ORANGE sat down with Alec Palacio and Max Moreno of up-and-coming DJ duo DFZ, also known as “Dance Floor Zombies,” to discuss their musical past, present and future.
Story by Marilee Bodden
Photos courtesy of Real Music Events
Pulling inspiration from artists such as Disclosure and AC Slater, DFZ is consistently pumping their house mixes into the willing ears of local concert-goers. After opening for esteemed artists including Giraffage and Chris Lorenzo, and playing their very own SXSW show this year, DFZ has continued building the foundation for the musical empire that awaits them in the future.
Palacio and Moreno get down and dirty as they go in for another drop.
DFZ originated from two long-term friends, a mixing board and a mutual love for house music. Mechanical engineering senior Alec Palacio, now 22, started off his career by writing and performing acoustic guitar songs at the age of 12. He began DJing during his sophomore year at the University of Texas at Austin (he is now a senior), and one year later began to teach his roommate and friend, 23-year-old Max Moreno. “At first we sort of did our own separate thing, but eventually joined up because we liked the same music,” Palacio says. “I just thought, why shouldn’t I do this with my best friend?”
Previously, they had gone by The AM— The Alec and Max, but DFZ’s name has an interesting back story. It was born from the tired, danced-out minds of Palacio and Moreno in 2016. After attending an AC Slater show and a Kingdom after-party that ran until 4:00 a.m., the dynamic DJ duo were more than exhausted. “We were barely able to lift our feet, but still, we couldn’t stop moving,” Palacio says. “We danced our faces off. We went home and were like, ‘dude, we were like zombies on that floor—dance floor zombies.” And thus, their new identity was born.
Palacio and Moreno at their Chris Lorenzo show.
After DJing at several events for UT’s electronic music club and playing at friends’ house parties, they began to play more official shows through their relationship with Kingdom, an electronic music venue in downtown Austin. Both Palacio and Moreno wished to join the promotional company RealMusic Events, which runs through Kingdom to host notable events throughout Austin. To begin embarking on this musical promotion journey, they got in contact with Andrew Parsons, the company’s leader. “We bothered him, we sent him an email selling ourselves [and] we showed our dedication,” Palacio says. “It took him a while to reply, and then he ignored us afterwards.”
But that didn’t stop them—the pair decided to go to a show at Kingdom that they knew Parsons would be attending. After seeing and talking to him for awhile, he mentioned he was looking for “hungry people” to put on his promotion team.“Dude, we’re hungry,” Alec remembers saying. “I came to this show because I love the artists, but I also came to talk to you.”
That seemed to do the trick— the two joined the team, and since they put a lot of work into building a friendship with Parsons, they have now been given access to the very stage they promote for. “Reaching out there and letting him know we wanted it, not waiting for him to come to us,” Moreno says. “It’s been insane since then. It’s really worth the work.”
DFZ gazes out over their crowd of dancers under bright lights.
“Our boss ended up giving us the SXSW gig because he believed in us,” Palacio says. Both Palacio and Moreno had the flu that week but definitely weren’t going to give up a Saturday night Southby show at Speakeasy, a rooftop bar downtown. “We didn’t even think we deserved a spot. It was a surreal experience. The person who organized the event even told our boss that he didn’t expect us to be that good.”
When asked to comment on what making music as a Dance Floor Zombie feels like, Palacio says that for him, it’s a big stress reliever. “It’s a way for me to get away from my daily worries, to have fun, to let it all out,” Palacio says. “You’re not thinking about anything else, you’re not thinking about your responsibilities. You’re just feeling it. Think about the moments in life where you’re having the most fun no matter what you’re doing. That’s what making music feels like.”
The pair’s process usually begins with the aggregation of the “best house music out there,” into a collaborative playlist. After that, they listen and practice over and over, mixing song against song, taking what has already been created and making it their own.“It’s really in the moment,” Palacio says. “We don’t plan our mixes out. It’s based on whatever we feel.”
DFZ’s next move is to focus on releasing their own music. “We won’t really feel accomplished until we release our own stuff,” Palacio says.
Palacio and Moreno inside Kingdom’s sound booth, rated one of the top 20 sound booths in the world.
DFZ will be opening for for Jax Jones at Kingdom this coming Saturday, April 8. They are also opening for King Arthur on May 19, Destructo on June 6, and will be playing at a 4th of July boat party alongside Golf Clap later this summer. With their various upcoming shows, past openings for more than reputable artists and their unwillingness to give up (whether it be on the dance floor or elsewhere), it appears that this takeover- this zombie apocalypse- has already begun.
