▼ Music Eye of the Tigre Isabella Acker launches Miami-based recording label, Tigre Den. BY CAROLINA DEL BUSTO C amouflaged amid the concrete jungle near the railroad tracks in Little River is an intimate studio space where magic is brewing. On the second floor of an otherwise ordinary building is Tigre Den Recordings, a musical hideout that mixes rhythm and soul. Here the walls are covered in vintage-in- spired posters announcing the names of bands and singers who’ve performed at Tigre Den Recordings. Artificial moss hangs from the ceiling, and plenty of green plants help to tie the room together. Previously lit candles are grouped in the corner. The record label, recently launched by Is- abella Acker, was a natural progression for the music industry veteran. Acker, who founded her creative agency Prism Creative Group in 2015 and later launched Tigre Sounds in 2021, is embarking on a new ad- venture that combines all her passions. Tigre Den (also referred to as Tigre Stu- dio) organically emerged from Acker’s previ- ous pet project, Tigre Sounds. The latter started as a way for her to carefully curate music from global artists and share their mu- sic via a playlist on Spotify and on social me- dia. Acker describes Tigre Sounds as a “musical discovery for citizens of the world.” Tigre Den, on the other hand, is where the real magic happens. Early last year, Acker began to invite friends to her office space to listen to live music. The private jam sessions grew, and she soon found herself producing small-scale events and swapping out the set for each artist. She recorded each live-music moment, it was only a matter of time before she found herself with a collection of unique recordings and an itch to share them. “Truly, I had so many fears around launching a label,” she admits. As she speaks, Acker twirls a piece of string in between her rings. She leans further into her couch’s arm- rest. “I feel like [with Tigre Den] I’m true partners with the artists in a way that they do what they do best, and I can bring my best gifts and talents to be able to co-create some- thing really special.” The warm vocals of Gaiya singing a cover of Natalia Lafourcade’s “Tú Sí Sabes Quererme” expertly fuses local and international musi- cians and invites them to step onto an inti- mate stage and make music together. “I think it’s really cool to do a little bit of musical matchmaking with emerging artists from around the world and team them up with Miami musicians,” she elaborates. “We’re leading with the kind of bridge-build- ing music we’d love to see.” Unlike a traditional label, Tigre Den doesn’t “I’VE FOUND THAT THE SPACE WHERE I FEEL MOST ALIGNED WITH IS CURATING.” represent individual artists or bands. Instead, the listening sessions are recorded and shared by the label as a live studio track. “We’re not looking to exclusively represent anyone,” Acker says. “We’re just looking to create really beautiful recordings and create fusions be- tween artists outside of Miami with Mi- ami’s music scene.” She hopes that when international artists come to tour North America, Tigre Den will be their first stop — a “must-play, must-record kind of space,” as she puts it. “World music is really the space we’re Isabella Acker sits in her Tigre Studios office. Photo by Megan McCluer spill from a nearby speaker. The soft, sensual plucking of the guitar strings swirls like a cloud of smoke, then disappears. Acker closes her eyes for a moment and sways. Over the past decade, Acker has touched almost every facet of the music business — everything from artist management to music marketing to programming to talent buying. “I’ve sat in a lot of different spaces in the mu- sic industry,” she says with a chuckle. “I’ve found that the space where I feel most aligned with is curating.” Acker’s goal with Tigre Den is to build a space where artists feel safe to experiment with sounds and interact with other musi- cians in unique ways. Tigre Den Recordings trying to be in,” Acker says. “There’s such a cultural richness in what’s happening around the world, and if we can fuse that with Miami sound, it’s a huge opportunity to put Miami on a much larger microphone and a bigger platform.” As of this writing, the label has released live singles from Yoli Mayor (“Malamente,” a Rosalía cover), Gaiya (Lafourcade’s cover), and Tonina (“Qué Lío,” a Héctor Lavoe and Willie Colón cover, and an original song ti- tled “Ruben”). New recordings are released periodically via Tigre Den’s Spotify channel. Acker and her team are working to build out a proper studio for recording sessions. “Taking the step from just releasing content to releasing recordings has been a big change in our abil- ity to really help solidify [Tigre] being a plat- form that can live beyond Miami,” she says, then adds, “We’re just getting started.” [email protected] 16 16 MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2008 APRIL 28 - MAY 4, 2022 NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | MIAMI NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | ART | STAGE | NIGHT+DAY | METRO | RIPTIDE | LETTERS | CONTENTS |miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com miaminewtimes.com
