Kicking off a stacked CENTER BOOTH Season 2 is the Porto-raised, Berlin-based Mau Ventura, better known to techno fans as DJ Saliva. Founder of the long-running Porto queer-centered party series Arena Spa Superiora, Ventura is also a resident DJ and label manager at Herrensauna and an accomplished visual artist whose work spans painting, sculpture, installation and performance. They have played at world-leading venues and festivals including BASEMENT, Tresor, Nuits Sonores, Body Movements, Bassiani and RSO Berlin, sometimes B2Bing with crew mates such as CEM and Salome with electrifying results. We’re thrilled to have them grace CENTER BOOTH with this enigmatic, eclectic set brimming with energy and texture.

Across 65 compelling minutes, DJ Saliva dips in and out of genres and styles including gothy, plangent techno, subterranean acid, wiggly tech-house, psychedelic IDM, and Carribean rhythms. The mixing is mostly fast, loose, and unsuspecting, whether they are dropping dancehall into springy, electrifying techno, chasing Karenn’s gnarly “Crush The Mushrooms” with glowy braindance, or breaking up Latin percussion with ravey psytrance. There are moments of tension throughout, an admirable amount of risk-taking, and an experimental quality to the set that makes it feel as though DJ Saliva is taking the trip alongside you, guided by their fervent curiousity, and always landing somewhere slick (the electro-grunge Garbage closer is chef’s kiss).

Lock in for a lively, daring journey from an artist unafraid to paint outside the lines.