Exclusive Interview with DJ Nakadia

Siam2nite had the opportunity to have an exclusive interview with Nakadia, shortly before her performance at Glow Nightclub on Saturday 29th December.

You were born in rural Thailand. Where exactly?

I was born at Ban Mai in Nakhon Ratchasima. I grew up there and my family still lives there. I have moved into the center Korat when I was 15 years old. I lived there alone, worked and studied.

You moved from Thailand to Berlin, Germany. What made you decide to move?

Berlin is the capital of electronic music. There is no other city that has as much artists, DJs, produceers, clubs, parties and events as Berlin. DJ, producer and artist from all over the world settle down in Berlin. People of many different nationalities live together here in harmony. The decision to move here was the best decision I ever made.

What things do you miss the most while being away from Thailand?

My family, Thailand's street food that can be eaten 24-hours a day, the lovely Thai people and riding my motorcycle around Koh Samui and to the Airport, where i would drive by the sea, the mountains and coconut trees. Umm ... Talking about htis makes we want to go back to Thailand now HaHa ...

Your first time to DJ abroad was 12 years ago. Do you still remember that gig?

Club "Fun Expo 2000" in Hanover, Germany. A club that opened up during the "Expo Hanover 2000", that could hold up to 3.000 people. It was the first time that there were posters of "Nakadia" everywhere around the town. I was really excited and everything went great. The organizer even invited me to play there again for a second time.

What - artists and music genres - are your biggest influences?

I can’t really say that, because I got my experience from every gig that I have done. I’ve leaned every time when I DJ and I also learned from other DJs when i saw them play. But mostly I learn from my own set, I will improve myself all the time for the next gigs. I’m good at these days because I’m willing and eager to practice, ready to solve problems and improve at all times.

How did you learn to DJ and where did you played your first gigs?

I started from zero, no skill about DJ. I have started to count the beat and practice to mix in my room. I spent almost 6 months to learn how to mix because I was lazy. One day, when I really started to DJ, it was like not that hard anymore.

You keep exact track of the count of international gigs you played. How much was it until the present day?

Yes, I still keep all the gigs I have done from the first gigs to today. Now all are 824 gigs. 588 International gigs, and 236 gigs in Thailand.

After touring the world for the past 8 years it was this year that you started to release your own productions. What tracks should people listen to that are not yet familiar with your music?

This year, 12 songs were out, and I was happy with almost every song. Each song is characteristic for the sound of "Nakadia". What I like the most is the song called "Arai Wa" of the EP "Flying Blue". This song also contains my voice speaking in Thai. DJ Gunner Stiller, a famous DJ, made a remix of the song for me too. You can listen to the EP, which was released on 18 December, on my website or on Beatport www.beatport.com/arist/nakadia/10120. There you will also see all other past works of mine.

Listen to Nakadia's track "Arai Wah" on Soundcloud: http://www.soundcloud.com/nakadia/move

Please tell us your highlights of the year 2012.

2012 was another great year. It was fun and impressive as last year. The first highlight is the trip to Le Reunion Island. It is a French island at the coast of South Africa. Traveling there from Berlin takes over 14 hours on the plane without changing. I had a wonderful time there. The Island is very beautiful and has the most pleasant weather in the world. People there originate from many different countries. I got many more fan from there now HaHa ... As Festival highlight of this year is "LOS!" in Amsterdam. The special thing about this event is the DJ booth is in the middle of the party people. I really liked it.

Other party highlights were on Ibiza Island, it was another great year. At the party "Lost in Ibiza" I was playing at sunset. You can imagine it, the ship sailed slowly, Cool music, the light of the sun shining on the sea and a cold wind. Then we went to the club "DC10" for after party. Super fun! And the highlight that I can’t forget and that was most impressive is "Glow". Every time I play at Glow, I feel like I’m home. It’s warm family home. Glow improved constantly. It changed a lot since it opened, change to the better and better. I am glad to see the party people there, they really come for the music. I’m very excited to be back to play again on my birthday.

You travel a lot. What essential things do you need to have with you at all times?

Of course, the phone helps a lot if it has internet. What I need to know, I can check from the phone, and I can also take a pictures and share them with my friends. My favorite is my soft sheep doll - It’s not for me to play, but it’s my pillow when I travel. Also a professional recording device, I use it when I travel to record strange voices and use it later to make my tracks HaHa

What was the best and the worst gig you ever played?

Is a very difficult question. I have several gigs that were crazy fun and impressive, but there are some bad gigs every year too of course. Let's talk about the good gigs firsrt. One of the best party for me was in 2009 in Stockholm. It was the first time that I play in Sweden. The party took place in a Church. The promoter expected that 400 people would join the party, that's the amount of people the church was able to hold. But on the Facebook event page, there were more than 700 people already that confirmed their attendance and they really showed up. The Promoter let 600 people in, then had to refuse more people to get inside as it was packed already. There was a camera inside the DJ booth, broadcasting the show worldwide. The party was getting really awesome, then the police showed up because inside it was too crowded and the people that were outside were too noisy. After I played the last song, they switched on the lights and 600 people were cheering and i got goosebumps. It was a great experience.

If we talk about the "worst gigs", surely one is the "Loveparade" in Duisburg, Germany. It was a tragedy. When i was playing it seemed that everything was okay. After i played i had to give a TV interview backstage - at that time Tiesto was playing - everybody had a sad face and I did not know why. Then a friend send me a text message "Are you okay?" because he saw the news on CNN. It was my friend that informed me that 23 people died at the event. I found out later that those 23 people died while I was playing and that more than 100 people got insured.

What was the funniest thing ever occurred during any of your performances?

I traveled from Koh Samui to South America to DJ. I flew from Bangkok, to Doha, to Sao Paulo and finally to Buenos Aires, then drove four hours to the Pinama Beach. Altogether it took 40 hours to travel there - just to DJ for one hour. After that i returned to the airport of Buenos Aires, 6 police officers told me to follow them into a small room and open my luggage, which was actually already checked. I was pretty surprised. The police officers searched my luggage again but didn’t find anything, then they said that i would have drugs in my stomach and i would have to pay them, so they would let me go. I didn’t do anything wrong, so I did not pay. Finally they could not do anything and had to let me go HaHa. I almost missed my flight back to Koh Samui when I got back to Thailand and when I arrived in Koh Samui, I forgot that I have to play that night.

You will return to Thailand on 28th December. What will be the first things you do once you arrived?

I think it would be already dark when I arrive Thailand. I’m planing to go to eat some spicy Thai food and have a meeting with some friends about work. Then I think I will go back to the hotel to sleep, as I'm tired of the traveling for sure. I will Better save my energy for December 29th.

On 29th December you will perform at Glow Nightclub, it will also be your birthday party. What can people expect from that night?

Actually my birthday is on the 30th of December, But I have decided to do my birthday party at Glow. My party at Glow is one the best party of the year. Because the party people at Glow make the party to be great. They love music and fun. I hope that night will be a crazy night as the nights before when I made a party there.

You will stay in Thailand until the beginning of March. What are your plans for that time?

This time is the most busiest time of the year, no time to relax. From the beginning of January, I will spend a few days in Koh Samui to relax, after that I will start a tour of Asia to play 3-4 gigs. Every week I play in Thailand and out of the countries such as Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Bali, Malaysia, and I also will play 3 gigs on the island of New Caledonia. It is a French island at the coast of  Australia. It is a new place that I have never been before.