Life & Work with Mau Trejo

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mau Trejo.

Hi Mau, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My family and I immigrated to the United States around 2005 from Cuernavaca, Mexico. I grew up all around Orange County as my family struggled to find stable housing; we moved around a lot. So it’s tough to say where I am from – we lived in Garden Grove, Anaheim, Westminster, & Santa Ana. In terms of my journey, just coming to the U.S was very abrupt and challenging, but those experiences have shaped who I am, how I see the world & why I do the work I do. I am a community builder, artist, DJ, photographer, and community organizer.

At the center of who I am – it really is about my family, a village of people who have shaped who I am today. My mom brought my sister and me to this country with little to nothing. We grew up poor, constantly moving & working to survive. Early on, I saw how my mom created this ‘Village’ of people around her – close relatives, neighbors, and friends; to her, it wasn’t just about getting us housed, fed & other necessities but also creating ways for others to also have resources. That’s how I ended up coming along with her to work at the age of 11. After school or during the weekends or in between holiday breaks – cleaning houses, learning how to landscape, working construction with my uncles, and picking up service jobs to support us and our village. I was never the most academically inclined, and while I remained a curious person, never excelled in school. I spent most of my time disrupting classes, being funny & doodling, making beats with my pencil, or anything I could find really. That’s how I ended up being pushed into programs in school – in elementary I was in the school choir, joined a soccer league with my cousins, began skating, and always daydreaming, listening to music, & reading comics. My mom tried to put me in after-school programs to keep me busy, but I always would find a way to ditch or do something else. I took art classes, and even music classes through my mom’s church. I think that’s how I recognized how much I really enjoyed music – how different instruments could come together and create melodies. I picked up the guitar for a bit, the piano as well, and even the flute at school. I began creating mixes at the time too, around middle school / early Freshman year of high school. I couldn’t afford a controller, so I opted out to learning the keys on my computer & utilizing virtual DJ – I started to create my own mixes and post them on SoundCloud; at that time I went by the name of KidFresh. In my teen years, I always enjoyed listening to music. It was part of who I was – always with my iPod & headphones; listening to my favorite mixes and artists. Creating my own playlists for my enjoyment, watching MTV Unplugged, VH1 videos & following my favorite artists on MySpace.

Then I went to college — and graduated from UC Merced in 2018 with a Bachelor’s in Management & Business Economics. I have lots of love for the Central Valley – where I co-founded an entertainment startup called Mirror Comedy, along with Rene Vaca (an incredibly talented comedian), where we brought comedians into the city in support of local restaurants and venues. I continued to create my playlists, attend live music events & find ways to give back to the community through the work I did on campus.

I moved to Los Angeles around 2018 – looking for work in the non-profit world, mainly to work with organizations that aimed to support Black & other youth of color. From then on, I worked as a community organizer and educator – supporting system-impacted youth in creating systems change in and around schools. I built a community with so many young people in South Central, sharing my story & supporting their own development. It’s the work I do now as my 9-5, supporting young people to tell their own stories, creating systems change, and ultimately making schools and the surrounding community fund support services, not policies that criminalize them.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It sure has not been a smooth road. As an undocumented person, I’ve always been in survival mode. A lot of that really is why I am able to do so much, or rather it might be my ADHD or both. I don’t know but I have always been in go-mode, finding ways to make more money and sustain myself, and my ‘village’. As an artist, I think it was tough to find spaces in Los Angeles where I was seen as a person and not as something of value. I think at first it was tough to find a sense of community, belonging, and people who shared similar values – though now, I’ve found all of that and have created meaningful relationships with people I admire and now call friends.

I am also constantly going through ‘character development’ stages in my life – from heartbreak to the losses of loved ones, and so much more. I navigate depression and anxiety, so sometimes when tough times hit – I remind myself that the storm will pass. Though at times tougher than most, I have remained hopeful and rooted in those around me. Shoutout to therapy. I also think that’s why a lot of my current creative projects are diving into themes of grief, love, heartbreak, hope & disruption of the industry.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a multi-disciplinary creative/artist – it’s hard to put everything I do into one word. I create, and tell stories through different mediums. I would say I am also an educator, digital strategist, and an array of things. My full-time job is as a community organizer with a youth-led organization in Los Angeles called Students Deserve; where I support students, teachers, parents & community members towards advocating for policies that eliminate the school-to-prison pipeline and instead create community-based programs to support the well-being of students. I’m also a DJ, curator & host of my own radio show called The Rotation. I think that music, for me, it has allowed me to continue to tell stories and create experiences for people. Mainly in cultivating a community of listeners and introducing them to a variety of sounds, especially of local artists, songwriters, producers & other DJs. I’m also a photographer too, working mainly with film. I love being able to capture photos of friends, loved ones & strangers. We all have so many stories to tell and photography, music, and community organizing have created an avenue for me to share those stories. I’m part of a creative collective now as well too, called Better Together, where I have been able to meet other DJs and creatives who are aiming to disrupt the industry and cultivate meaningful experiences for people. For us by us. I see myself as a dot connector and community builder in so many ways. It’s at the core of who I am. I meet people, develop relationships, and find ways to support their personal, creative & professional pursuits. I think that’s what sets me apart from others, of course after my eclectic music taste haha, is being able to build with others and uplift them in meaningful ways.

I have been inspired by so many people, it is interesting to be asked to do this as someone who is also inspiring, but there are a lot of people who inspire me and have supported my own journey – the fam over at Soulection, Love Approved, Citrus Room, Better Together, Rhythm n Vibes, Slow Jamz, Neighbors Skate Shop & so many others. I am the most proud of being able to DJ and share my talents outside of Los Angeles. I got a chance to travel to cities like Portland, Seattle, Chicago, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco and so many others through music and community building. This year I got to actually join one of my favorite R&B live events called Rhythm n Vibes, as a featured DJ for the event. I started going to the shows as a listener and fan of R&B music and now to be able to support as a DJ has been extremely amazing. I am proud that despite the challenges I have faced personally, I have been able to remain hopeful and most of all – excited to create and share with others.

Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
This is a great question. I feel like I tend to overshare aspects of myself, haha that’s just how I am. Although I don’t think a lot of people know about my upbringing and the work I do in the community, especially with system-impacted youth and adults. I went through a lot as a teen and saw people close to me be impacted by prisons, poverty & so many other things that propelled me to do the work I do in the community. I think as an artist and someone with a platform, it’s powerful to create and showcase experiences of joy and at the same time, bring awareness to current issues important to those around me, my neighbors, community, family, etc. I am who I am because of the people who surround me, my village. That will always remain true to the work I do, the things I create, and the experiences I provide people with.

Also, I love film. I think that’s something I want for the next part of my creative journey. I’d love to score or work on a soundtrack for an Issa Rae project. There are so many producers & artists in Leimert Park + South Central I’d wanna work with. I visualize sounds and pair them up with images. I don’t know how else to describe it, but I think that’s something that I don’t really share with a lot of people. My creative process is definitely unique and so much I want to share.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/issamau
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/issamau/
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/issamau
• Other: Rotation Radio: https://www.instagram.com/rotationradio_/

Image Credits
Maika Angeleo, Neighbors Skate Shop for location for photos labeled VoyageMag 3 & 8.