This post is also available in: Nederlands (Dutch)
This week in the series MY FIRST GIG features the Indian Rohan Nunes, a.k.a. DJ/producer Man Go Funk. “At that time, vinyl was hardly found in India.”
“I don’t necessarily come from a musical family in Mumbai (formerly Bombay), but my parents did love music. My father played the flute and enjoyed singing, but not professionally. Of course, we had a record player at home, and I spent endless hours playing my parents’ records. My favorite was Kung Fu Dancing. Yes, really!” (laughs)
Naughty boy
“I attended boarding school until I was sixteen. Why? Because I was ‘a naughty boy’.” (laughs) “Discipline wasn’t something I learned at that school. I mainly became more independent and stronger. After all, you’re on your own and far away from your parents.”
Guitar and drums
“A lot of attention was paid to music at school. Music education was considered a must. I played drums and a bit of guitar. Eventually, I also took lessons. Most people around me loved rock ‘n roll, but at some point, I was done with the band scene. Just like with college, where I studied art. I quit that study after two years. I think I stopped playing guitar around that time and never touched one again.”
Herbie Hancock
“During that period, I listened to a wide range of music, especially from the 80s. Later, my focus shifted to more dance-like music such as Inner City, Bizarre Inc., De La Soul, Soul II Soul, and the Beastie Boys. I was crazy about tracks like Marss’ Pump Up The Volume and Herbie Hancock’s Rockit, and I started delving into electronic dance music. One day, when I was about seventeen, a friend took me to a club. I saw the DJ spinning on two decks and was immediately intrigued. He was playing old-school hip-hop, R&B, and some house tracks. Man, I wanted to play on those decks too! It was also the first time I saw a Pioneer SL 1210 set.”
Club Cellars
“At that time, vinyl was hardly available in India. A large company called Esoteric was responsible for the sound, lighting, and DJs of most leading clubs in Mumbai. The gear in those clubs consisted of turntables, cassette recorders with pitch, DATs, CDs, and laserdiscs. Through Esoteric, I got my first chance when I was allowed to spin at Club Cellars. Later, I played in various clubs within the Esoteric network until, a few years down the road, I started freelancing.”
The Ropes
“Cellars had a great DJ booth, and one of the senior DJs taught me the ropes of spinning with vinyl. I think I was about eighteen then. Esoteric had the habit of rotating DJs in different bars and clubs. Every few months, we visited the other clubs so we could listen to our fellow DJs. By listening, I learned a lot. Moreover, we used to be present at the venue an hour or two before our set. In those few hours, you could practice. And as we all know, practice makes perfect.”
Terrorist Attack
“Through Esoteric, I also landed a gig at the Oberoi Trident Hotel. Have you heard of it? Our 9/11 happened there but on November 26, 2008. That terrible terrorist attack occurred twelve years ago, long after I climbed the huge booth of this hotel at eighteen.”
Positively Excited
“I wasn’t nervous at all for this gig, but above all, positively excited. I was looking forward to it! Despite the fact that I had few friends in the house scene at that time, so no one was there to support me. Many people saw DJing as just mixing two records. Nothing more, nothing less. My parents didn’t understand much about it either. My father once asked what a DJ exactly is, but he never fully understood.”
High-end
“The Oberoi Trident Hotel is a high-end venue where airline crews and tourists liked to hang out with the local elite. When I started my set, the venue was already filled with about 250 people. By the time I finished, there were four or five hundred. Fortunately, the set went well. Yes, of course, I made some mix mistakes, but probably only I heard them.” (laughs)
Mumbai-South
“After that, things started rolling, and I played in many cool clubs in Mumbai. At some point, people know your style and book you because of it. You have to imagine that in a city of millions like Mumbai, there were only about 25 DJs active in dance at that time. So your name gets known quickly. I was mainly a Mumbai-South-boy. At that time, that part of the city was the domain of the rich & famous, and the atmosphere there was the most relaxed.”
Ministry of Sound
“What did I learn the first time? Well, actually what I always did and recommend to everyone: try to listen a lot to others, listen and listen again. You learn a lot from that. I used to wear out the mixtapes of the Ministry of Sound.”
Bollywood
“During the 90s, genres like psytrance and drum & bass took over the musical landscape in India. Those are not my favorite styles. Besides, Bollywood was dominant. Also not my cup of tea. I specialized in soul, funk, disco, house, and Afro and Latin house. This led me to the famous club Copacabana, specialized in Latin and Afro dance. The crème-de-la-crème of Mumbai hung out there. I had collected a large collection of music because I asked friends and acquaintances to bring vinyl from all over the world.”
Dubai
“In 2005, a friend asked me to play at a private party of an acquaintance in Dubai. Flight and accommodation were arranged, so I said yes. I then went to Dubai and never really left. My first residency in Dubai was at the famous Club Zinc. I was in the booth there for four years. After that, I moved on to the Westin Dubai Mina Seyahi Beach Resort. Today I am a resident of Club Barasti Beach. In addition, in 2017, I reached the second position in the Traxsource nudisco Top 100 with the track Lisa Can Disco and in 2018 with Ghetto Feeling.”
Collect
“Do I have any tips and tricks for upcoming DJs? Yes, I do. Focus on everything you like and collect that music. Then listen to it over and over again. After that, practice, practice, and practice some more.”
“My plans for the future? In any case, a bulk of releases and some collabs are on the agenda. Hopefully, we can soon play abroad again. At the moment, we are fortunately allowed to work in Dubai, of course, with adherence to the corona rules.”
This interview with Man Go Funk is originally published in January 2021 on This Is Our House.
Who is Man Go Funk?
Long-term Dubai resident Man Go Funk, who DJs at Barasti and Qd’s, is a prolific producer. ‘Alles Gute’ was Man Go Funk’s first track under his own name but it wasn’t the last.
Man Go Funk has put his previous production alias Deep Hertz to bed but he continues to make nu-disco/disco house under his Man Go Funk alias. Man Go Funk tracks ‘Lisa Can Dance‘ and ‘Ghetto Feeling‘, also released on Blacksoul, both peaked at No.2 on Traxsource. The City Soul Project & Man Go Funk Remix of Chat Chat by Turkish & The Blade is also out. Man Go Funk’s Outstanding track is released on Soul Beach Records.
Man Go Funk has also unleashed his S.O.N. – Sound of Nunes – project. “I can be more experimental with my S.O.N. project,” he explained. “It will allow me to release a little bit of everything, from ambient to melodic techno. During lockdown I just got lost in making music and there’s so much more to come,” said Man Go Funk.
