PUBLISHED October 9th, 2016 06:00 am | UPDATED August 19th, 2024 02:39 am
The creative juices weren’t exactly overflowing the day this stage name – James Taylor – was chosen. It was a last minute decision made due to laziness, uncertainty and a nightclub’s advertising deadline. What was meant to be a temporary name has stuck with him for 16 years. James Taylor has since performed at notable festivals such as Parklife, Future Music, Circo Loco, SPACE and alongside international guest acts like Fatboy Slim, KinK, Moodymann, and Tapesh.
Currently the music director and resident DJ at Koh in Bali, we speak to James about his sound, Koh’s music policy and the island life on this edition of City Nomads Radio.
Hi James. Tell us more about your background?
I was born on the Northern Beaches in Sydney, Australia, but it was Asia where the majority of the raising occurred. At nine months old, my family relocated to Hong Kong and spent the next nine years there. From HK it was on to Bangkok, this time for five years. Then at the age of 14, I moved back to Sydney and remained there until a couple of years ago.
What made you got into DJing?
A combination of things, obviously a deep love for music, but in particular my mid teenage years saw me become obsessed with Hip Hip and Rave culture. These two musical movements had DJs as a major part of the environment and experience. My obsession grew along with my record collection, until i finally got the opportunity to share my records with an audience
Describe your sound in ten words or less
I’ll do it in two : “good stuff.” Music is highly subjective though, so you can decide if thats true.
You’ve moved to Bali for Koh, how’s the island life treating you?
Definitely not complaining. I fell in love with the island immediately! It’s such a beautiful part of the earth, which balances out the taxing, late night lifestyle of working in a nightclub nicely.
Koh has often been described as the underground club in Bali, tell us more about the music programming?
The ethos of Koh is based around 4 words. “[W]here Music comes first…” and that reflects every aspect of the operation. The space is raw, industrial and a bit rough around the edges but comes armed with a gigantic FunctionOne System in a room acoustically treated to perfection.
Musically, the club is dedicated to cutting edge electronica with a particular core focus on House & Techno.
Any upcoming acts we should be looking out for at Koh?
For sure! the rest of 2016 we have the likes of:
Matthias Tanzmann (Circo Loco / DE),
Kate Simko (Last Night on Earth / UK)
Rossko (fuse / UK),
Milton Bradley (Prologue / DE)
…and more scheduled to be announced soon. Also, New Years Eve will see the biggest, most iconic artist Koh has ever seen.
Apart from Koh, where’s your favourite spot in Bali?
A sunset beer down at 707 on Batu Belig is one of my go to spots.
[mixcloud https://www.mixcloud.com/citynomadsradio/city-nomads-radio-24-james-taylor/ width=100% height=120 hide_cover=1 light=1]
Tell us about your curated mix for City Nomads.
It kicks off with a few peak time tech monsters before taking a sub genre stroll through a range of techy sounds. Some deeper cuts, some tribal moments, a touch of acid, some chuggy numbers and an old forgotten classic or two.
Any shouts?
Big ups the Koh army who come down weekly and bring it! Your energy is what keeps me inspired. Shout to my partner in both work & crime, Dan Baartz, package deal kings represent! And shout out to my Mum, cause she’s awesome!
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