Alf Alpha's new album "Mexicana" is more than 10 years in the making, and it takes listeners on a musical journey of hip-hop instrumentals, downtempo jams, Latin jazz, modern funk grooves and more.

Despite the use of multiple genres in music recorded over a decade, "Mexicana" is an enjoyable collection. Many songs could appear on film soundtracks or be sampled for modern R&B albums.

The 35-year old Palm Desert resident, whose real name is Rafael Lopez, also expanded his creativity into restoring and transforming vintage Volkswagen buses into mobile DJ booths. His 1979 bus is named "Super Sonido," a 1971 bus is named "Alf Alpha," and another 1971 bus he's named "Pleyboy" (a slogan used in his music, clothing and promotional items).

Lopez is one of the Coachella Valley's prominent DJs. He's played at Coachella every year since 2010, appeared at Splash House from 2013 to 2017, and has a client list with names like Red Bull, Adidas, Saks Fifth Avenue and Absolut Vodka. He's also begun residencies on Friday nights at Kitchen 86 on El Paseo in Palm Desert and a Saturday pool party at V Palm Springs.

After attending the first Coachella at the Empire Polo Fields in Indio in 1999, Lopez wanted to learn how to mix and scratch records, and produce his own music. He was trying to think of a DJ name and friends would call him "Rafa" or "Rafy." After he suggested going by Alpha Ralfa, friends gave him the moniker Alf Alpha during his junior year at Palm Desert High School before he played a party in Cathedral City.

"They put the name Alf Alpha on a flyer," Lopez said. "I didn't have a DJ name at the time and was in my room learning how to DJ."

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He's a first-generation American born to Rafael Sr., and Maria Guadalupe Reveles, who were born in Mexico. His parents moved to California in search of a better life, and met at a facility where they both learned to speak English and became American citizens.

“Obviously I’m American first — but my blood is Mexican 100%,” Alf Alpha told The Desert Sun in 2017. “I feel like some people I know who are fourth or fifth generation or whatever, you lose touch with your roots, but I have this identity that I cherish as a first-generation Mexican. You should have pride in where you come from and I do.”

Lopez spoke to The Desert Sun about "Mexicana" and his older material, as well as the rise of Latin music. The following interview was edited for length and clarity.

THE DESERT SUN: What took so long for "Mexicana" to be released?

ALF ALPHA: When I first started getting into music there was Soundcloud. A lot of those were on a Soundcloud as one-offs. Spotify took over and became the platform that emerged, and I never had my music on Spotify. I thought, "I’m going to compile my favorite instrumentals," and I decided to package them up and officially release them through my label Super Sonido. That’s the first of many releases of my older productions, as well as my newer ones. I feel like I have to get the old ones off my chest because I have a lot of cool songs. It’s a matter of me compiling the songs that tell a story.

In addition to "Mexicana," what other unreleased material do you have?

I licensed 18 tracks to a label in Japan in 2009 when Myspace was a thing. It was through that album called "“Jump Wildly About” that I gained international notoriety and ended up working with Coachella the following year. I never went to Japan, but this label liked my music after they heard it on my Myspace and then they reached out to me and said, "Hey, we’re a record label in Japan and we want to license some of your music." I was really young in the music industry, and I didn’t know anything. I sent them about 40 tracks and they liked 18 of them. They made the album and the cover, and it was sold at Tower Records in Japan.

I was getting featured in magazines in Japan. My favorite magazine in the world is Wax Poetics, it’s a scholarly journal featuring music producers like Quincy Jones and new hip-hop producers. After I released the album, they interviewed me for their Japan issue and that was a dream for me as a young artist to get interviewed for this scholarly music publication and gave me the inspiration to keep my music going for sure.

Latin music has become popular in the Coachella Valley, from local band Ocho Ojos to a lot of Latin music DJs. How do you feel about this?

I think it’s good. Latin music is literally all over the world. That’s what’s really cool and how it spread to the Coachella Valley, which is a music mecca and you saw that in a lot of the festival lineups with J. Balvin and Bad Bunny, and the biggest hip-hop stars are Latin. It makes sense. Good music is going to reach all demographics.

You had a popular monthly party in Palm Springs called "World Famous" that started at the Ace Hotel & Swim Club in 2011, then moved to the Hard Rock Hotel in 2013 and lastly the Hacienda Cantina and Beach Club in 2014. Do you plan to revive it?

World Famous was rad for its time and it really helped me to get a name for myself, and especially being a young producer releasing music. It was my first residency, and it took off and got me exposure.

I maybe see World Famous coming back in some form or another, doing a pop-up or something like that. The problem would be finding the right venue. There are a couple of venues that come to mind, but I’m working on other projects at the moment. I’m busy every week.

You've modified three Volkswagen buses and have begun DJing out of them. How have they worked for you?

I love it, because I cut my set time out of the equation and as a musician, the worst part is carrying your equipment, going to the gig and setting up. I pull up, I DJ and I don’t have to worry about moving anything. I’m focused on the music and putting out a good vibe for people.

You've played at Coachella many times. What do you enjoy about it?

I’m the resident DJ for the festival. I host a party inside the campgrounds on Thursday night at midnight and welcome guests in the campgrounds. It could be 30,000 to 40,000 people camping out there. We’re in the center of the camp and it’s fun to host those parties. I’m going on my tenth year doing that and during the day I DJ. I do a morning set from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the activities tent inside general camping.

As a kid growing up, I wanted to play Coachella for sure and I thought I was going to play one or maybe two, but I’ve played on almost every stage at Coachella at this point. My new goal is to play all the stages at Coachella and I only need three more stages. I also want to work on better set times and bring more of my show. That comes by making more music and making people aware that I’m also a producer.

It’s interesting that the Coachella Valley has become big with DJ culture. When you first started doing this, did you expect to have all these local opportunities?

No. Growing up out here, there was no DJ culture at all. There were a couple of DJs I looked up to and it wasn’t until Coachella that it was the right place at the right time. I was very fortunate to attend Coachella in 1999 and I saw all these dope DJs I never would have been able to see and wouldn’t have a reason to come to the Coachella Valley to perform. For me, that really inspired me and lit the fire in me to perform on that stage.

There was obviously the desert rock scene but hip-hop is still a new thing. Rock 'n' roll is a lot older but hip-hop took off in the ‘80s in New York. There were only a couple of DJs doing it out here. There was nothing. With Coachella, that was the explosion of DJs.

What’s in the near future for you?

I’m traveling to Mexico after Coachella. My travels have slowed down recently because I’ve been getting my fleet of Volkswagen buses ready.

I’m in the studio a lot and I’m working on releasing a lot of the older music that I’ve been putting out. By the time Coachella comes out, I want to have a couple releases out. I’m going to re-release "Jump Wildly About" and then release another one.

Desert Sun reporter Brian Blueskye covers arts and entertainment. He can be reached at brian.blueskye@desertsun.com or (760) 778-4617. Support local news, subscribe to The Desert Sun.