the idea or have you discovered the idea?

That’s a fascinating debate and ties into that conversation surrounding innovation too. There’s definitely truth to the concept that no idea is original - we’re all inspired from somewhere, even subconsciously.

I’d say that combining two musical elements in a new and groundbreaking way is more of a discovery than a creation. That’s really what I’m after too, so the more I think about it, creating IS discovery, and there’s really nothing wrong with that.

To take it a step further, it’s discovering who you are as a human being.

Paul Simon said “the way that I listen to my own records is not for the chords or the lyrics - my first impression is of the overall sound.” What's your own take on that and how would you define your personal sound?

That’s true, at the end of the day the most important thing is how something sounds and how it makes you feel. In all types of music now, artists are gravitating more towards the overall sound and vibe of a song combined with their personal aesthetic, rather than the actual music theory and lyrics. Some criticize this, but it has led to some exciting and fresh artists that push the boundaries of what music can be.

Even though I work with a lot of contrasting genres, I try to create a sound with my productions that’s instantly recognizable, and that’s achieved through composing tendencies, arrangements, specific instruments/sounds that become your signature, as opposed to chords or lyrics.

Sound, song, and rhythm are all around us, from animal noises to the waves of the ocean. What, if any, are some of the most moving experiences you've had with these non-human-made sounds? In how far would you describe them as “musical”?

My family is Colombian, and when I’m there I love tapping into the sounds of nature and animals, in the rainforest, countryside, coast … when they all come together to create a balanced union it really is like an atmospheric symphony. It’s very relaxing and grounding.

From very deep/high/loud/quiet sounds to very long/short/simple/complex compositions - are there extremes in music you feel drawn to and what response do they elicit?

I think balancing all those extremes is where the most interesting stuff happens, giving them the attention they deserve while maintaining subtlety and restraint.

You need a bit of everything to cook up a good meal. At least, the meals I’m trying to make.

Could you describe your creative process on the basis of one of your pieces, live performances or albums that's particularly dear to you, please?

My latest reggaeton project, PERREO inTECHNO, was born out of me buying a Moog DFAM modular sequencer, which as soon as you start playing around with it, practically begs you to make hardcore industrial techno. It sounds great, but it’s too obvious.

[Read our feature on the Moog DFAM]

I thought, what would be the most contrarian and interesting thing to do with this instrument? So I started making reggaeton beats with it, using it almost exclusively for every aspect of the composition process. The results were so unique, they inspired me to get back into songwriting and singing, making a whole album with the sonic world I was starting to create, which combined techno and reggaeton production styles.

You can look at the overall sound from this “heady” perspective, but then let’s also remember that this is reggaeton music - it should be about having fun first and foremost. So I tried to let my personality shine through the music and lyrics and create something very “me”, with lyrics that are memorable, sometimes funny, while dealing with topics like love and intimacy which are ultimately part of the reggaeton world.

I allowed myself to be vulnerable and pulled from my life experiences, trying to package it in a way that’s relatable and commercially viable. It’s been quite the journey, working on the project for the past 4 years off-and-on, it feels surreal that it’s finally out.

Do you conduct “experiments” or make use of scientific insights when you're making music?

I want to get back into this more, developing new techniques with sound design and processing. In my college years, I was particularly experimental when it came to this type of stuff, and it helped develop the sound I have today. When I worked on the project, the initial process with my Moog was very much a series of experiments.

Since then, I’ve been in album mode, focusing more on songwriting and arrangement, but now that it’s out I’m excited to get back in the lab, experimenting for the sake of experimenting.

How does the way you make music reflect the way you live your life? Can we learn lessons about life by understanding music on a deeper level?

Not to overly repeat myself, but the previous sentiment I expressed about “being serious about not taking myself seriously” definitely rings true for me about how I approach my life and music. It’s a healthy paradox that informs many of the creative and personal decisions I make.

By no means should someone interpret that as me not caring, it’s quite the opposite. I want to cultivate an energy that is fun, and brings people joy, and I’m very serious about it!

For example as a promoter, with my event “Rollup”, I’m very particular, obsessive, and even intense with how I brand and promote my event, but with an aesthetic that is rooted in internet humor, absurdism and extreme levels of irony and satire - all to create an environment in which the audience can let themselves go, and their preconceived notion of what a party should be, and just have fun.

When you see my flyers and Instagram promo for my events, the desired reaction is “this is so bizarre and hilarious, but seems like fun, so I want to check it out”. That’s representative of how I want to live my life as a whole. I want it to be exciting, I want to laugh, I want to be able to make fun of myself and the world around me, I want to be free to create things that are weird and entertaining in unique ways … and there’s nothing I take more seriously than that.

Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

There is art in everything, we all just have our own preferred medium. I find myself very creative and expressive when I cook, in ways that feel very different from creating music. There’s less pressure, maybe.

Every time I listen to "Albedo 0.39" by Vangelis, I choke up. But the lyrics are made up of nothing but numbers and values. Do you, too, have a song or piece of music that affects you in a way that you can't explain?

I love Vangelis. Another composer who always makes me emotional is Nino Rota, known for his film scores and themes, especially from Fellini's movies. Having watched many of those films when I was a kid, those main themes from movies like “La Dolce Vita” and “Amarcord” hit me really hard in the nostalgia department, like when you hear a musician play it in the subway or something.



I suppose that’s what they are supposed to elicit after all, but it does feel rather extreme and melancholic for me, for pieces that don’t even have lyrics … those melodies just have a way of grabbing you and making you surrender.

He did “The Godfather” theme too, which we all know slaps.



If you could make a wish for the future – what are developments in music you would like to see and hear?

I hope that we enter this new era of AI-created music in a way that protects artists.

I’m definitely a bit nervous about that aspect of the future.