Nathan Barato Interview

Riding high from his recent Jamie Jones collaboration 'Cherry's Revenge', Canadian Nathan Barato is on a hot streak right now. Deeply embedded in the Hot Creations crew, for whom he mixed one half of their debut 'Paradise on Earth' compilation, the Toronto native is enjoying the fruits of continuous hard work which has seen him embark on various projects over the years, including DJing with close friend Carlo Lio as Roaches and running his own Roots and Wings label.

Heading up the tech-house room of Sabajaq this Bank Holiday Saturday on August 26th, he's joined by Solid Groove duo Maze & Masters and Warboy, while Jay Lumen and Layton Girodiani head up the main room alongside Vinicius Honorio and Kyle E.

With a summer also full of Ibiza dates for the likes of Paradise, Elrow and Resistance, we caught up with Nathan while he was relaxing on the White Isle...

Where are you right now and what are you doing right now?

I am in Ibiza by Cala Tarida and I'm about to take down a pechuga a la plancha, baby.

Can you tell us about Comfort Zone in Toronto. What was your relationship with the club and what did you learn playing there? Were there any particular anthems you got to play again at your last visit there?

Yeah, Comfort Zone is a special place for me because it's one of the clubs where I grew up as a clubber and as a DJ. I played there almost every Sunday for around 15 years and really learned how to have fun with the crowd. It's an incredible room that, I still to this day, have not really found a comparison for all around the world. I learned how to control the room with music and tell a story and also how to rock the room when it was time for it. For my last set there were a ton of anthems played, of course. I couldn't help myself, I'm a cheesy loser. The one that comes to mind that went over really well were Fish Go Deep 'The Cure And The Cause (Dennis Ferrer Remix)'... it's a personal anthem for me and I've had some amazing moments at CZ with that record.

Is that your DJ roots in Toronto, or were you playing out before then? How has the scene evolved over your career? Do you still live there?

I was playing all over the city before I played Comfort Zone but it was one of the most influential clubs in Toronto for me over the years. I've been playing in Toronto since I was around 18. Toronto always had a pretty healthy scene as far as I can tell.  Like any scene, it's had its ebbs and flows but there's always been a healthy amount of people that love the music and live for the music, just like me baby. 

I still live there and I love it, it's my favourite place in the world to be. I don't care if it snows or it's cold or it's not as beautiful as Ibiza or Barcelona or anything like that. For me it's always the place I want to be the most. I always miss my home, my people, my girl, my family. I think about it all the time. 

Discogs says you only began releasing music in 2011. How did you get to the point of getting signed? Did anyone help you learn your craft, or was there a pivotal moment/learning point?

The way I started to get my music signed was by just sending demos to a lot of labels that I respected and wanted to be on and I thought my music was a fit for...  I was relentless with it. I also had my label at the time, Roots and Wings Music, and I made a lot of good contacts at that point. Those contacts came through at times when I needed to shop my tracks. 

I wouldn't say there was any one specific person that help me learn my craft but there were many people. A lot of my friends, all the DJs and producers around me... we're all learning together. I took a lot of tutorials online as well and just kept at It. Naturally you learn your own way as you go. 

You seem a fully fledged member of the Hot Creations label now. When and where did you and Jamie write your most recent tracks? Does it feel like you're both teaching each other something? If so, what?

Yeah, you could say Hot Creations is one of my home labels for sure, I love the crew. Me and Jamie started these tracks remotely and then had a few sessions in his studio in LA. It was a pretty cool experience for me because I've been a big fan of his for a long time, as one would imagine. I wouldn't say that we were teaching each other, but definitely we were feeding off each other and you know there were a few little tricks along the way that maybe one person picked up off the other person.

Carlo Lio is someone else that youve DJed with a lot. How far does your relationship go back? 

I've been playing with Carlo back to back I think since 2006/2005. We used to be a local DJ duo in Toronto called Roaches. We still are Roaches but we used to DJ solely under that name for a bunch of years and we kind of ran the table in the city. It was really fun. Carlo and I are still working together basically every day, we are relaunching Rawthentic Music, our label from back in those days, and we still continue to DJ together like we are for BPM Portugal and Paradise Elrow Barcelona in September. 

Name three tracks that sum up what youre likely to play at the party?

Max Chapman 'Off Me Lips Lips'

My Cat Snoop - 'Repeat (Nathan Barato 'Yezzzir' remix)' 

Nathan Barato, Carlo Lio - 'Mainframe'

Whats going on with your own Roots and Wings label?

Right now, nothing. I had to stop it for a while as it was getting in the way of a lot of my production time in the studio. But I'm really looking forward to bringing the label back as I now have a really tight crew that I work with; they can help me do it the right way, balls to the walls style. 

Tell us something about yourself that your fans wont already know about you?

I ghostwrite for myself.