Canvas: Atlanta's Rising Bass Star on Breaking Barriers, and the Power of Diversity in Music
Photo by Bad Pineapple Media
BY NICOLA BRESLAUER
If you love bass music with an Atlanta flare, look no further than Canvas! Canvas (Rita Mucavele) is an Atlanta based DJ/Producer that has been quickly expanding from local play to bookings across the country. A recent major accomplishment in her unwavering growth is her booking to play Red Rocks later this month. You can find her tracks on major label compilations such as Odyzey, Deep Dark and Dangerous, and Wakaan. She has played renowned festivals such as Hulaween, Untz, Deep Tropics, and Lights All Night, and it seems the sky is the limit for the potential of this talented artist.
Known for sets that are “all gas, no breaks”, she loves to promote diversity in the scene, and makes tracks meant to connect to the audience and our emotions. Your next chance to see her play in Atlanta is on May 2nd on Liquid Stranger’s Revolution Tour at the Coca-Cola Roxy. We sat down to ask about her experience with her growth in the scene. We discussed both the challenges of being a woman in the scene and her solutions to improve the rhetoric around it, along with fun questions fans are eager to know answers to such as the important Atlanta inquiry – “Wings, or Flats?”.
Atlanta EDM: You are known for some of the best flips, and you just recently released your “Oh” flip, what goes into deciding your next song to create a remix of?
Canvas: Sometimes there are tracks that I have always wanted to bring back, like from my childhood that makes me hype and excited. Sometimes on my shuffle a track will just come on, and I will be like wow this would be so great in a set, and I can just hear what the flip needs to be. Other times I have just wanted to get my hands on the song and make a version for the kind of sets I play.
Atlanta EDM: Are there any tracks you have your eye on right now that you have been thinking about?
Canvas: Yeah, actually, I just wrapped up a remix for a really cool artist in the bass scene, it is going to come out on a compilation around 4/20. I have quite a few remixes/flips in my library I am excited to share!
Atlanta EDM: You have been added to some compilations and released mixes with major labels such as Odyzey, Deep Dark and Dangerous, and Wakaan which is an amazing way for new listeners to be exposed to your tracks. What has this recognition meant to you and what is the process like for an artist hoping to do the same?
Canvas: Its honestly feeling so seen, so understood through music. My music can express any emotion I am going through or state I am in in life better than my words can. So when someone connects with that, its just like ‘wow’, feels like we locked in through the music and that means a lot to me personally. My advice is release the music, get over that hurdle and don’t sit on the music. It’s never going to be perfect. Release music, and reach out, you would be surprised how friendly other artists are. Just ask politely and say ‘hey I am interested in remixing one of your tracks’, or just send it to them. I think if you come at it with an authentic presence it can be easy.
Atlanta EDM: What has been your biggest moment so far, and what was going through your head at that time?
Canvas: Getting the Red Rocks booking! I literally jumped up and down and ran through the house like I was 5, and it gave me the energy of a thousand suns. It solidified the idea that I can do this. It is possible and people like me can do it. It’s possible for anyone that will work and dedicate their time and focus to it. It let me know I am on the right path. Red rocks will be April 25th opening for Subtronics Cyclops Rocks.
Atlanta EDM: How does what goes on in your personal life impact your music, have you noticed anything about your style change as you change and grow as a person?
Canvas: Yeah absolutely, the songs don’t always come out in order of how I am experiencing emotions, but they definitely represent what I am going through on the day to day. The struggles, my mental health, my struggles with ADD, relationships, and just understanding my place in the world. There are a lot of themes that have repeated in my head like a lot of people do, and it absolutely reflects who I am. I have noticed that as I have begun to more own who I am and actualize the person and artist that I am, my music is changing. I am generally happier now, and some of my darker tracks I still try to put that energy into the music to make a well balanced sound, but I noticed that I am releasing a lot more tracks that are happier in comparison, but are still very emotive and represent where I am right now. My ADD definitely helps, it helps me work on different pieces of the track and hear it differently as it comes about. It’s a gift and a curse, but in music it helps me.
Photo by Makomedia
Atlanta EDM: What are your thoughts on “female only” lineups, do you think this helps women get recognition or does it at times feel like a marketing ploy?
Canvas: I think it depends, it is a grey zone. Its understanding the reason for promoting it as an all-female lineup. Why are they doing that, what have they done in the past, what are they doing to promote diversity and promote women. If its just throwing up a lineup and not putting effort into it, and just calling it an ‘all-female lineup’, then that doesn’t really make sense. At the same time, I want female DJs to be recognized just for being good DJs. Its not that she is ‘good for a girl’, so we need to be more proactive about diversity. I love seeing a split of genders, countries of origin, and ethnicities on lineups. Promoters start to do that more and it can really change it from the ground up and it will change the crowds as well. Its better to be proactive ongoing with this, not just booking a female lineup once and not bringing that diversity into regular bookings.
Atlanta EDM: Are you noticing a trend change with more females being added to major lineups?
Canvas: I do see a change, I am seeing more women on lineups but we have a long way to go.
Atlanta EDM: What influence on your music and career has there been from coming up in the Atlanta scene, and what are some of your favorite parts about the scene here?
Canvas: Trap, trap, trap music, and southern hip hop all day! If you listen to my sets, you can definitely tell the roots of Atlanta. There is a certain energy here in Atlanta, you can use words like “ratchet, grimy” but for electronic and bass music, there is no place like Atlanta. I take that with me everywhere and try share a bit of Atlanta with everywhere else.
Atlanta EDM: Have you gotten an ATL HOE outside of Atlanta?
Canvas: I have, which is always crazy and exciting that Atlanta is with me.
Photo by Makomedia
Fan Questions:
What has made it worth it: the grind, the sacrifices of time, stability?
Canvas: As cheesy as it may sounds, there is nothing like hitting the play button at the beginning of a set and seeing the crowd be ready to take in the music, to forget everything else or the moment and just being there. When I get to go into the crowd after a set to interact with others, whether its their first time seeing my set or not and they’re excited to be here, it becomes bigger than me its about impacted others. That makes it worth it.
How long are your sets compared to when you were “trying” to break out?
Canvas: Essentially the same, they can be more truncated now but that’s by design due to the slot that I am in. It may be about 45 minutes now. I used to be a club DJ so I would DJ from 9pm-3am 3 days a week. So they are usually shorter now, but more quality.
Drums or Flats?
Canvas: Flats! Its always flats!
From a woman to a woman: Did you face challenges being taken seriously in the industry, and what strategies helped you hold their own ground when others tried to downplay your talent? Any advice for other women trying to make it in this space?
Canvas: Oh yeah I have definitely faced things like ‘oh you cant really dj that well, you have sync on, you don’t really produce that, its good but not that good, its okay for a girl dj, or its just because you are black’. If you know why you are doing your art and staying true to you, and listen to your community that supports you to remind you of your worth, that helps. We can change the scene from the inside out, but it can be hard so you need people to lean into. Its getting better as people are sharing their experiences, and people are calling people out. Good people will rise. You have to be persistent, its going to take time no matter where you start.
Photo by Makomedia
Do you still love your hometown or has another city capture your/their heart? If so, why? What city do you love performing in and why? Which city do you like the least and why? What is your favorite part about touring? How does it feel from going local to touring?
Canvas: Atlanta is a special place. Frisco Colorado playing at Ten Mile was surprising, it has great energy, it felt like someone picked up Atlanta and placed it there with a Colorado spin on it. That’s been an incredible place to play. Austin and Dallas in Texas have always been so much fun, they come out early to support. They like all the crazy shit I play, any genre or languages, and they absorb it, they have the same desire to dance and move like Atlanta does.
What is on your rider? If youre a headliner, will anything change?
Canvas: At one point in time I had a firehouse sub, now its Charcuterie, alkaline water, Gin is my favorite, popcorn. My dream rider would be some games to play backstage, decks that are there that I can use to warm up.
When will be your next Atlanta show, anything we should expect?
Canvas: Yes! May 2nd at the Roxy as part of Liquid Strangers Revolution Tour. I have been working on so many new tracks and mixes that I am intentionally not posting or sharing anywhere because I want to play them for Atlanta for their debut. I want to play the classics that people love to hear, whether it be hip hop or edm, I want to tap into that and make it a nonstop great set from start to finish, no breaks all gas, pure Atlanta.
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friday, may 2, 2025
SEE CANVAS OPEN FOR LIQUID STRANGER AT THE COCA-COLA ROXY