#MusicInTheAir Podcast hosts this week :
ROCKIN MOROCCIN

Another artist today joins Villahangar’s orbit for this week’s new MusicInTheAir. 

Today the Podcast is signed by DJ Rockin Moroccin, born here and raised in London by Moroccan parents. He tells: “The best way to describe it would be “The hardware is Moroccan but the software is English”.

Rockin Moroccin (or Nabz), a London local, has been immersed in music for over 20 years. From a love for Electro 80’s, he started playing at house parties whilst working at a drum and bass record store, Lucky Spin, on the Kings Road.

He tells: “My first meeting with music was when I was actually quite young. My parents owned a quite popular clothing store in London and inside the store was a drum and bass record store called Section 5 Records and then later on another called Lucky Spin Records. I used to be a little kid in the early 90’s standing there alongside all these adults and teenagers listening to jungle music and being mesmerized by the beats and vocals”.

Rockin Moroccin musically doesn’t like being tied to a genre: Percussive, New Disco, Melodic and Tribal come together in his sets. He explains in this regard: “I would define my musical style today as definitely melodic and tribal. I love to play beats with percussion. I guess this is deep seeded in me from my upbringing, but I will play anything as long as I like how it sounds and can find a way for it to fit into my set. I definitely don’t like to stick to any genre or musical style”. And he adds: “Honestly, all genres influenced me. I mean for example I grew up listening to drum and bass, jungle music and heavy metal alongside traditional moroccan folk music with my parents who also were big Marvin Gaye and Tina Turner fans”.

In the past he shared the console with names like Keinemusik, Black Coffee, Luciano, Bedouin, Damien Lazarus, Guy Gerber, Blondish, Echonomist, Jenia Tarasol, Chaim, Birds of mind, Marco Carola, Tale of us, WhoMadeWho.

He is currently working on a few different projects, some of his releases coming soon and others later in the year. He tells: “I’m working on a very cool remix on one of the tracks from this fantastic album called “The Heart of Marrakech” which was produced by the amazing Harry Coades and Abel Demoussi who is actually my uncle. My EP “Oud in C Minor” is being released on the 26th of June on the record label Acousticdope”.

What music do you listen to when you take off your DJ headset?

I actually don’t listen to music in my free time haha. Is that weird? I mean I spend so much time listening to new tracks nearly every day that if I’m not searching for new music or working on my own production, then I prefer to give my ears and brain a rest. I’ll give you an example: during the first year of the pandemic, the first day Europe opened up in July I drove down to Ibiza from London alone and during that whole 2-day journey I didn’t listen to any music. I just Rolled down the windows instead and listened to the wind blowing whilst taking in that feeling of freedom and nature.

Your artists / DJs / producers of reference or what advice do you follow?

For sure my favorite producers are the Keinemusik boys. They just consistently bring their A game with their production, all 3 of them. There hasn’t been a release I can remember where I’ve been like hmm ok… It’s all been fire! And on top of that they are all really nice guys and very approachable.
The best advice I’ve been given was by another really big dj/producer I was warming up for once. I asked him what it takes to be successful. He then replied “are you paying your rent”? I said yes then he replied “you’re already a success in this business then”. “Just keep producing decent music and don’t be a prick and you’ll be fine”.

How much where you were raised and where you live influence you from a musical point of view?

I basically grew up spending any free time I had in a drum and bass record store and trying to learn to DJ when there were no customers around before being shooed off. During my school holidays my parents would take me to Morocco where I was immersed in a completely different type of music. Most nights in summer we would listen to live local musicians who played traditional folklore music which definitely gave me my love of percussions today.

What do you think about the London music scene? What do you think are the differences with Europe?

For me, London is the best. It’s where the best of the best come to give their best haha and we definitely know how to party here. What I like about London in comparison to let’s say for example Berlin which would probably be our closest rival city in the music scene is that we are very open as a city to other artists and acts from abroad and we embrace it. I feel Berlin is more closed off to less well-known acts from abroad and definitely nurture homegrown talent more.

What evolution do you think electronic music is experiencing on the international scene?

I definitely feel one specific genre (not mentioning which) is heading towards the EDM route. I guess that’s fine and probably a natural evolution.

How was your winter? Do you have dj sets planned at the moment for the present and the future?

My winter was great as you probably know London was fully open since last July so you can imagine there was a lot going on. Yes, definitely some interesting stuff lined up for this summer.

What can you tell us about your DJ sets in summer 2022? What can you tell us about Burning Man?

This summer I will be based out in Ibiza mainly for Guy Gerber’s new nights called Mirror Games which will be every Sunday at Club Chinois which was the old Heart. I can’t say much more about it but definitely watch this space. Regarding Burning man WOW what can I say?? To be honest it was probably the only thing I really missed during this whole pandemic. If you were to give me a choice right now: have a great summer playing touring around Europe but no Burning man. Or stay locked down in London the whole summer but I could go to burning man in September. I’d say lock me down and where do I sign?!? haha