Whether it’s a track that reminds you of your hometown, an album that played for the entirety of years-gone road trip or a ballad from the scene of a breakup, we all have music that transports us to a very specific moment in our lives. No matter what the melody is, these Proustian moments of hearing, when our brains immediately associate a song with a time or place, are constant reminders of music’s psychological powers.

When it comes to understanding music’s connection with places, Sinego, a Colombian-born, Mexico-based DJ, producer and multi-instrumentalist, is a star student. For his debut album Altergo, the multihyphenate artist embarked on an odyssey across Latin America, gathering inspiration from each country he visited. The result was a sweeping body of work that, in blending traditional influences with modern electronic sounds, reads as a love letter to the region.

Sinego is dedicated to studying (and spotlighting) the diversity of Latin American music, so it’s not surprising that his resume also includes music curation. As W Hotel’s music director for the Caribbean and Latin America, he helps to curate playlists, source local talent and book regional artists for programmes like W Presents, a live performance series. The thought process behind the programme, which, since its inception, has appeared worldwide, was to blend music and hospitality by utilising local influences and capitalising on music’s nostalgic abilities.

“There’s so much that music can do to tie you to an inspiration, to a place or a place in time,” says George Fleck, the SVP and global brand leader of W Hotels. “You can connect destinations to music in the same way people collect experiences or memories, and almost make it more tangible by connecting it to a song or a track.”

This connection was clear in the most recent W Presents in the Dominican Republic, where Sinego performed alongside other artists from the region. Ahead of that performance, we caught up with the artist to talk more about music and memory, and his predictions for the future of Latin electronic music.

Can you tell me about travelling across Latin America to make your debut album? Where did that idea originate?

Sinego: Absolutely. One of my biggest inspirations is Anthony Bourdain. He was the first one who took the culinary concept and did it honestly, eating with people at actual tables and asking them about their stories.

Rather than just going to an Italian restaurant in Italy and fine dining, he’d go to a grandmother and have actual pasta, right? And so, I wanted to do that with music. I’m from Latin America, so I thought, ‘Why don’t we do this kind of documentary thing here?’ As in, taking one genre from each country in Latin America and really exploring it through mini-capsules of content to create this experience of Latin electronic music.

On your journey, did you take inspiration from each place that you visited?

Sinego: Yeah. For example, in Argentina, I collabed with an artist called Kermesse, and we explored the genre of tango. Then in Cuba, and I think this was the most interesting trip of all, because I wasn’t expecting it to be so intense, I was travelling with these two girl DJs called Pauza. I stayed with them, and we had some super crazy moments. In Varadero, one of the cities there, they couldn’t jump off of the boat, because they couldn’t leave the country. So, very weird political things [like that], but then also, we threw a rave with them in Havana. It was very intense.

Did your journey influence your desire to take on this role in music curation with W?

Sinego: Absolutely. We try to curate local talent for most of our projects and mix it with a little bit of international talent. For example, the opener for this W Presents is Aleyda, a girl that has a techno collective in Santo Domingo of only women DJs. It’s super random, because it’s a group in the Dominican Republic, which is known for bachata, meringue, and other stuff, doing techno. So, we’re always trying to infuse each property with local talent.

What was the most eye-opening part of that trip for you?

Sinego: I think it was the fact that there’s so much musical talent in Cuba. The government sponsors everything, so whether you’re a doctor or a musician, you get the same results in life. More people are inclined towards going into music, meaning you then get a lot of talent. It was very eye-opening, seeing that kind of model work. It doesn’t work for other things, but it works in that scenario. Artistically, it’s amazing.

How have your travels around Latin America influenced your own music?

Sinego: I think it’s interesting because I have been in the studio with a lot of European artists, but now, I have more tools to generate rhythm and energy in a track. I have a bigger toolkit. Normally, in Europe, you have the ‘kick’ to generate energy. It’s kick or no kick, very techno-based. But, here in Latin America, we have more tools like harmony, certain guitars – more elements to make you dance without having to have the kick all the time.

Your album, Altergo, was broken up into two parts, right? How did you decide that’s how you wanted to segment that?

Sinego: It was El Día, songs for the day, and La Noche, songs for the night. I feel each song has two versions, and it's to convey that Latin America is also a place of contrast. So, you have something very shiny and beautiful on the outside, but it also has a very dark background to it, like a lot of political instability and problems that go beyond the facade of happiness.

Besides travel, where do you find inspiration?

Sinego: A lot of times in fashion. For example, everything that I wear is Mexican-made or Colombian-made and from independent designers. I think fashion and music have always been intertwined quite a lot for me. I also like to play at fashion shows and be inspired by the fashion designers there. There's a designer from the Dominican Republic called Miguel Genao who’s collabing with the hotel, and he’s really good. An amazing artist.

Are there any underrated Latin designers you think people should know about?

Sinego: Yes, for sure. Well, maybe this isn’t underrated, because they’ve already made it, but Montserrat Messeguer is one of my biggest inspirations. Dua Lipa uses all of her clothes for her videos; the Jonas Brothers use her. It’s all very cowboy-inspired. Then there’s Toro from Mexico, as well. And Miguel Genao. Those three, I would say, are super big inspirations from Latin America.

What artists are on your radar right now?

Sinego: I really like YoSoyMatt from Mexico, Kermesse from Argentina and Ela Minus from Colombia.

When you’re searching for a new artist or for new music, what sort of things are you the most drawn to? 

Sinego: I think it’s a story. When an artist is just creating one song and the song is maybe good, but there is no story behind it, you don’t feel very drawn to it.

Finally, where do you think the future of Latin electronic music is headed?

Sinego: I think it's going to head towards more hardcore genres, like music that starts going faster and more techno. You see a lot of Latin artists now doing techno at a faster tempo and more aggressive, to express something beyond just feelings, but rather catharsis.