Get to know: Nick Curly

Arguably one of Mannheim’s most leading electronic music exports, Nick Curly has built a formidable career around his defining sound of deep, soulful and refreshing house and techno.

With a wealth of signature productions like ‘Helter Skelter’ [Truesoul] and ‘Underground Abduction’ [Defected] reverberating on dancefloors across the world, Curly’s creations have been released on Variety Music, Toolroom and KNM to name a few. Now in the midst of running his own 8bit imprint, the artist remains consistent and boundless as ever, constantly working on his own productions while supporting burgeoning artists on his label.

Catching up with Curly ahead of his return to Egg LDN, we go back to his early rave roots and how he’s managed to stay sane between playing sold out shows to that all too familiar sprint in the airport.

Tell us how you discovered electronic music and how you followed the path which led you here today?

It was around the age of 14. My friends and I had heard about this club called “MILK” that was playing break beats and house music. One night we managed to get in the club. After that, we were risking the wrath of our parents sneaking out every week.

After that I started going further a field regularly travelling to Frankfurt to see Sven Vath and to a club called ‘Vibration’ where I got my first residency.

Speaking of where you are today, what’s your location in the world right now? 

When I am not on the road I rotate between my studio in Mannheim, Ibiza and international airspace but right now I am currently touring my brand ‘Trust’ in South America. Yesterday we were in Vina Del Mar, Chile and we did a wicked b2b2b with Joey Daniel and Mathias Kaden. Today we are doing our event at The Bow in Buenos Aires a wicked techno club. I think South America is one of my favorite places to travel. Good food and even better parties! 

According to your Facebook, your touring schedule is consistent and demanding, sometimes with zero hours sleep in between travelling from show to show. How do you stay sane and energised throughout touring?

It is probably the hardest part of our job. Catching a plane straight from the after party with your shades on is not the most enjoyable but DJing cant all be pros. To keep some balance I try and be as active as I can. Gym, daily walks with my dog and getting out on the bike. 

On tour its not always easy to keep up a rhythm because you never know what facilities there will be and quite often you just want to crash out on the bed when you arrive. The cons of a jet-set lifestyle I guess.

What would you consider as five touring essentials?

USB Sticks – Easier than lugging a bag of vinyl around and allows more tracks on the road.

Battery pack – Everyone does it, but coming in after a night out and forgetting to put your phone on charge. Having no battery can cause a lot of issues when you have to meet promoters in a foreign country so this little bad boy has saved me more than once.

Sunglasses – At the rave or in the airport, sunglasses are essential!

Headphones – if you have ever sat in an airport with nothing to do there is nothing more depressing and secondly, I wouldn’t be able to do my job I didn’t have them.

Finally, a decent crew. When you are at the airport with no sleep for 3 days and look like death warmed up it helps to have moral support. Although this backfires a lot because they are usually the reason why I haven’t slept as we end up getting into all sorts of trouble! 

Any emerging artists coming out on 8bit over the next year who we should keep an eye on?

8Bit is smashing it at the moment we have signed some really good stuff so it’s an exciting time. Frank Rizardo is the next release and then we have stuff in the pipeline from Josh Butler, Steffen Deux, Gorge and myself. Steffen and Franky are the young ones to watch. Definitely keep an eye on them.

Coming up to your return at Egg LDN, what’s your favourite thing about playing for a London based crowd?

I’m buzzing about being back at Egg. Its honestly one of my favourite venues and I haven’t been back since the refurb. If it is as good as I remember we will be in for a treat. I have a memory of a wicked sound system and a rowdy crowd. Lethal combination.

Resident Advisor recently asked their Facebook followers who they would like to see B2B in 2018 and received some interesting and unusual responses…who would you ideally like to go B2B with this year?

As I mentioned earlier I did a wicked b2b with Joey Daniel and Mathias Kaden in Chile. It was the first time we have done it but we all seemed to be in sync and the feedback we got from it was really good. I think it might be something we look at doing again in 2018 so watch this space!