We sat down with Austrian rising star, house producer and DJ Demuja, before he plays Le Bain on Saturday, April 20th.
LE BAIN: You’re based in Salzburg, Austria, the birthplace of Mozart. How would you describe the influence of the city and its scenic Alpine surroundings?
DEMUJA: Living in a small city, you really get both sides. It's really hard to get musical input here... When it comes to electronic music, there is not even ONE proper store where you can buy synthesizers or drum machines. It's really a pain to travel, as the airport is super small and I need to go to Vienna every weekend (which is a 3-hour trip by train) and fly from there. But on the other side, it's great to be near nature. I can drive 30 minutes and go snowboarding in the mountains, or ride my bike for 15 minutes to go for a swim in a lake. It's also good to have absolutely no parties during the week, so you can focus on making music! Being able to come down, get some sleep and reload the battery after some weekend gigs is essential. And of course, I have all my friends around here, which is super important for me as well.
DEMUJA: Living in a small city, you really get both sides. It's really hard to get musical input here... When it comes to electronic music, there is not even ONE proper store where you can buy synthesizers or drum machines. It's really a pain to travel, as the airport is super small and I need to go to Vienna every weekend (which is a 3-hour trip by train) and fly from there. But on the other side, it's great to be near nature. I can drive 30 minutes and go snowboarding in the mountains, or ride my bike for 15 minutes to go for a swim in a lake. It's also good to have absolutely no parties during the week, so you can focus on making music! Being able to come down, get some sleep and reload the battery after some weekend gigs is essential. And of course, I have all my friends around here, which is super important for me as well.
You were a breakdancer as a teenager. You said breakdancing taught you to work hard and every day...
10 years as a b-boy taught me a lot. If you put the same effort in your goals as b-boys do in their dance and practice, you could really get everything you want. We used to practice every day (no matter if it was Christmas, NYE or whatever) for about 3 to 4 hours... And the time we did not practice we would watch breakdancing videos, travel to battles, learned a lot about the history of hip hop... Hip hop was our life.
"B-boy battles taught me that the only thing that counts is how good you are."
What other life lessons did you learn from hip hop?
B-boying taught me that you can reach everything if your passion becomes your life. It's what I do today with my music - making music every single day, getting better every day, getting to know the history - everything you do, everything you are involved with is music. Hip hop taught me it doesn't matter where you from, how you look, in a battle, the only thing that counts is how good you are.
You've released tracks on some of NYC's best house labels: Kerri Chandler’s Madhouse Records, Jacques Renault’s Let’s Play House and Nervous Records. How would you describe your connection to the NY house scene?
B-boying taught me that you can reach everything if your passion becomes your life. It's what I do today with my music - making music every single day, getting better every day, getting to know the history - everything you do, everything you are involved with is music. Hip hop taught me it doesn't matter where you from, how you look, in a battle, the only thing that counts is how good you are.
You've released tracks on some of NYC's best house labels: Kerri Chandler’s Madhouse Records, Jacques Renault’s Let’s Play House and Nervous Records. How would you describe your connection to the NY house scene?
If you listen to my mixes, you can hear I love New York house. I play a lot of it, so there is a big connection to my style, as a lot of my influences are coming from there. I'm super happy to play my first party EVER in NYC at Le Bain! A couple of weeks back I played a show at Mixmag in the Lab, which was super nice, but this one will be a proper club party, so I can't wait to play some tracks for you!
You’re about to release your new record ‘Cosmic Connection’. Tell us about your connection with the cosmos.
With "Cosmic Connection", I want to show that it's a small world we're living in, and we are all living in the same 'Cosmic'. I was really suprised when I played my first shows in Tokyo or Mexico: you're on the total opposite side of the world, but people are into the same music, enjoying the same things. Music really brings everybody together, and that's what I wanted to tell the world with that title.
From the studio to the wormhole, tell us about your cat.
Her name is Diva and she's the fucking best! That's why there is already a record out there on RTCT records which is named 'Diva Cutz'!
On Saturday, April 20th, Le Bain presents Demuja
with Uri Allgood, DGRO, and Salinger
10pm | The Standard, High Line
