Berlin-based producer, composer, mixing engineer, and DJ, NHOAH has been making the most out of the current state of global affairs, latching on to the gear in his studio and promoting remixes for his last single in the shape of the ‘Our House REMIXe VOL.1′. package, which features new versions by Mark Broom and NHOAH himself. More recently, the German artist also shared an eye-catching video for the unique ‘Dark Tunnel Mix’.
Today, we catch up with NHOAH to talk about ‘Our House REMIXe VOL.1’, the inspiration behind the video for the ‘Dark Tunnel Mix’, and the current state of the music industry.
Electronic Groove: Hi there NHOAH, how have you been? We’re excited to have you with us. Where are you based right now? What was the lockdown like over there?
NHOAH: Hey Electronic Groove, thanks, good so far. I’m in Vienna at the moment. I just came back from Berlin, my real hometown. Unfortunately, I had the sad task to bury my father and his girlfriend, both died of Corona. It‘s very, very sad but the lockdown is of relevancy. As tragic as it is for the club scene and us artists right now, Corona can be a serious threat to people’s lives. Tough entry to our interview, I know.
But by the way, next to my studio in Vienna there is a club – Das Werk – which installed a filtering system that’s able to make rooms virus-free, using light. The whole thing is currently being approved by the government. At the entrance, people will get tested and after that can have a relaxed evening. The club will actually open up again soon. Hardly anyone knows about these filtering systems but they do exist. I also ordered a suitable, small device for my own studio.
Electronic Groove: How did you make the most of it? Did you learn or pick up any new skills?
NHOAH: Without live shows, I focused on producing music and simultaneously refining our label’s – R.O.T respect or tolerate – online presence. That made a lot of sense. Our reach has massively expanded and I had more time to work on certain productions longer and more intensively. At the beginning of lockdown, I was pretty blocked up. Zero creative flow. Experiencing the full shock of the situation. But after 2-3 months in which I acted more like a busy, German robot (laughter), my creativity returned.
Electronic Groove: Let’s talk a bit about your background…What were your first contacts with electronic music like?
NHOAH: I’m actually a drummer. From my position at the back, I started to develop the arrangements while playing. At some point, I got annoyed at my fellow musicians for constantly forgetting everything by the next rehearsal. That’s when I bought my very first computer, a Commodore 64, and started working with the predecessor of Logic (Emagic). It was all just numbers. There were no notes on the display yet and I had to type every sixteenth note in a long progression of numbers and letters. Which is very tedious (laughter) … But finally, the music turned out the way I had imagined it. From then on, I knew electronic music was going to be my field.
Electronic Groove: You put out an EP with remixes for your track ‘Our House’ back in December. What was the inspiration for the track? Were you involved with picking the remixers? What drew you to their sound?
NHOAH: ‘Our House’ was an answer to lockdown, but also to the already struggling club scene. Just imagine the many difficulties you encounter when organizing festivals, indoor and outdoor, the unbelievable amount of bans and rules you have to follow. Despite the fact that places where music is played, mainly house and techno music, are very peaceful places. Places of encounter where all people are equal.
Those are the themes of the original track ‘Our House’. A track made with a house groove that slowly but surely turns into a techno banger featuring the fantastic singer Ina Viola who unites us all and cheers us on at the same time. It is a huge track. Actually, it would be a nice song for the new Loveparade (laughter) … I’ll have to talk to Dr. Motte about it!
Two of the remixes are VIP remixes I did. The third, very cool, a remix by Mark Broom. His sound oscillates between techno and house which are the main characteristics of the original mix of ‘Our House’. I have a lot of love for house music at the moment. But I’m also always drawn to the hardness and directness of techno. It all comes together with Mark Broom in a very special way. My promotion company ‘Your Army’, with whom I have been working in the DJ field for quite some time, initiated contact, jump-starting our incredible collaboration. The resulting track is fucking amazing.
“It wasn’t about my personal life as an artist but the fact that I missed being with other people on the dancefloor“
Electronic Groove: And now there’s a very interesting video for the Dark Tunnel remix for ‘Our House’. How did that come about? What’s the concept behind it?
NHOAH: One day in Berlin when I wanted to go out and stepped out my door, I realized with an unpleasant blow that all the clubs in Berlin were closed. It was lockdown. That situation put an incredible strain on me. It wasn’t about my personal life as an artist but the fact that I missed being with other people on the dancefloor. That’s when an idea for a project occurred to me: I had a friend drive up to all the closed club doors on his Segway and with a camera mounted on his head. Obviously, not everyone in the world would immediately recognize that these closed doors belong to the legendary clubs of Berlin so we needed more elements to provide an explanation. I thought about computer games. Govinda Christ, a painter with his atelier next to my studio sketched a character of me and Michael Le Goff, a fantastic 3-D animation artist, made my avatar desperately running and flying through Berlin. The video is a top-tier music cartoon against the backdrop of the closed clubs: KitKat, Sage, Berghain, Holzmarkt, Kater Blau, Tresor, YAAM, AboutBlank, and Sisyphos during the first lockdown in Berlin.
Electronic Groove: What can we expect from you going forward this year? Any future gigs lined up at all?
NHOAH: At the end of March, I’ll release a very special album. During the past two years, I mostly released long club tracks. But more and more requests for short versions of ‘on-air broadcasts‘ came in. Since I was constantly touring, I never had the time to work on it. So now I took two months and locked myself in my studio with all my electronics and remixed and re-mastered eight of my favorite songs. The album ‘Radio Waves’ will be released in six weeks. What’s amazing is when you melt long tracks down to their core, you develop a whole new quality.
As for going live, I already received several requests for Live- and DJ sets. But as is known, the near future is still very unpredictable. So nothing is set in stone.
Electronic Groove: Thank you so much for chatting with us! We wish you the best and hope you have a great year!
NHOAH: Thank you guys! I really enjoyed chatting with you. All the best to you too!
NHOAH’s ‘Our House REMIXe VOL.1’ is out now via R.O.T. Records. Stream and buy here.
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