Matthew Mazur, an NYC-based stylist and DJ affectionately and professionally known as Mazurbate, carries a sweetness that feels notably authentic like he would treat you and Beyoncé with the same level of attentiveness. On a scorching June afternoon, concerned that I might burn in the sun, Mazur situated us in a shady spot outside of an Upper East Side café to chat.

Part Peruvian, part Polish, Mazur grew up in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, which, in the late ‘90s and early aughts, was homogeneously blonde and blue-eyed. At home with his Peruvian mom and extended family, he would listen to Donna Summer and other disco darlings, with reggaeton radio hits also on frequent rotation. As we reminisce about family parties in the living room, he affirms that, for many Latinx people, gathering and celebrating life are in-grained interests.

Over a bridge, across town, and then further uptown, stands the famed Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School, a haven for young, creative, and queer New Yorkers. Mazur’s attendance there piqued his interest in fine art, musical and cultural exchange, and curiosities he took to college at Parsons thereafter.

His ever-expanding iTunes library and beloved aux-cord antics at college parties later awarded him a resident DJ spot at Avenue, a now-defunct nightclub in Chelsea, which he was connected to by a friend who was a host there at the time. “I started DJing faking it till I made it. I didn’t know how to set up, how to use the buttons. I would watch people, have my notes app,” recounts Mazur. “I was scrappy like that. People who are marginalized in any way have that sensibility.”

If you were to attend one of his sets, you’d be abundantly stimulated by an energizing collage of genres spanning neo-perreo, hip-hop, bubblegum pop, Brazilian funk, and disco. “I was playing Latin music from the start; it wasn’t really the moment back then. I would have people cut my set short, or tell me that I shouldn’t play so much ‘urban’ music.” In the early 2010s, the Latin music scene was more established uptown and further out in the boroughs. Mazur sought to move those sounds into the more exclusive fashion spaces he began to occupy.

A styling internship with Jeremy Scott and his Moschino team helped jumpstart Mazur’s styling career. Two of his first notable clients were the Hilton sisters, some of his biggest fashion influences growing up in the ‘00s. Mazur now boasts a star-studded styling portfolio, from Ice Spice, to Kim Petras, to dressing Lil Nas X in 50,000 Swarovski crystals for the 2024 Met Gala, alongside Luar designer, Raul Lopez, a long-time friend. Mazur’s parallel styling and DJ careers feed each other, by the inevitable networking that happens in both worlds.

Mazur continues to foster community and inclusive spaces. He’s been collaborating with Papi Juice, a Brooklyn-based art and DJ collective that throws parties to celebrate and support queer and trans people of color, for the past few years. “Collectives are where it’s at. They’re the ones keeping the pulse alive. For so long I was looking for a kind of family within the niches of nightlife, the right people with the right sounds. Every time I play for them it gets better and better.”

When asked about particular pinch-me career moments, Mazur wants to avoid sounding jaded for needing to consult his Instagram feed. “So much has happened! Rihanna’s done my makeup for Halloween!” Mazur humbly shares. After imparting personal life and career advice off-record, Mazur discussed New York City’s influence on his work and why it’s important to him to be here. “I’m happy to have come up when I did. The New York sensibility is so great to have. Girls here are doing things that the rest of the world will in 10 years. The lens is on New York.”

This story appears in the pages of VMAN 53: now available for purchase!

Photography Anna Henderson

Fashion Liv Vitale

Makeup Kevin Cheah (Kramer + Kramer)

Hair Andrew Chen (Kramer + Kramer)

Digital technician Takashi Soehl

Photo assistants Jarod Polakoff, Lamar Kendrick-Dial

Location 16 Beaver Studio