When Jiayden Mills asked me to interview Lebanese techno DJ and producer Nicole Moudaber for his former website Vicious Vibes in 2018, I jumped at the chance. Little did I know as I dialled in to speak to the lady herself the week before she was due in Melbourne to play at Circoloco alongside Dubfire and Henry Saiz that my new laptop had come with almost no memory and our conversation didn’t record for me to transcribe. Needless to say I was pretty happy when Ms Moudaber ok’d this straight to go live and didn’t feel in any way misquoted…
The Queen of Absolutely Fucking Everything – an interview with Nicole Moudaber
Getting kidnapped by Carl Cox, where to go raving if you ever find yourself in Beirut and being a secret race car driver with The Queen of absolutely fucking everything
Nicole Moudaber is sitting by the pool in Phuket taking some well deserved time out. ‘It’s been eleven months since I had a holiday,’ says the MOOD record label boss, Ibiza uber rezzie and purveyor of fine techno. Mulling over content for the next instalment of her outstanding podcast series In the Mood, we caught her in a rare state of relax mode, chilling with Thailand’s unofficial ambient anthem bearer Moby’s latest release on her headphones. ‘I’m getting it ready for a remix,’ she purrs in her molasses voice. Of course she is. We all know Moudaber can and will do anything she wants. For the Queen of absolutely fucking everything, the crowd will always go wild.
Although she’s been to Australia before, Australia Day Eve will be the first time Moudaber has ever performed here. For the New York and London based DJ extraordinaire, the prospect of Circoloco in Melbourne on Australia Day Eve and then Electric Gardens in Sydney is something to get frothy over, especially on the back end of some R&R and her birthday last week. So what are we to expect when she makes her debut alongside Dubfire, Henry Saiz and Art Department this weekend?
‘I usually play more tech-housey at Circoloco,’ says the woman who slammed out her trademark techno at Carl Cox’s Revolution at Space for seven straight seasons and has been a regular feature at Ibiza’s monumental DC10. ‘Anyway, we shall see.’ A wicked laugh hints that anything could happen.
‘As soon as I confirmed the booking in Melbourne, Carl was the first person I texted,’ says Moudaber of her BFF and former mentor. ‘He’s already warned me that he may kidnap me straight from the airport and force me to party all week.’ She’s spreading vicious rumours that he might even join her to see her set. While we can’t confirm them, we are crossing fingers, toes and eyes that the big man will be in attendance.
Travel has always been a key part of Moudaber’s energy, born in Nigeria, raised in Lebanon and with a packed touring schedule, it seems she is always moving and transforming. Not many people are asked to star in a shoot for Red Bull Music’s ‘Alter ego’ series. In her recently released clip, she shares the secrets of her alter ego as a professionally trained racecar driver, and drives a Mercedes around a track pretty damn fast. So is it always about life in the fast lane? ‘In the summer months I just don’t sleep at all,’ she says, with that infectious laugh again.
Moudaber began promoting in Lebanon, playing an integral part in the burgeoning post war. ‘It’s amazing to have watched it come full circle. Going out in Beirut is like nowhere else in the world. I often go back to play at clubs like The Grand Factory, which is a 2,000 capacity warehouse space that’s up there with the best. For me they are the world’s best party people.’
In the early 2000s, Moudaber took her Soundworx party from Beirut to now defunct London club Turnmills, where she worked as a promoter. It was inevitable that someone with so much hunger and talent would succumb to her unwavering urge to master the decks and later produce, which she took to like a raver to a dancefloor. The label boss, brand ambassador and crowd pleaser is showing no signs of abating.
Celebrating the milestone of 50 releases on her label, MOOD records, Moudaber released a reimagined ‘See you Next Tuesday’ remix package, taking a fresh look at the project she kickstarted with Carl Cox back in 2014, featuring remixes from the likes of Danny Tenaglia and Truncate. Then it was ‘Mood50: The Best of Mood’ with 17 tracks mixed and compiled by the leading lady herself. It’s a techno treasure trove, featuring Pan Pot, Petar Dundov and Bastian Bux among a plethora of others.
‘It’s been a labour of love. I feel an immense amount of pride and joy looking back at our 50 releases. It was a great collective outlet for me. It’s exciting to share what we have in store from both industry veterans and undiscovered new talent, making an impact on the dancefloor where it counts.’
It’s always good to see homegrown talent making it on the global stage, and Nicole can’t speak highly enough of Melbourne’s Sly Faux whose outstanding track ‘Incandescence’ was a standout on the MOOD50 compilation. ‘It always gets a great response on dancefloor,’ she says of the tune she has been caning around the world. ‘He’s a very talented guy and I can’t wait to meet him for the first time when I am in Melbourne.’
The back end of the year was all about Asia for Moudaber, who kicked off 2018 with a banger playing at Womb alongside Japanese techno aficionado Hito. ‘It was wild,’ she says. ‘After my set we ended up dancing on the decks.’ The start of the year carried on a similar track as she headed straight off to Epizode in Vietnam to join a stacked line up alongside Marcel Dettmann, Pan-Pot and Richie Hawtin on the tropical island of Phu Quoc. After Australia, she won’t be coming home for a while, with an American tour and more Ibiza time at DC10 once the season is declared open. A juggernaut of ambition, passion and fire, she wouldn’t have it any other way.
Moudaber’s ‘In the Mood’ podcast series airs weekly, championing her hand selected favourite artists, unreleased gems and back catalogue. ‘I’m really loving Stephan Hinz and Matthias Popoff at the moment,’ she says. Primed to release new album material this year, she’s also got some remixes with Jamie Jones. And while she loves a good collab, she’s certainly got faith in the stamina of her own work. ‘If I had to choose one record I couldn’t do without, it’d have to be one of my own – ‘Lumiere Tamissee.’ And who are we to disagree- long may this Queen reign.
