The Queen Of Thailand hits London town
Interview : Nicky Trax
Hi Nakadia and welcome to DMCWORLD. A big night for you in London this weekend, what can the Familia party people expect from your set at the Egg London party ?
“I don’t know yet what I will play because it depends on the people, the situation and the feeling…but I will try to do my best to rock. People always say I have so much energy, so if you put energy and cool music together you get Nakadia.”
You’ve had some great production success including Technasia’s Remix of your ‘Check & Run’ track on Clarisse Records, can you tell us what’s new for you in terms of productions, remixes, projects etc.?
“I had a long break from the studio over the summer until now. I just started working on some new EPs this week and for next year I can promise a lot more releases, starting in January with EPs on Kaiserdisco’s KD Music and Circle Music and I am quite sure I will be back with another EP on Clarisse as well next year. Then I have an amazing project coming up – a cooperation with M.A.N.D.Y. – lots of great new music coming up in 2014!”
How does playing in London, especially @ Egg London compare to other cities or countries, and do you count London as one of your favourite spots?
“There are only a few hotspots in the world that really make a difference for DJs in our scene. I think London, Berlin and Ibiza are most exciting for any DJ and since I never experienced London yet it will be really special for me. I heard so much about Egg London and many of my DJ friends already tell me that I will love it there, especially playing for the Familia party with Mendo.”
How does it feel to have been working in House/Techno for the last 11 years, the much respected Eddie Gordon spotted your rise to stardom in 2005, what are you proudest moments/memories since that time?
“There have been so many special moments and events that made me feel proud and happy to have this chance in my life. Playing in front of over one million people at the Berlin Loveparade, or all the great feedback I get after my gigs that makes me so happy…everything is special. But something very special is always when my country asks me to come home and inspire the young generation of Thailand to do something with their lives. When my country sees me as an inspiration for a whole generation – that is more than any gig can ever give me. Mid-December I will be back in Bangkok again to join in a huge project like this and I am very excited about it!”
How do you manage to keep it fresh, new and vital? Is it a case of pressure as DJ/Producer to always be one step ahead in the house/techno scene?
“I just be myself, enjoy my music and don’t think about things like being different or ahead. I only play music that makes me feel good…it can be deep, happy, groovy or hard sometimes – Music is about emotions and not politics. DJs that try to be different are mostly very boring. Of course I’m developing as an artist and my music changes all the time. But it’s not a plan – it just happens when I follow my feelings.”
Recording & Producing must keep you busy. Do you have your own label and is there anyone or track that you’re particularly proud of?
“I started my label K-Dia in 2005 and then 2006 Khonburi Underground, but I soon found out that label work is nothing for me. I am not an office person. I just want to enjoy music and let other people take care of the paperwork and daily business. I am really excited bout the cooperation with some of my artist friends in Berlin, like with M.A.N.D.Y. or the band Abby for example. Abby had many sold out shows in London the past years and they are the coolest band I have met so far. This cooperation is very exciting for me.”
You are Thailand and Asia’s number one female DJ you’re an inspiration to many, how does that feel?
“On the one hand it makes me happy and proud, but on the other hand I see that now in Thailand we have the same thing happen like what happened in the UK many years ago: Every person wants to be a DJ now, and in Thailand specially the girls! I don’t mind if you love music and that is the reason to become a DJ. But all other reasons are not acceptable for me. I don’t want to inspire people to be come DJs – I want to inspire them to find out what they love, who they are and what they want to be in them life. Being a DJ is all about the love for music and not about getting famous, rich or just easy sex!”
What was your first break and first big record and did it set you on your path?
“My career was a bit different from other DJs. There is not one gig or release that changed my life, and fortunately my career took off from the very beginning. In 2004 in my first year of DJing I toured 50 gigs across 9 countries which was amazing. I started DJing on Koh Samui in Thailand, and many people in this business like to go on holiday to Samui. Every night that I played on the island somebody came to my DJ booth and wanted to book me for some club in Asia or Europe. That is how I got around the globe so quickly. Most of these clubs where not the best and in that time I accepted all requests I got. It was Timo Maas in 2007 that really changed my career. First of all he used to give me many vinyl promos that he had received from different labels. That changed my music style. And then he told me the most important thing that made me the DJ that I am today: “Don’t accept bookings based on your look or you being a girl. Don’t promote yourself in a sexy way. Let the clubs book you for your music. It will take a while and it will be a hard time with little bookings but in the end you will get respect and bookings for your music, not for your looks” and it’s his advice that really made me the artist I am today.”
You grew up in Thailand and then moved to Berlin, how much of an Asian influence would you say there is to your sounds and inspirations?
“I think the Asian influence is – that there is no influence whatsoever! When you grow up in Europe you get so much influence from all sides. You have your favourite clubs, DJs, producers and labels – even on TV you can hear good music sometimes. When I started DJing I didn’t really have any influences at all. There was no club music where I come from and I did not know anything. All I knew was – I loved the music that I heard that one night I went to a club in Europe in 2002. I tried to find this music in the record shops and spent hours listening to music before buying my first tracks. I bought totally the wrong music and it took me a year until I started to feel happy with the music I found. It took me 4 more years until I found the music that I really loved. And still today I don’t choose music by label or producer but by my ear only. It takes most of my time to find the right music but its worth it.”
So what does the future hold for you?
“Let’s see, I am really excited about 2014. So many things are happening at the moment. I can’t talk about all the details right now, but if everything that is on the table happens, next year will be most amazing. Lost of releases with great artists, and already and now I have bookings for some of the greatest clubs and festivals. Life is good and I just live it day by day.”
You have quite a few mixes available to listen to on your Soundcloud, we love them but can you tell us what especially what mix or tracks we should be listening to before we head out the door to the Familia party on Saturday December 7th at Egg London?
“I just noticed that Mischwerk.fm Radio from Berlin uploaded my radio set from November 6 to Soundcloud, so I added it to my Soundcloud page. I played this set live at the Berlin radio studio and we had so much fun. You can even find the youtube stream of this set online. It’s a full 2 hour set and if you enjoy this music you should come party with us at Egg London on December 7th. If you can’t be there and you want to know what Nakadia is about, you can visit also my youtube channel with clips from around the world…
https://soundcloud.com/nakadia
Nakadia joins Mendo, Guillaume & The Coutu Dumonts, Marlantonio, Mark Reeve, H2, Fabio Ferro, Nick Tcherniak and many more at the Familia Clarisse Nights party on Saturday December 7th at Egg London. All info…
