Those who have visited Barcelona for partying will have undoubtedly noticed the plethora of options it offers. Known for having one of the richest electronic music scenes in Europe, the Catalonian capital hosts a varied selection of dance music across a long list of promoters and venues.
Genres that don’t get quite as much coverage are progressive house, and melodic house and techno. Thankfully, this particular sound is championed by NOM, who bring the best in the business week in, and week out. Fresh from one of the most anticipated events in their clubbing calendar with Argentina’s beloved Hernan Cattaneo a few weeks ago, we caught up with the collective behind Barcelona’s hottest melodic movement.
We caught up with NOM’s music director Akram Tobar and resident artist Nick Varon to learn more about the party series and its future plans.
EG: Hello Akram and Nick, welcome to EG. How did you enjoy the party with Hernan Cattaneo on Saturday and have you recovered yet?!
Akram Tobar & Nick Varon: Thanks for the invite. Each of Hernan’s visits to NOM are epic. It’s always a unique pleasure having him and now with the renovation of the venue, we want to believe that the experience was even better for our crowd and his followers.
EG: Can you tell us a bit about the NOM residents?
Akram Tobar & Nick Varon: The resident squad includes Nick Varon, who has been part of the project since day one. He’s a very well-respected DJ/producer from Greece but based in Barcelona for almost 15 years. Gespona is a local talent whose productions have been supported by Dixon, Mind Against, Adriatique, among others. Also on the resident’s team, we have Amadori – another very promising DJ/producer and finally, Djolee, a new addition who we believe will rise high with the rest of the team.
“We choose artists who have been out there with a unique sound for a long time, whose value as DJs has been proven timeless”
EG: At what point did you realize NOM was becoming so highly recognized on the Barcelona clubbing circuit?
Akram Tobar & Nick Varon: Well just a few weeks before the pandemic, we realized we had built a unique bond with our crowd and more and more clubbers of the city had been showing us their support. When we came back, we came back stronger than ever and since then all the events have had a great vibe with a lot of success.
Now the club feels more spacious, the sound is even sharper, and the new look is super chic, without being pretentious.
EG: We have to say, your programming is on point. A quick look through your past bookings reveals a who’s who of the melodic sound. How do you go about preparing your program?
Akram Tobar & Nick Varon: The idea is to offer a quality soundtrack throughout. We choose artists who have been out there with a unique sound for a long time, and whose value as DJs has been proven timeless. Those artists we would say are the pillar of our scheduling. Then we add talented newcomers and every now and then, we try to widen our agenda with a bit of a different sound, in order to give and take things from new audiences.
EG: What is next for NOM? Can we have a sneak peek at what’s in the pipeline for future events?
Akram Tobar & Nick Varon: We have exciting things on the way and a very talented lineup planned until the end of the year, with some frequent & some newcomers. We’re also working on some events around the world such as in Dubai & Buenos Aires – more on that to be revealed soon. When we started back in 2019 we wanted to give a new choice, an alternative to clubbers in the city. It took us some time but right now we think we are in the top spots of the scene, not only in Barcelona but in Europe as well.
We would have to agree. If you look around the continent, you’ll be hard-pressed to find another party that is locally pushing the sounds of melodic as much as this one. And whilst team NOM might not be giving too much away about the upcoming lineups, our eyes are fixed on the return of Argentinian groove maker Facundo Mohrr on November 11th.
NOM takes place every Saturday at Sala Bikini in Barcelona. Grab your tickets here.
