From punk drummer to Latin Grammy nominee: The evolution of Ela Minus

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Every night before going to bed, Ela Minus shuts off her phone.Oftentimes, the Colombian artist-producer won’t even turn it back on until the following afternoon.

One day, in mid-September, when Minus logged on, she received an unexpected flurry of messages from both close friends and people she hadn’t spoken to in years.Each notification was congratulatory, but Minus had no idea what had transpired the night before.It turns out the Latin Grammy nominations had been announced — and her song “QQQQ,” off her 2025 sophomore album, “Día,” was nominated for Latin electronic music performance.“I was very confused.

Nobody said what was going on in their messages.They were just telling me congratulations,” says Minus, who laughs about the moment over our Zoom call.

She dialed in from Mexico City, a few hours before catching a flight to Italy to kick off a new leg of her “Día” tour.“As soon as I figured out that I was nominated, I turned my phone off again.I needed a second to myself.

To be completely honest, it was not even a little bit in my radar.I didn’t even know we submitted anything.”Since its release last January, “Día” has left lasting impressions on critics and fans alike.

In 10 synth-powered tracks, Minus channels her fluctuating emotional state as she navigated a period of reckoning — characterized by a life almost entirely lived in airplanes, hotel rooms and foreign studios — through ominous synthesizer chords and blasts of vigorous dance beats.Much like her music, her path to Latin Grammy-worthy acclaim has been anything but linear.“It’s not like I started singing on television, and now I’m at the Latin Grammys.

It’s been an interesting path of continuous surprises and unexpected turns,” says Minus.“Not to praise myself, but every time I’ve taken an unexpected turn or been presented with it, something amazing comes o...