NICK PEREIRA (dj)
Recently I sat down with one of Cape Town’s up and coming DJ’s Nick Pereira, home boy has been doing his thing on the ones and twos and making a name for himself on the Cape Town DJ scene, with mentors like Dr Jules and Tryon Paulsen, it’s no surprise that Nick is leaving an impression on the Cape Town DJ scene. Check out what he had to say:
CPTSTREETMAG: How did you get into Dj’ing?
Nick: It started in grade 10 I would play around the house on vinyl records and I had some friends who were doing the dj’ing thing and they taught me how to play on CDJ's so I just practised.
CPTSTREETMAG: Are you a house or hip hop DJ?
Nick: I’m not genre specific, I can play both and I can still play house on vinyl.
CPTSTREETMAG: If you had to choose between Dj’ing and a professional career which would you take?
Nick: I would pick music, I love the artistic freedom that it allows me so hopefully I will be able to do it full time, maybe get into production, right now I wouldn’t call myself a producer but I have a good musical ear because I was classically trained, so I would like to grow that skill and start making my own tracks eventually.
CPTSTREETMAG: What do you think about the CPT music scene?
Nick: For classically trained artists I think it is in a good place with the likes of Goldfish pushing the boundaries for classically trained artists’ to make money from pursuing music professionally. In terms of hip hop the young emcees out there are pushing hard to get their music out there and heard. Original house production is still lacking in CPT, hip-hop, and dubstep are the genres that I think are doing the best in the music scene right now.
CPTSTREETMAG: Do you think for people to pop off in SA they have to get their break in Jozi?
Nick: I would say it’s harder to break it in bigger record labels in Cape Town, but it is possible, you just have to push a bit harder.
CPTSTREETMAG: How did you get your break?
Nick: I have always tried to be different from other DJ’s doing mashup’s and mixing songs you might not originally see going together I also add a lot of accapela music in my mixes which wasn’t really being done at the time. My first residency was in Claremont in Whadup and the next was at Buella Bar I would literally play the whole night from 9pm till close, it was definitely a crazy experience but I learnt a lot in the process.
CPTSTREETMAG: Where do you see yourself musically in the next 5 years?
Nick: Hopefully on radio, doing bigger gigs, definitely doing more production and dropping my own original album.
CPTSTREETMAG: How did your parents take the whole music thing?
Nick: Well they didn’t want me spending more time on it than on my school, but they see that it’s more than a hobby and as long as I pay for my own things I think their cool with it.
CPTSTREETMAG: What is your favourite spot in Cape Town?
Nick: Starlite diner- they have got to have the longest happy hour in the history of Cape Town!
CPTSTREETMAG: Last Question – If you could play a set with any DJ in the world who would it be?
Nick: DJ Kent, his approach to music is very different from the other guys on the scene sand I feel like he was not recognised enough for it until recently and is still much underrated. He could possibly be the best house DJ in SA and competitive in the world.
Somie –ovoxo
@NotBellaLuna
