"I'm Totally Addicted To The Crowd’s Reaction" – DJ And Producer Yulia Niko Talks All Things Music And Touring

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Yulia Niko, a DJ and Producer based successful Berlin, has been a fixture successful the creation euphony country for 2 decades now. After spending her teenage years DJing and collecting music, Yulia moved to New York to maestro her craft, wherever she gained traction successful the underground scene.

Now she tours the satellite from iconic clubs, to celebrated festivals and venues. We spoke to her arsenic she prepared for her acceptable astatine BEONIX Festival, Cyprus.

When did you archetypal cognize euphony was your path?

I was really a nonrecreational dancer erstwhile I was little, but erstwhile I was 11, idiosyncratic randomly talented maine a DVD from Bora Bora successful Ibiza. As I watched it, I truly started to similar the music. I was besides watching however radical danced; to me, they looked similar aliens, the mode they danced. You know, I was conscionable a kid, and I kept thinking, "Wow, I truly similar this."

Then, erstwhile I was astir 16, I was successful a car accident. While I was healing successful the infirmary I was listening to music; worldly similar Ministry of Sound, Hedkandi, Café del Mar, and John Digweed.

I felt similar this euphony was truthful positive, and I thought to myself, "I privation to bash thing with this, I deliberation I privation to bash music." This was astir 20 years ago, and astatine that time, determination weren’t galore pistillate DJs. So I started collecting vinyl, ordering tons of records from places similar Juno, and began learning however to play vinyl. That’s however I got into music.

How did you make your existent sound?

I lived successful New York for 5 years, gathering radical up adjacent similar Eric Morillo, who I had been a immense instrumentality of since I was 16. Then suddenly, I recovered myself moving with him. He showed maine immoderate classics, and past I began to research much underground events. I started going to places similar Chicago and Detroit, visiting grounds shops determination too.

Eventually, I moved to Berlin, and I’ve present been surviving successful Germany for astir 10 years. And of course, erstwhile you unrecorded successful Berlin, you spell to Berghain, you spell to Panorama Bar.

From the precise beginning, I ever loved house. And adjacent now, I inactive do. For possibly 5 years, radical thought of maine arsenic much melodic location oregon melodic techno. But actually, erstwhile radical perceive to what I was playing they realised it's much energetic.

How overmuch bash you hole for a unrecorded acceptable beforehand?

I ne'er truly cognize what I’m going to play the full mode through, that’s for sure. Maybe I cognize the archetypal and 2nd tracks, due to the fact that those ones ever displacement the vigor successful the country and they correspond my sound. Beyond that, I ne'er plan. I trial things out; much indie, much melodic, much minimal, oregon much housey, and past I spot what works champion successful the infinitesimal and however the assemblage responds.

Another origin is really the dependable system. Sometimes I get astatine a nine oregon festival, and I play a way with a dense footwear for example, but connected that circumstantial dependable system, it conscionable doesn’t dependable right. So I think, 'okay, I person to instrumentality a antithetic direction'.

I’m precise eclectic. I tin play connected a techno stage, I tin play Afro-house, I tin power it up and find the close balance. For me, being eclectic is simply a strength. It means I tin adjust; I tin work the crowd, consciousness the dependable system, recognize the vibe, and determine what to play successful the moment.

What is your favourite ambiance to play at, and however bash you privation your assemblage to feel?

In general, I emotion tiny shows successful intimate clubs with an astonishing L-Acoustic dependable strategy and a assemblage that’s virtually close successful beforehand of me, astir touching my nose.

In presumption of however I privation the assemblage to feel, I cognize the reply close away. I'm wholly addicted to the crowd’s reaction. If I play a way and radical don’t respond, I commencement to freak retired a little. I’m conscionable people precise excited and afloat of energy. I emotion music, I emotion the vibe, and that’s wherefore I play euphony with truthful overmuch energy.

Basically, I ever conscionable privation to marque radical spell wild. I privation to marque them dance.

People travel to festivals and events to escape, to meditate successful a way, to hide astir their regular lives. They should beryllium present, they should dance, they should person fun. That’s wherefore it’s truthful important to maine that I tin really spot them enjoying themselves.

What’s the hardest portion of touring for you?

You ne'er tin beryllium home, particularly for large events similar New Year's Eve oregon Christmas. Things got worse astir 3 years agone erstwhile I had a truly atrocious formation to London; it was during 1 of the craziest windstorms successful UK past and we couldn't onshore for truthful long.

So lately, flying has go a truly large contented for me, I've adjacent work a publication astir getting implicit your fearfulness of flying. It’s stressful, it’s exhausting, and each clip I’m connected a level I think, 'That’s it. This is my past gig. I’m canceling everything'. But past I land, spell play an astonishing show, and I forget. Until the adjacent formation home, erstwhile I retrieve however overmuch I hatred flying.

How bash you disconnect from euphony erstwhile you request a break?

Everyone is ever saying I can’t power disconnected astatine all. I emotion to work, and I’m moving each the time. But erstwhile I travel home, if it's a Sunday, I decidedly unopen down my phone. I enactment it determination distant and conscionable ticker Netflix oregon something. I besides spell for walks with my dog, which is truly nice.

What does a emblematic time successful the workplace look similar for you?

I usually aftermath up and spell to the gym archetypal thing, that’s my routine. I emotion breakfast; it’s the astir important repast of the time for me. Then I enactment all day.

Besides being a DJ, I tally a statement and negociate artists, truthful I grip each the logistics myself. On apical of that, I request to nutrient music, hunt for caller tracks, make charts, negociate PR, and bash each the Instagram posts and content. It’s never-ending.

Outside of location and techno, what different genres bash you enjoy?

I deliberation close present I’m exploring caller styles. A person of mine, an upcoming vocalist and shaper successful breakbeat, really had a immense power connected maine past year. Now, astatine the extremity of my sets, I’ve started playing 2 oregon 3 breakbeat tracks, and I tin truly spot the quality it makes connected the creation floor. I’ve really go a large instrumentality of high-quality vocals combined with large breakbeat sounds. I’m adjacent reasoning astir producing a mates of tracks myself.

What proposal would you springiness to aspiring producers conscionable starting out?

The lone proposal I tin springiness is to beryllium diligent and enactment truly hard. You person to bash everything yourself. Some radical say, 'Oh, I don’t privation to bash this,' oregon 'I don’t privation to bash TikTok,' oregon 'Social media is truthful cheesy.' But honestly, you request to bash it all. And then. Yeah, conscionable travel your heart.