Planta Industrial: A Locrio of Influences
Between the Bronx and Santo Domingo, the duo builds a shared language where sound, style, and culture get shaken together.
spring 2026
INTERVIEW Dulcina Abreu
PHOTOGRAPHY Andrés Altamirano
Dulcina Abreu: Tell us about this project that brings together Dominican, Peruvian, and Ecuadorian creative lineages in New York, especially in the Bronx? What did it feel like to inhabit garments rooted in another geography but aligned in spirit?
Saso: Um, should we answer this in English or Spanish?
DA: We can do it in Spanglish… however.
Saso: Okay, okay. Nos gustó la ropa de Quispe. O sea, la ropa que eligieron para nosotros, que nos pusieron. Ese outfit, mezclado con la esencia de nosotros, fue una fusión buenísima. Se sintió natural porque tú sabes que aquí en Nueva York no solo somos Dominicanos, sino que somos Peruanos, Ecuatorianos, Boricuas, Salvadoreños. Se sintió natural, you know.
AKA: The cool thing about it, about New York, at least, es que aunque tu originalmente vengas de Chile, Argentina, Peru, queseyo’, anywhere, you can always feel a bit comfortable porque hay de to’ aqui. Estamos to’ junto’ como hoy aquí bebiendo jugo de chinola que para otros es maracuyá. And it felt like we could do that across the street. No hay que irse lejos para sentirse en casa.
DA: Connecting these feelings of closeness and familiarity, let's talk about this photoshoot with Andres and the location in which it took place: Saso’s favorite barbershop; a very private and public space for male grooming. Can you tell me the story behind the barbershop?
Saso: So that barbershop is on the corner of the block that I grew up in. I've been living on that block for more than 20 years. Y ese era uno of these little barbershop que no estaba ahí el tiempo entero, you know, it came later on. Shout out to Morado barbershop! And shout out to Rony—with a Y—who is my barber, and is also an artist. I was going to that barbershop without telling him I made music, you know, I just want to go in and get my cut. And then after a while, he started sharing with me: “Oh, you hago musica.” So then I kind of confided in him what I got going on, and he was like, holy shit, And then ever since then...
AKA: Ah! Por eso nos trataron a nosotros como…
DA: It was very VIP , baby.
Saso: Yeah, no, they understand. They play our music there, like on the TV. It’s a cool barbershop—tu sabe la gente de ahi apoyan a uno, and yeah, it was super simple. I just had to give them a call, and be like: “Hey, I’ve got these guys from a magazine who want to shoot. We need a barbershop. Is it okay? Cause we have to get a cut anyway.” It felt natural. It felt like being back home, because that’s where we were. Andrés very much adapted his style to our neighborhood. He shifted with the possibilities.
DA: So, Andrew, how was that for you, to be sharing this experience grooming with Saso, while Andrés was documenting it?
AKA: Um, honestly, I'm used to it. Tú sabes si estamos en Santo Domingo; yo voy para el barber de Saso cuando yo estoy aquí o allá. Yo tengo mi propio barber, but yo no soy tan fiel a los barbers; yo voy adonde sea.
Saso: It is what it is.
AKA: I have my barber now that I go to, but... Everyone knows that I'll come back, maybe a month, 2 months later, like...
DA: Is it in the Bronx, too, or in the DR?
AKA.: Yeah, he is in the Bronx.
AKA: Yeah… es como que. It's like the pyramids, like, everyone's connected. We're all making the same thing. We're building the same thing because I just feel like the human species is all intertwined through a web or something. Because, you know, te va a decir que somos dominicanos y que creamos las chachabanas. So it felt cool because you're wearing kind of the same thing as others. It's just beautiful.
DA: When did Planta start? How do you define Planta's sound, since each of you had your own musical project before? When did this particular click manifested the fantastic New Wave Bronx duo?
Saso: I have been making music for a while, close to nine years. I have been on a journey sonically, more on the Latin side. En el sentido de enfocarme en sonidos afrodescendientes, que tienen que ver con palos, Brazilian funk. Y durante todo ese tiempo, AKA has been part of that process. He was there when I shot my second music video. If I am in the studio, he will pull me and suggest I integrate elements to make the songs hit. Afterwards, he started making his own music. He got some buzz in LES, Brooklyn, and DR. He started experimenting with country music and punk. Once he started to be more in the forefront, it was just a matter of time before we started collaborating. We are in the business of filling in those gaps, whether it's sonically or any other artistic pursuit. It was just like a logical move. And it was a move that was sustainable because AKA and I have already been working together for so many years.
AKA: It also felt great because a lot of people don't know this, but I feel more comfortable being just like a creative director and not really the face of things. It took me so long to even do music. I get to work with Saso the same way we did, you know, but I got to do a bit more work because I got to write and perform. Saso me enseño mucho, you know, like being around Saso showed me how to perform and hone my craft. So, like, it's fun. I prefer to work with him.
DA: I love how this beautiful synergy between the two of you translates into this powerful project. I was very curious to hear about your experience performing live because both of you are very chill in daily life. Pura calma y ternura, pero en escena tiran chispas. Should we talk about your rituals on crafting moments that drive people to jump, scream, and have the best mosh pit of their lives? Can we describe Planta on stage?
AKA: I think Planta on stage is like a video game. Vive tu vida, normal, you know, corbata, suit, briefcase, and then you can finally, like, just let loose and enjoy the atmosphere for the time being. And then after that, you go back to your regular life, you know? That's how I see it.
DA: How can you describe a Planta concert? I know that we're gonna have a mosh pit for sure. But which one for you both has been the most experiential or energetically charged concert of Planta?
Saso: Oh, there's been so many, because even in our first show, we had one song out. And even on our first show it got so crazy that neighbors from the buildings around the backyard were throwing rice at us. I think I saw shoes flying.
DA: I've definitely seen people and shoes flying at Plantas shows.
Saso: Rice being thrown at us from the roof and then from outside the windows, and the cops come and shut it down. That was definitely a monumental moment. Planta is a very inclusive endeavor, you know, a.k.a. and I are the face, but there's really a whole team. People from producers to fashionand everything else are their own superheroes. So we kind of want you to feel like you're part of us. We invite people to come to the stage and rage with us. I think that's a beautiful thing that we do.
AKA: Planta Industrial is.. like a Mori Soniando.
DA: But when you're shaking it!
AKA: We have the naranja, which has this acidity that cuts through you, and then we have la leche que ta’ medio pesao, y depue’ el hielo, because we're so fucking cool, but then you got to stir the shit up. It won't work unless you stir it up. You gotta shake things up, and then you enjoy it. That's it.
DA: So what's coming up for Planta?
Saso: We have a busy schedule for NYFW, because we have also been nominated to be Artists to Watch 2026 for Premios Lo Nuestro, which is amazing. It's going to be our first red carpet as Planta. We're going to the Rio World Fashion Show. We're gonna be performing as well. And we're going back to LeBlanc Studios, shout out to LeBlanc.
AKA: Miami, Premios Lo Nuestro. We come back to New York after; we'll be in Brooklyn at Xanadu for El Venticiete de Febrero, tú sabe’, Día de la Independencia de Nosotros. We will be releasing a song that day too. Una bachatica punk for the people. And then we'll be performing in Mexico City for Vive Latino.
DA: Wow. That is huge.
AKA: But if you have any advice for us, just kind of let us know.
DA: Just make the biggest mosh pit that you can and jump into the crowd. That's the best crowd to lift you and celebrate you. I live to see our two Dominicans from the Bronx making a record with the biggest mosh pit through bachata punk.
AKA: During the photoshoot, Andrés told me the local name for a mosh pit in Ecuador. He said it's called a “Pogo”. So I used that for one of our next singles. He'll hear it. He'll hear his words.
STORY CREDITS
FEATURING Planta Industrial, Saso, AKA The Darknight, STYLIST Ricardo Quispe & Claudia Egoavil, FASHION Quispe
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