Concept and wonderful words by our favourite four-to-the-floor expert, The Insider. 

Razor-N-Tape have been at the fore front of the disco edit wave, turning out terrific retweaks for discerning dancefloors, for well over a decade.  The label has steadily evolved, and now also works with a large roster of live musicians and bands, building an enviable catalogue of original compositions. In 2022 RNT launched their flagship Brooklyn record store – a physical point of sale, that serves as a hive of activity, with weekly in stores, merch, heaps of killer black plastic, and art. 

The label’s visual aesthetic has always been important at the house of RNT, and over the years they’ve developed a close working relationship with the hugely talented MYNO. An exciting figure in the graphic art and illustration world, MYNO’s distinctive designs specialise in celebrating marginalised individuals and communities. His creative journey has taken him from the vibrant queer scene in Costa Rica’s capital, San José, to the centre of LGBTQ+ arts and culture in both New York and London. Myno’s dynamic and characterful illustrations have become an integral part of Brooklyn’s landscape, with his flyers for the ‘Good Judy’ block parties gracing the borough’s towering billboards. In London, Phonica Records stock physical copies of his work, and during 2023,  iconic live space ‘The Glory’ hosted his solo show Oblique Ascension. 

Here, MYNO talks me through a little of the inspiration behind some his art and commissions. 

Good Judy block party flyer, Brooklyn, NYC.

JKriv / Férias ’77 Reworks (2018)

For this special Record Store Day release, I used fruit – the main export of Latin America – as a visual metaphor to connect JKriv’s tracks, representing their variety, quality, freshness, and flavour. I wanted to remind the audience of the physical action of peeling stickers from fruit before eating it and, through that, make the flat two-dimensional image feel interactive and tactile. I also liked the idea of making something as disposable and ephemeral as fruit stickers fixed and permanent.

Family Affair Vol 1 (2021)

The task was to find a visual language through which to celebrate the diverse line up of artists included on the record. To communicate the interesting mix of styles and energies in the music, I used the visual metaphor of cocktails, drawing specifically on the refinement and sophistication of American advertising imagery from the 1940s and 1950s to represent how important Razor-N-Tape and its artists are to club culture worldwide.

Rabo & Snob / Yom Yom E.P. (2021)

With Yom Yom, I was able to make some wilder artistic choices. This creative opening of doors resulted in the image of doors opening between different dimensions, into new universes, evoking a spirit of discovery, freedom, and fun central to any good party. The doors were also a useful visual metaphor with which to invite the viewer/listener to explore Rabo & Snob’s music and enter their sonic universe.”

Golden Dawn Arkestra / Children of the Sun E.P. (2019)

This cover celebrates the title of the E.P. by re-imagining the metaphor of reaching for the sun as a physical action – with solar energy in the form of flames passing through extended fingers. At the same time, it celebrates Golden Dawn Arkestra’s name by evoking hand gestures conducting group of musicians. I enjoyed using visual irony to represent blazing sunlight through soft pastel blue and gold, gently fading between them from left to right.”

BainaSystem / Água Remixes (2021)

As a starting point for this image, I took the ‘Água’ in the title and filtered it through a characteristically Costa Rican interaction with nature by evoking a sense of simple, every day beauty through the act of a woman washing her hair in a waterfall. The theme of fluidity is carried through the design, within the gentle curves of the lines and the variations in thickness between them, as well as the textured fades between colors that simulate droplets of spray, all contrasting playfully with the single straight line used within the image itself to depict falling water.

Flamingo Pier / Beneath The Neon (2023)

For this Flamingo Pier record we knew we wanted something eye-catching, with standout motifs, and a pink colour scheme – as in flamingo. The band had a neon sign that they’d used and I just took off and ran with it.

From 2022, this is tribute to the legendary Amanda Lepore, and inspired by drag queens around the world. I mixed in a little bit of the beauty / glamour of the early 1940s.

This is part of the collection, Hell Vampires Bike Club, which, in 2021, translated into a series of t-shirts and art prints. One of shirts got featured in Costa Rican band, Voodoo’s music video, Like A Fool. 

For his iconic party BDA, Toribio asked for a poster that encapsulated the New York City vibe.

This is poster illustration for a Tonight’s Special NYC party, inspired by 1990s rave visuals, and how they borrowed from classic comic-strip cartoons.

During the pandemic I completed a series of portraits, using artistic filters, which included a number of self- portraits. This one was inspired by Japanese Bara illustrations, and filtered through a heavy comic style.