If I were to describe the fantastic performance by Nils Noa in Piekarnia, two pages might not be enough. What a great guy he is I won’t write as well, ‘cause it would look a bit strange. I got one thing to tell you though – watch out! This sweet little fella is a mainfloor slayer!

Sound Revolt: First of all. I’d like you to tell me something about Norway. The climate is rather cold there. Are the people cold?
Nils Noa: No. You have to change the bad situation into something good. So when it’s cold, you just stay in and make music or play records. In the winter it’s extremely cold but the summer is nice though.

Sound Revolt: And what’s the atmosphere in clubs?
Nils Noa: It’s cool. A few years ago there was a big trance wave and a lot of big parties came. But now things got underground in a good way. We have a really healthy house scene, a good techno scene, nu jazz kind of stuff, hip-hop, drum’n’bass and breakbeat. The crowd isn’t that big, because there’s only 500,000 people in Oslo but that’s enough. But there’s a lot of good stuff going on - especially these days. Loads of new interesting nights coming up with a good variation of music. We’re starting a new night called Rotation, where we’re gonna have djs like Josh Wink, Lee Burridge and Meat Katie. No rules. Just good music from good djs who we like – who inspire us.

Sound Revolt: When I read the names of Norwegian artists and djs on your website, I feel a bit lost. I don’t know them. Tell me who should I look out for?
Nils Noa: There’s one guy called Marco Soldic – he’s a good friend of mine and a really great dj. He plays house with reggae, hip-hop and a drum’n’bass influences. He’s really got his own sound and he’s got something special. And there’s another guy called Vidar Kroken who’s a resident at Renaissance. He has also developed a very good sound over the years. I really believe in those two. We’re the same generation. But there’s also Andre, who is around 30. He used to live in Norway but he moved to Amsterdam, where he plays in Chemistry. He’s great.

Sound Revolt: But you were the first Norwegian to do an Essential Mix. Did it help you a lot with the carrier?
Nils Noa: Hopefuly. Actually, it was unreal, because the Essential Mix has always been one of my sources of inpiration and new music. When you live in Norway, you can’t just go to Fabric every saturday. So thanks to the Essential Mix you can listen to new stuff.

Sound Revolt: Performing there is a big success.
Nils Noa: It’s a big compliement.

Sound Revolt: Is it harder or easier to conquer the world from Norway? From places outside UK and the US?
Nils Noa: I don’t know. I’ve never seen it hard, ‘cause I love playing music. But I think it’s a bit harder. There’s probably a lot more djs in the UK and no-one is looking at Norway – at this tiny little spot. But you can manage to do everything as long as you really want to. It’s about making sacrifices. I’ve been djing since I was 13 and I still love it.

Sound Revolt: So what was it like in your home town, when you were young.
Nils Noa: It was really funny. When I was on my last year of school I was already djing out of town. It was almost three years before I was allowed to get in. That was kind of strange. All my friends were shocked (laugh)

Sound Revolt: Your style is very diversed. What influences you the most?
Nils Noa: At the beginning, I was a hip-hop dj. Then I turned to techno and progressive and even goa trance. Later on I was really into house music and the drum’n’bass scene. There’s always been so much new music. There were so many interesting things to hear. So I think it’s just a sum of all these things. If I have a weekend off I don’t want to stay at home. I travel to Sweden or to England to see someone dj, to get inspiration.

Sound Revolt: I know exactly what you mean. Now, tell me about Bermuda Triangle. I like “Mooger Fooger”, but “Tay Do 22” is one of my favourite tracks this year.
Nils Noa: Wow!

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