Hey Kyri & Andrew.! Thank you for taking the time on this. First of all, please give us small introduction of Noctarium in general.
Noctarium has been founded 2014 in Frankfurt, Germany by me and Ogechi, who was part of the team at that time, as an event series. I used to work 14 years in Frankfurt’s nightlife so we had the idea to create our own events and to bring something new to the city. You know how it is, there are many Mainstream parties going on but my own musical taste is very versatile so we knew it had to be something different. Also, around that time the whole Soulection styles were getting more known which we loved as well. In 2015 we started our first event, which was a success for sure. We continued for 5 to 6 years doing those kinds of events here in Frankfurt in various off locations. The name Noctarium is based on an animal enclosure at night, we kind of liked the analogy of us being a platform for people who want to get wild at night on a party.
So, you wanted to bring a different sound to Frankfurt. I remember hearing of Shaka Lion on one of your events.
Yes, we wanted to create a new movement. It started with J-Cloud of the Bass Gang which was a big crew in Berlin and already played this kind of sound. We also hosted a night with “Kornkreismafia” who have been making their names in mostly Nürnberg & Berlin. Those were kind of the first steps we made. Regarding to Shaka Lion, Soulection started to sign artists in Europe as well and one of them were Shaka Lion, who we booked for an event. Same goes to JAEL, whom we booked for an open-air event. Overall, we wanted to bring something sophisticated to Frankfurt and to catch people that were tired of listening the same songs over and over again on the weekends.
Besides the event part, Noctarium is also hosting a mix series on Soundcloud called “Mixquisite Sundays” with various DJs. What is the concept behind these sessions?
Mixquisite Sundays were created during the Covid-19 Pandemic. Of course, we couldn’t do any events during that time but still wanted to represent and support artists around the globe and the story behind our Sessions was, when I came home from working at events where of course you heard the whole turn up segment, I needed proper beats to calm down and relax after that. The concept behind these Sessions is basically to create a musical get to know with the DJ and also to represent what every DJ we invite is listening to on a typical Sunday. It still goes in every direction with these mixes and I love that.
You also already told me that you want to make a label out of Nocatrium. What can we expect regarding this plan?
Over the years, we got more and more into booking and artist work, mainly because we had a really talented artist on our team who goes by the name of “Moa Belén” who we wanted to push. After some time, we also signed two artists from South Africa for example “Omar Morto” who is a DJ and Producer and really does great versatile sounds. So, we thought when we can manage these artists we also want to bring more to the table and build our brand as an independent label as well. Our song of Milaa and Andrew. was the first release of Noctarium as Label.
Up next there will be a special event by Noctarium. Can you tell us more about it?
For sure! The event will go by the name “Beats & Bites”. With this one we wanted to give back to the community and also highlight our style when it comes to the sounds we play. “Beats & Bites” will be as I said, for the community. A network event or get together for creatives of all scenes. It will start as a kind of brunch with people we know for some time and with which we had a strong bond over the years. We also want to invite a guest and have a kind of interview where he can talk a little bit about his story and knowledge within the music industry. Because for up-and-coming creatives it can get really frustrating at the beginning, so we want to give them some insights which they can use later on their journey. After our brunch and the interview, it will transition into a kind of after vibing. The event will be on 23rd of July in Frankfurt. The lineup is ready! We invited IAMNOBODI, Milaa, Babatell, Samila, Andrew., Aaliana, Waldbrand, Q-Rush, and Frankfurt Funk. Tickets are available here
