Huge new ‘Uruguay’ track from Switzerland’s finest
Interview : Dan Prince
The mercury’s rising for Nora En Pure after what has been a prolific summer of releases so far. Still riding the wave of success after the ‘True’ EP, this latest installment sees collaboration with Sons of Maria for ‘Uruguay’ out via Enormous Tunes. The track warms the soul with tenderly composed orchestral strings & uplifting piano chords in breakdowns, then strips back to the heavy bass at its core, built upon with layers of defined highs, propelling the listener headfirst into its darker, more techy groove.
Joined by fellow Enormous Tunes artists and deep house proponents Sons of Maria, it’s similar territory to Nora En Pure’s remix of Daniel Portman’s ‘Khaweri’ [Milk & Sugar]. It became the preferential mix on the single and a DJs favourite, putting her on the map. Fast forward to 2014 and Daniela Niederer’s productions are frequent features in the charts, with the hypnotic ‘You Make Me Float’ [Enormous Tunes] finding home in the Beatport top 50 chart and on the revered Buddha Bar compilation, as well as notching up over 500,000 views on youtube. Remixes such as for Sir Felix’s ‘Hope’ [Indiana Tones] see her often topping the Beatport Indie-Dance charts, currently at #11, whilst the deeper ‘Come With Me’ [Enormous Tunes] remained in the Top 100 for over 7 months and has been re-released on various compilations. Central to the Indie-Dance scene as well as Deep House, Nora En Pure has cultivated a strong following combining intricate, clean production with sun-drenched soundscapes filled with her passion for Africa. With a busy summer ahead playing venues from Berlin to Brazil her mission to spread good vibes and positivity across the globe through her music is underway…
Daniela welcome to DMCWORLD, where on Planet Earth are you today?
“Hi Dan, thank you very much, it’s a great pleasure. I’m currently at my home base in Switzerland, resting a bit before I head to Romania soon again.”
You have The Buzz Chart crew jumping around at the moment thanks to your gorgeous ‘Uruguay’ collab with Sons of Maria. Please talk us through the sound and history of the track…
“Haha, happy to hear that! We were playing around in studio with ideas and loops, until someone came up with that touchy orchestral chord progression. We knew that we want to have a drop that is completely divided from the melancholic breakdown to make it stand out and create a surprising effect. Most important was to create the emotional part in the breakdowns and shake the crowd off when it drops, something that makes people remember the track on their way home after a long clubbing night.”
When I told Buzz Chart top dog Guy Garret I was interviewing you today he shouted across the office…”love that tune, love the lush mellow trance and strings – it reminds me of classic Jam & Spoon!”…thoughts on that little comment?
“Feeling flattered! Interesting thought, I m not sure however which track came to his mind to make this connection from Uruguay to Jam&Spoon.”
A monstrous weekend you had last week…three days…three countries. What was your highlight of your Belgium, Romania and Germany trip?
“The past few weekends have all been quite busy with flying around through Europe from country to country. It’s stressful but very cool, Im gathering a lot of great moments in a very short time. From this weekend my top experience was probably Belgium. I have only played once before in this country and so many people from the first show rocked up this weekend also. With printed pics showing them with me from the first show, flowers and cheering like hell when I entered the DJ booth, I felt like being home there already! This support obviously feels super great, especially when unexpected!!”
It’s that time of year again, the annual DJ Top100. I interviewed Arthur Baker this week, he remarked…“there are too many DJs and genres for a realistic competition, it now needs to split”. What are your thoughts on that idea?
“The list will probably re-create the Top100 artists that have been commercially most successful with their productions in 2014. It hasn’t been a competition about styles or skills of a DJ anymore for quite some time I guess… If we would split this competition in all sub-genres of electronic dance music, I guess it would loose a lot the power and strength as well as the competition factor itself as a consequence.”
What are the big 5 tunes in your record box right now?
“Still in the summer mood, I love funky and melodic tracks with heavy baselines…one is still…
CALIPPO – I NEED A FRIEND,
My remix for SIR FELIX’s – HOPE (people go crazy!!)
Love the feeling that is created by PAUL RICHMOND’s OUTLAW,
ANIMAL TRAINER – MOON GAMES
And obviously my collab with the SONS OF MARIA – URUGUAY.”
Okay let’s rewind for a moment. Born in South Africa but based in Switzerland…what’s the story there?
“My dad is Swiss and went to South Africa in his early twenties, where he met my mom. My two older brothers and myself were born and raised for a few years in Johannesburg. Later for educational and political reasons we moved to Switzerland. I love and miss South Africa a lot, workwise it makes more sense however to be based in Europe. Whenever I can I go back to visit and refuel energy in that beautiful country.”
It sounds like you grew up in a very musical family, you and brothers played instruments and sang whilst you were listening to anything from classical to rock to pop as a child…?
“Exactly, my parents induced classical music and my brothers where playing Mozart and Bach on the Piano (still love it!!!), then the typical teenie/skater/rock period came when growing up and we listened through all these bands like guns and roses, U2, Linkin Park and so on. I consider it btw as a great advantage to be opened to any kind of genre, or even if you don’t like it just give it a chance and listen through a few different artists.”
When did the idea of becoming a DJ and producer start to formulate in your mind?
“When I started to produce which was 6,7 years back from now I actually didn’t really think of becoming a DJ. I just enjoyed creating music like this. At a later stage I had studies going on and booking requests came more and more in. But I first wanted to finish studies before touring and then once I had the Bachelor degree I decided to give it a go and see where this musical journey takes me.”
Early DJ/producer heroes?
“For me the most inspiring or most fun DJs are those, who are currently reinventing the whole idea of a DJ a bit. For example, the South African duo GOLDFISH. They have amazing live performances with lots of instruments and they create a whole new vibe like that, you simply cannot sit still and get carried away with their unique sounds.”
A quote from Fatboy Slim about the record…“Electronic house. What a refreshing prospect! EDM is dead, long live EH!” How does it feel to have created a new genre with one record???
“Haha! Well I feel at the moment there are many new genres invented, no? Or to put it into other words, I think we are moving a bit away from this clear genre division and people also seem to appreciate us trying new things and pushing boundaries. I see more and more artists mixing up different sounds which leads to a new, fresh, unique creation. Especially for us artists I guess its great if we can experiment a bit and people are open for it. But also in general; peoples taste are always going from one genre to another in a way. Music and it’s trends will always be moving and it’s the art of keeping your style unique and yourself happy with what you do but still satisfy people’s wishes and tastes.”
You are part of the Helvetic Nerdz team…how supportive have they been on your rise to the top?
“Feeling flattered that you call it the top! Getting there is probably less difficult than staying there, so I hope and know I’ll get strongest support now. From beginning they have been very helpful! They give me honest feedback on everything I do, which I appreciate a lot. They help me with their knowledge and know how which is very profound. Then within our label Enormous Tunes we could make a few very cool collabs, it’s like a small but strong family for me.
The Forbes DJ Rich List for 2014 came out today with the likes of Calvin Harris and DavidGuetta earning well over $25 million. The chart has received a lot of stick on the socials these last few hours, people are saying it obscene. DMC views it as simply the world’s biggest market (America) finally tapping into the dance scene and blowing things up. What are your views…?
“Hmmm…this seems like an endless discussion, people judging over other people’s salary and not being happy with what others get or being envious of them. I agree that its just another market getting really big now, and maybe to some generations it’s not believable that electronic music could ever get so far. To me these salary topics are quite frankly useless. Big DJs like Guetta and Harris obviously make many people happy and can attract a lot of people. So I cant really follow why people get angry when they get to know about their big salary. And what many people also don’t see is the huge amount of work that is behind it all. In regard to other artists, there are probably many who work at least as hard and don’t get enough at all… but its also a way of perspective how you handle your rewards. For me it means the world if I can see people enjoying my music and being happy with it. It gives me more than any monetary reward could give me.”
A recent quote from a certain superstar DJ…“I believe true DJing is actually an art, but it’s a dying art, as everyone is pushing the sync button…it’s a real shame when you see a ‘DJ’ plug his laptop in and call this DJing. Music will always evolve but sometimes not in the best way.” What are your thoughts on that?
“I believe the same. There are more and more new and fancy softwares flooding the market, which can transform any person into a DJ. However I believe that one can sense if someone is there mixing with heart and soul or just putting some tracks together with pushing a button. I also don’t worry too much about this transformation – yes it sometimes not so nice to see more and more DJs playing like that, but in the same time I know for myself, it would never satisfy me to simply push a button and handle music with the least effort but would always go to push boundaries and grow. I believe that feeling or energy is received by people who dedicate similar love and passion for music.”
And finally – what is coming out next from you studio wise?
“It’s been quite hectic the past few months with touring and keeping up studio work. For now I m looking forward to some cool remixes for my TRUE track that will come out soon. Then I am working on a few more tracks, which are in my typical style and will probably be a bit more chilled again, but lets see what comes out in the end.”
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