Artist Spotlight: Nataša

Discovering a Passion for Electronic Music

My love for electronic music only really deeply began during my university years. I was first exposed during high school, when I began selling tickets to events in Johannesburg. Growing up I was always more into rock and indie rock…

In Matric, I was a sales rep for one of G&G Productions event’s, Rage Festival. I managed to do really well which led to a more permanent role as Regional Sales Manager for the brand. During my first year of varsity, I was managing around 150 sales reps across South Africa for the festival, my real gateway into the festival and event spaces. It was the first large-scale event that I was actively involved in as part of the team. Spending weeks in Durban on the ground, this is where I began to fall in love with the dance floor, electronic music, and what a DJ could do to people - transport them out of body and provide the healing space for this ultimate euphoria. It was so beautiful to see and be a part of and really motivated me to learn how to mix!

Getting my first gig

My first ever gig was actually a DJ competition that I entered, you had to submit a House/Disco mix, with the winner being able to open the floor at Carfax in Newtown. With only a few hours of DJ lessons from Travis (Random Citizen), I won the competition and landed my first gig.

Exploring New Sounds and Captivating Audiences

When I first started Djing, I actually never thought I would play House, Techno, and the other genres of music I play today. I was a huge fan of Drum n Bass and Dubstep, but kind of naturally moved into the genres I play now. I still really love DnB, and I’ve actually been thinking about starting a new alias, separate to my Nataša brand.

Being exposed to new sounds has always been something that has excited me. I would go out to events and festivals like Grietfest, where there was a plethora of music on offer, and when I would get home, I would spend hours researching, listening to, and learning about the music and artists I had just discovered. In a way, I try to give a similar experience to people who listen to my sets. By blending and mixing different genres and tempos, I can integrate unique and interesting pieces of music which I find can really captivate an audience by giving them something new, instead of just a four - four beat or one genre the entire set.

The genres that I generally play are House, Techno and Electronica, but of course within that are many other sub-genres. I play slightly faster tracks at the likes of TOYTOY or Mødular, but recently the tempo that I have really been enjoying is the slightly slower stuff, between 117 and 126 BPM, where the tracks are really clean and effective, creating a unique energy and feeling.

I played at TOYTOY a few weeks ago, and after my set, someone came up to me and said he’d loved how much “space” I’d created. No matter what tempo I’m playing at, I always try to allow tracks to have this breathing room. I think especially while the trend right now is pushing faster tempos, I feel that often sounds can fight with each other, so I try to allow space and breathing room in my sets, enabling people to really feel the percussion and harmony, allowing them to move in the most organic way.

Learning and Growing in the Industry with Ryan Murgatroyd

When I finished my degree, I met Mark Valsecchi and Ryan Murgatroyd. I had done a 6 month internship with Mark at Mixroom Studios, thereafter Ryan kind of stole me from Mark as he was able to employ me full time and I needed to get a job and start earning some money. Ryan was just starting his record label and needed someone to help him out, so I began working with him. He is an absolute creative genius but even he knows he’s not that strong when it comes to organisational skills. He basically just said “you have a business degree, come run my label!” He taught me about distribution, A&R, metadata, label management, marketing, promo and so much more, of course this really helped my growth in the industry. We also spent a lot of time in studio making music - he really taught me so much, but I like to believe I helped him too, by bringing order to the chaos. For two years, it was really awesome! We were pushing a lot of music out, hosting events we called Swoon Showcases, but then unfortunately Covid impacted us quite badly, so I ended up leaving Swoon and joining Labelworx in early 2022.

Working at Labelworx: My Role and Passion for Label Management

Labelworx is an independent digital distributor for electronic music. I joined in a Label and Content support role, essentially assisting all clients with metadata issues and content support. However my passion lies within label management, and luckily I was able to take on more responsibility and move into this, as Labelworx has a programme called Accelerate which is a label management service. This means if labels want to utilise our services, we can assist with scheduling and uploading releases, sending out the promo, doing the press releases, pitching to DSPs and basically handling the whole release process from start to finish on their behalf. At the moment, none of the labels I manage are from South Africa. Labelworx does work with local labels, but is more focused on distribution solely.

In the future, I want to focus on helping local labels. I’ve noticed a lack of education and knowledge in terms of the independent record label space in South Africa. There is a traditional mindset I’ve picked up on where local artists are so focused on getting signed to a major, but I believe there is huge value in releasing independently and really want to highlight the importance of this, as well as educate and inform young upcoming artists on how to do this, and the benefit of starting their own imprints. I want to educate local labels, help them pitch for releases, and understand the whole ecosystem a bit better. I am also thinking about potentially starting my own label, but this is a bit more of a long term plan right now.

Balancing a 9-5 Job, Music Production, and DJing

I work a 9-5, make music, and DJ, and to do it all is a bit of a balancing act, but scheduling time on my calendar is how I stay on top of it. That way I know which days are for making tunes, which are for set prep, etc. In the next few months before season starts, I am looking to focus more on production, and then once we’re in season I usually focus more on gigs.

Being with Tenfold Agency has really helped with managing my bookings because I found it quite challenging to keep up with all of the admin while working full time. Having them represent me and handling everything from invoices to sending out my press kit just takes a lot of pressure off me, so I’m grateful for that.

Influences: The Inspiration Behind My Sound

I would say Polygonia is an artist who has really influenced and inspired my sound - listening to her music opened a whole new world for me in terms of her insane sound design. There have been some really special moments during my sets where I’ll throw in one of her tracks and for me those unique moments, seeing people super receptive to a totally unique sound are always incredible to witness. If you don’t know her, go check her out!

A Song I Could Listen to Forever

I think if I had to choose one song to listen to for the rest of my life it would be a track that my partner introduced me to by a Russian female producer called Ishome, and the song is called Ken Tavr. I know she uses a modular rack to generate these really interesting patterns and sequences, and I get drawn to how much emotion you can feel from an electronic song.

Moving to Cape Town: A Natural Step Forward

Having started out in the Joburg scene, I found that I was getting booked for more and more gigs and festivals in Cape Town and was having to travel a lot, couch hopping at my friends' places. My partner was travelling a lot too as his head office is in Cape Town, we’d end up missing each other because he’d be in Cape Town during the week, and I’d be there over the weekends. So that's when we decided to move down to Cape Town together.

From my experience, I think there is a big positive shift happening in the Cape Town scene in terms of genre exploration. Lots of people are hosting events, pushing different sounds and it's great to see genres like Drum n Bass continue to take off with events like It Came From The Jungle and Frogtown, and the guys from Nocturn pushing a deeper, intelligent and more hypnotic techno. If I could throw something into the mix it would be that more festivals hosted multi-genre stages, instead of two stages both playing similar genres. I think if festivals would do that, it would really open the door for Cape Town to be a hub for electronic music and its many sub-genres. At the end of the day we all love music because it is something that connects us so deeply. It shouldn’t be limited to one genre or mood, so allowing space and freedom to enjoy many different genres and even live music at these events would be epic!

Memorable Gigs: Rage Festival and Beyond

I have created some really amazing memories while being behind the decks! I played at Rage Festival the year I started DJing and it was unreal! I opened up the Beat Burra at 20:00 and no one was there. I wasn’t expecting many people as it usually only gets busy from around 22:00 or 23:00. Anyway, I started playing and around 15 minutes into my set I looked up at this huge dance floor and got a fright! “Where the f@#k did all these people come from!?” - it was packed and it was still one of my most memorable sets. It was the year that my Grade 8’s were in Matric, so it was really special looking up and seeing so many familiar faces all grown up and screaming for me.

Origin is always a big one, and Pangea last year was also such a highlight! They gave us a ‘stage energy brief’ which detailed their vision for each stage and the unique sound palette they wanted to push, so I put together some tunes that I thought would work perfectly for the Canyon. Before my set began I was really nervous, but I had a whole bunch of my friends right behind me, and the dance floor was just so responsive to the music that those nerves quickly faded. It’s really special when you are part of a dance floor who are not chatting or on their phones being distracted, and are actively listening and dancing. As a DJ, you want to captivate people, show them new and interesting music and give them an experience they won’t forget, and I feel like I was really able to do that during my set.

At some point, I definitely want to look at playing live. Right now, I am not quite comfortable enough to take that step in terms of my own production, but the goal is to release two singles before the end of the year, and I do have a few tracks that are almost there.

The Importance of Relationships in the Industry

I was really lucky to have already been working in the industry before I was a DJ. I had already built up relationships and connections with promoters so it was easy for me to chat to them and get bookings. Looking back, I am really grateful for this as I know this is not the case for most people. I do think that relationships are a huge part of getting booked. I’d built up a good name for myself in other areas of the industry, shown people respect and expected that in return, and in the end that all played a big part in setting a solid foundational relationship with the industry which has since snowballed quite nicely for me. My advice for anyone starting out would be to stay true to yourself, be humble, be genuine, and set boundaries - it is important to have respect for yourself as well as for others. Also, DJing or music production is not a competition. The more time and effort you put into your music, whether that's playlisting, researching, producing, or any other aspect of it, the better. That time and effort will speak for itself!

My Studio Setup and Gear Wishlist

Currently my studio includes a Novation Launchkey Midi keyboard, an electric guitar that I don’t use much but I am keen to try and integrate more, an Arturia Beatstep sequencer which is fun to play with, and a Macbook Pro with Presonus Eris monitors with a Bowers & Wilkins sub.

My studio bucket list includes: an Elektron Rytm drum machine, and I’m looking into Arturia’s Microfreak.

Favorite Plugins and Production Tools

My favourite plugins: I use Ableton and Maschine to program my drums, my favourite synth at the moment is Phaseplant. I also really enjoy Output’s Portal - it’s absolutely wild overlaying these effects on vocals!