As soulful tropical funkadelia streamed out from a bright pink record player, La Popular came alive. One by one, people started bobbing their heads and slowly made their way onto the dance floor, entranced by the magic that only a live DJ set can bring.
The scene at La Popular in the Claremont Village on Sunday, Oct. 18 is a reminder that local music culture is alive and well even when campus life pauses for fall break. Compas Discoteca is an Inland Empire-based DJ collective, composed of four longtime friends and experienced DJs: Adrian Silva, Elías Ruiz, Ricardo Carlos and Alberto Piña.
This week’s set was part of their Viva Vinyl event series, where they mix vinyl records live on every third Sunday of the month. While the 5C campuses fell into a quiet lull for fall break, La Popular was packed with guests enjoying delicious food elevated by live music.
This monthly series invites students to pause their Spotify queue and enter a room built on physical records, shared history and live connection.
Taking turns behind the booth, each DJ filled La Popular with hip-hop, cumbia, bossa nova and everything in between. Family is the heart of Compas Discoteca’s genre-defying sound, and all the DJs say their families were crucial in igniting their passion for music.
“I think we all play well together because we have similar upbringings and similar shared history,” Ruiz said.
Compas Discoteca spins vinyl as an homage to both their roots and the origins of DJ artistry. Physical records are the backbone of each DJ’s creative process and provide a unique mode of storytelling, discovery and connection — a contrast to algorithmic playlists students might listen to.
“The sound that the needle makes when it touches the vinyl, that crackle, for me, is kind of like the crackle of a fireplace, like a campfire, right?” he said. “And so what happens around a campfire? There’s connection.”
Though endless tracks are available digitally, Ruiz remains drawn to the restriction and intentionality of old-school vinyl.
“There’s something about taking a few hours before heading out and pulling a vinyl off my shelf and thinking, ‘does this go with me or does it stay behind?’” he said.
To blend nostalgia with discovery, Piña often includes international covers from his travels. For Piña, records are rabbit holes, and his sets aim to take listeners on a musical journey.
“It’s just like Alice in Wonderland,” he said, describing the experience of combing through shelves at a record store.
The experience of picking up a physical record also distinguishes vinyl from digital tracks for Silva, who believes that every record tells a story.
“This vinyl, I don’t know what DJ or who owned this before,” he said. “Some of it was from my family, but a lot of it is bought at record stores, and it’s not brand new … It’s like, if these records could talk, what stories would they tell?”
Carlos explained that vinyl brings a warmth that digital music simply can’t match.
“The sound that the needle makes when it touches the vinyl, that crackle, for me, is kind of like the crackle of a fireplace, like a campfire, right?” he said. “And so what happens around a campfire? There’s connection.“
Compas Discoteca’s records tell campfire stories of family gatherings, record stores around the world and generations of DJs crafting connections through sound.
The stories behind the sound waves resonated with Claremont community members Aaliyah Ibarra and Elisa Salas, regular attendees at Compas Discoteca’s events. Salas explained that the music transports both her and Ibarra back to childhood memories.
“It’s like a time warp when we go in,” Salas said.
For he and Ibarra, vinyl is the sound of home.
“I grew up with vinyl, with family, but I feel like I [don’t] hear it out in the open these days … I appreciate it,” Ibarra said.
Music isn’t the only art form at Viva Vinyl nights — for the DJs, playing at a restaurant is an opportunity to combine culinary and musical artistry.
“There’s artistry in the kitchen,” Carlos said. “There’s art all over. And so this is our little contribution to that energy, right? Through music, it is an appreciation of everybody’s art.”
Students at the 5Cs don’t have to venture far for a lively off-campus experience: La Popular is located in the Claremont Village, walking distance from the colleges. Students can experience the taste and sound of Viva Vinyl for themselves this November, when Compas Discoteca will celebrate two years of playing together as an official collective.
The DJs explained that one mark of a successful night is if people are dancing, which usually occurs near the evening’s end. This Sunday, only an hour into the event, diners were already moving to the dance floor. Whether you call it a rabbit hole, a campfire or a time warp, there’s no doubt that the vinyl was working its magic.
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