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This edition of MY FIRST GIG features Italian DJ/producer Mattia Marotta, also known as Nihil Young. His first gig did not go as planned, partly due to his own actions. “It turned into a disaster.”
“During my first gig, I was about 20 or 21 years old. I had to perform in Düsseldorf, Germany. It was my first international gig as a headliner. I can tell you right away that I could have done better if I hadn’t consumed so many snacks.” (laughs)
Happy German Ravers
“The event itself was a hard TEK-rave. The venue was filled with happy German ravers. I hadn’t prepared anything, I never do. I just follow the vibe. In this case, that turned out to be a disaster. I never had a mentor, except maybe John Acquaviva, with whom I spent two days in the studio. That’s it.”
Baptism of Fire
“How did it all unfold? Well, I took a flight from Bologna, where I was living at the time, to Düsseldorf. As soon as I landed, just after lunchtime, I met the promoter and his driver, a huge bald, smiling, muscular German raver. A real hardcore type. Once we were in the airport parking lot, the man pulled a shiny thing out of his shirt pocket. It turned out to be a metal drug holder filled with speed. I had never had speed before, so, looking back, I was incredibly stupid. I was only used to drinking a bit during gigs, and this was my baptism of fire regarding drugs. Because I was nervous and wanted to fit in, I said, ‘Okay, why not?’. We then snorted until after the show. I was completely out of it.”
Blurry
“First, I ended up at the promoter’s apartment. The driver was there too. We hung out for a few hours, listened to music, and chatted a bit. It goes without saying that it was all a bit blurry. When it was time for dinner, I wasn’t really hungry, so I said I was fine with something small to eat. On the way to the club, we stopped at McDonald’s, where I ordered a small burger.”
Two Bottles of Jäger
“When we arrived at the club, everyone was super friendly. No one was worried. One of my friends, John Lagora, was the opening DJ of the evening. He played directly before me. Anyway, as if all that speed wasn’t enough, the promoter brought drinks. Not just any drinks, no, it was two bottles of Jäger. I felt like I was losing control and started drinking. By the time I had to play, I had downed an entire bottle by myself. Not a good idea.” (laughs)
Used to Vinyl
“I was used to playing with Traktor and timecode vinyl. However, during my trip, things already went wrong. I think my laptop was defective, but luckily I always had USBs with me. I didn’t like CDJs at all because I was originally used to playing with vinyl and wasn’t familiar with the Pioneer models of that time. But when it was my turn, there were, you guessed it, CDJs in front of me, and I had totally forgotten how the buttons worked. Oops.”
Super Cool Ravers
“Of course, I had a nice selection of music with me, including tracks of my own and others. In that sense, it could have been a great set—if I hadn’t been so out of it. Unfortunately, as soon as I started playing and wanted to mix in a new track, I couldn’t do it anymore. I racked my brain on how to fix it. Every small hand movement caused a forward jump of a few seconds in the track. At some point, I could have cried, but the ravers were super cool and just as freaked out as I was. They gathered around the booth, screamed at me, and supported me as much as they could. This helped me keep going and not give up.”
Demonic Red Eyes
“The only one who wasn’t happy with what was happening was, of course, the promoter. He looked at me with demonic red eyes and occasionally came up to me, saying things like, ‘You’re worthless and an idiot. I’ll never book you again.’ I was pretty pissed off myself but understood him and tried to stay cool. He insisted I go B2B, so my incompetence with mixing wouldn’t be so noticeable. Eventually, I agreed to play a few tracks together, but even then, he remained mean. The only good thing was that after a while, I finally figured out how the turntable worked, and my playing improved.”
Sympathy
“Anyway, when my set was over, I walked away from the booth. The promoter said, ‘Okay, finally, you big sucker.’ I retorted, ‘Hey man, what did you think would happen after a day like this? I had never used that stuff before, but you insisted.’ Anyway, I went to my friend John Lagora and told him my story. He was shocked and felt sorry for me. It all felt pretty uncomfortable. Then he took me to the apartment where he and his wife lived. They were super sweet and put me to bed.”
Ashamed
“The next day was the worst. I started crying like a baby. I kept repeating, ‘I don’t know what went wrong. I can mix. I had never used drugs before.’ I felt terribly ashamed. I also said things like, ‘I’m going to strangle that motherfucker. He can learn from me how to mix.’ When I think about people seeing me like that and how cool they were about it, I feel awkward and sad.”
Beatport Top 10
“So, what did I learn for the next time? At least never to do drugs before a gig again. Okay, maybe a little but nothing too crazy. Fortunately, a lot of things fell into place after that terrible experience. It goes without saying that I never contacted that promoter again. Musically, everything progressed in leaps and bounds. I’ve had tracks in the Beatport Top 10, and my vinyl releases were often sold out. I also made music with and did remixes for some of my heroes.”
Two Aliases
“Unfortunately, life wasn’t smooth sailing. After a few successful years, I had health issues. I even had to stop playing for a while. Today, I still deal with them, and it’s not easy. When things got a bit better, I decided to take it easy and produce music for others. I created two aliases, Less Hate and 7th Star, and some tracks were released on good labels like Gem and Toolroom. Recently, I’ve been back in full swing. I’ve released a few EPs and remixes. I have no complaints.”
“My first gig was quite a story, and I don’t want to bore you with my problems. Still, I want to mention that I’ve been through some dark times, with physical and mental abuse. My music was stolen, parts of my career were stolen, and I went up and down for years. Nowadays, I feel happy and complete, except for my health issues. I go through life relaxed and only make music when I feel inspired. I’m working hard on my label Frequenza and look forward to some great projects ahead.”
This interview with Nihil Young is originally published on This Is Our House in December 2019.
Who is Nihil Young?
Nihil Young continues to fashion new trends in minimal and tech-house music. Nihil Young started his career off with a bang, with a string of highly-acclaimed releases hungering labels Atlantic, Armada, 1605, and Definitive records. Nihil Young’s ingenious sound has caught the attention of heavy weights around the world.
In 2011 Nihil Young’s production with John Acquaviva titled “Good Music” prevailed in the Beatport top 5 for four months and shortly after, Nihil had been nominated for Techno’s Top Selling track of 2011.
Nihil Young’s consistent output of highly expressive electronic music — notorious for a deeply melodic, gripping and arbitrary journey, tells us more about him than words ever could. Whether releasing finely-tuned techno built firmly for the clubs, or cutting-edge progressive fit for main stages across the globe, Nihil Young’s dynamic and masterful soundscapes overflow with emotion and are delivered in what feels like an ‘effortless’ manner.
Nihil Young’s gift for evoking emotion through mesmerizing synthesizers, precise percussion, and powerful, driving grooves is ultimately what labels of the highest order such as Toolroom, Kittball and Zerothree began to notice. 2020 served as a year of creative exploration, with releases by the likes of Gorgon City’s Realm Records, Nora En Pure’s Purified, Yotto’s Odd One Out and Nic Fanciulli’s Saved imprint.
