DJ Pepe Loco brings a new sound, and an extra twist, to the Asbury Park boardwalk

There's a new sound on the Asbury Park boardwalk when DJ Pepe Loco is behind the decks.

Rhythms boom and feet move.

“It's definitely a little faster than normal EDM music,” said Loco, aka Paige Pirolo of Manasquan. “I usually call it Euro dance.”

You'll known the songs — from Madonna to dance pop hits. But Loco frames them in new, faster beats.

“I like to have stuff that everybody knows so it's more approachable because it's a faster pace than what most people play around here,” Loco said.

Loco throws in an extra twist — Brazilian baile funk, which has more in common with hip-hop and techno than American funk. The sound, which is a not-so distant cousin to the underground Jersey club music scene, was born in the hills of Rio de Janeiro four decades ago. It's fast, fun and growing in popularity.

“I feel during the summer the Latin stuff is fun and it gets everybody really moving,” Loco said. “It's one of those things that's hard not to move to, and I've found that people seem to love it.”

Check out it out Friday, July 26, as La Vida Loco with Pepe Loco hits Low Dive on the Asbury Park boardwalk.

Loco has also deejayed at the Stone Pony and the Wonder Bar, and her crowds are growing.

“The reason I got into deejaying in the first place is I took a solo trip to Europe and I ended up spending most of my time in Lisbon, Portugal,” Loco said. “They have a lot of music that has a very specific sound, and it's all sung and spoke in Portuguese, so most of the stuff that I play that's in a different language is Portuguese.”

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Portuguese is the main language in Brazil.

“The Brazilians really know how to make some good dance music,” Loco said.

People on the Asbury Park boardwalk know how to have a good time.

“It's a lot of fun. It's a lot of characters,” Loco said. “It's people who come in and they're so ready to party, so it works out in my favor. I love the crowd there. Nobody gets shy when it comes to dancing and I always see new people there.”

Go: La Vida Loco with Deejay Pepe Loco, 9 p.m. Friday, July 26, Low Dive, 1000 Ocean Ave., Asbury Park, free; lowdiveap.com.

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Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Asbury Park: DJ Pepe Loco brings new sound to boardwalk, EDM