General Feelings: 10 years of Naarm's beloved Sound System

This month marks 10 years of Naarm's beloved General Feelings Sound System. Creator and instigator Dr Lucreccia Quintanilla or DJ General Feelings known to the club circuit. Is an architect in community based sound projects that investigate beyond the entertainment focus, all whilst creating engaging spaces with plenty of holistic bump and grind.

Bringing together her many worlds as a writer, mother, ex co-director of Liquid Architecture, sound system operator and cultural worker. Lulu uses sound to amplify the many overlooked reasons behind dance music and some of the hottest sounds emerging from contemporary LATAM. Read the interview in full below and listen to GDSMIX_07 LULU (GENERAL FEELINGS) on OWOS SoundCloud available now.

General Feelings Sound System MPAV

LULU (GENERAL FEELINGS), INTERVIEW By Carlo Xavier

"So many adventures. Highlights: DJ Kalyani playing the big yidaki track to begin one of the Heavy Congress sets, Caucasian Opportunities TOASTING!!! That time I spent 30 bucks on confetti and there were lots of kids.”

No doubt, you have faced your share of challenges—breaking through the usual formalities of public space, not to mention managing the public's expectations of what Sound System is all about. What have been some of the highlights and turning points for you and the General Feelings journey?

It has been a wild ride. Hmmm… It has from the beginning been warmly embraced by various communities out there. First time it ever went out was for a small all women reggae gig in someone’s apartment block car park, next time for an experimental metal gig, the Pasifika Arts Festival… So many highlights. One of my faves was when it was up at the NGV and its sole purpose was to amplify the sound of the thump of a hammer onto the wall which was something that Wukir from Senyawa had put together. Haha! So many adventures. Highlights: DJ Kalyani playing the big yidaki track to begin one of the Heavy Congress sets, Caucasian Opportunities TOASTING!!! That time I spent 30 bucks on confetti and there were lots of kids. Turning points…the moment I realised I needed more money to expand and that I needed to upscale a little otherwise I would continue to blow up my JBL bass. haha! I have been a little rogue, asking for permission has never been my thing which has really allowed me to try all sorts of different approaches with the soundsystem.

General Feelings

DIY sound system culture has always offered an opportunity for voice and empowerment. You’ve spoken about the output and image of a system appearing as the dominant sensorial aspect, though the true significance lies in the social impacts that manifest. What does sound system culture mean to you, and how do you currently see—or wish to see—it impacting the broader community?

You are right, I am doing this thing in the tradition of the soundsystem as something that surfaces from the community. I am not working with soundsystems as an audiophile, I mean it’s good that it sounds nice but I am doing it because it is my imperative to find ways to play the music I love, create a space for friends and people I respect to put new sounds forward. I want a soundsystem to be adaptable to all sorts of environments. Rather than perfection. I find that a bit less exciting.

"It is so interesting that when I wrote that reggaeton was still transgressive and not played out much here but obviously things were about to change.”

The use of General Feelings in projects such as Barrio/Baryo highlights the role of the Sound System in unifying migrant communities and fostering ideals of inclusion beyond the Anglo-centric lens. As a Salvadorian migrant, what has sound system culture meant for not only Latinx migrants but also for migrant allies in finding space and solidarity here in Australia?

Listen, I can only speak for myself here but for me the fact that I could do what I wanted with it, the thing could play all sorts of types of crossovers is everything. Seriously, there are cumbia goths out there! I wanted to create a space for all sorts of types of conversations. Worst thing for me as a Central American is to be reduced to a stereotype of what I may like or what I may be into, a nightmare even haha!

There’s a magnetic vibrancy personified in Latinx music culture that we’ve come to expect. I love how you describe, in Contra La Pared: Reggaetón and Dissonance in Naarm for Sound Studies Blog, that the sun-soaked freedom of expression in the music is somehow feeding us Vitamin D. Yet, there are also deeper experimental and non-binary dynamics at play—ones that don’t necessarily conform to binary expectations of the culture. How have these dynamics influenced you and the General Feelings movement?

It is so interesting that when I wrote that reggaeton was still transgressive and not played out much here but obviously things were about to change. Now it’s everywhere, I was told when I started playing it out in the world that only Latin people liked it. Haha! I think that there were and still are a set of possibilities in there for lots of us. I think that way of being transgressive, is in so many ways there for a lot of different types of music, not just dance music. But I think dance music is a way Latin people describe the realities of life in the whole spectrum of experience - in their detailed reality haha - and our history all whilst moving our bodies and also having some respite alongside each other.

Now that you’ve reached this decade milestone with General Feelings, what do the next few years look like for the system? What are your future ambitions? You often speak about the acoustic relationship between the sound source, the bodies in movement, and the resonance of the space it occupies. Are there any obscure spaces or political environments you would love to hear General Feelings amplify?

I have had a big break from the soundsystem for a couple of years. I ended up hurting my body from carrying it around for all those years and GF soundsystem existing at all is a kind of technical miracle sustained by so many people out there haha! So happy to feel my way through things as usual. But I am always going to be fascinated by the kind of sound it makes and how it works out there in the world.I have some experiments that I want to do with it. Stay tuned! But I think soundsystems like Mahikai Ark are doing soundsystem culture in ways that I am inspired by.