Tensky Talks 010 with NAJ (Noctem)

Najmi Ismail a.k.a NAJ has been producing for long time & has been working with Decemberkid, Rizkia Larasati, Janitra Satriani. NAJ’s sounds are more into melodic bassline, combining his chords too. NAJ is always seen performing around venues in South Jakarta, such as Hatchi. When he plays, NAJ combining DJ set & electronic live set to earn different sounds each time he plays. Tensky had a chance to talk with the man while he’s playing in Surabaya. 

Hi Naj ! Gimana lo dulu bisa mulai sering producing & DJ juga hingga sekarang ?

NAJ : Gue producing awalnya iseng aja. Gue bikin hip-hop gitu and then in 2013, I release this single. It’s a proper single that work with my fellow classmate, Ariel Nayaka. Semenjak itu, gue mulai eksplor ke genre-genre lain dalam producing. Untuk nge-DJ, gue mulai dari tahun 2015 an gitu. Waktu itu Mario Saesar dari PreachJa undang gue untuk main di Preach It ! Jakarta. Overall gue udah producing selama 6 tahun hingga sekarang.

Please describe what is NOCTEM.

NAJ : Basically its an collective from Sindhen. Awalnya Sindhen itu dikira kolektif DJ. Kebetulan di Sindhen ada gue, Decemberkid, Erik Soto, Aytsaga dan Mashiro. We decided to make a collective based on DJ & Producer di Sindhen. Di Noctem ini, we trying to show people further our diversity style of DJ & music producing that could pleased the audience. We want to show different & unique to everyone. 



How did you get in touch with Marion Jola to remix her voice with beats you made ?

NAJ : Waktu itu gue lagi videonya Marion Jola di Youtube. I was like “ Ah it’s a fun remix to make” dan I did it. Setelah itu, gue post di story dan Marion balas story gue “ Oh this is so cool”. Yaudah, it turns out dia juga ngedengerin remix dan lagu-lagu gue di Soundcloud. Gue sama dia jadi ngobrol tentang musik dan lain-lain.

Did you realize that after you did some remix on Marion Jola voice, you received about 3,000 likes in Instagram. How do you feel about that ?

NAJ : When something is posted by people yang lagi booming and youre kind part of it… ya kecipratan basically haha. Itu wajar kalo kaya gitu.

Beside producing, what makes you DJ’ing more these days ?

NAJ : I enjoy dj'ing. Here’s the thing Dj’ing for me, Dj'ing is not about selecting music and present it to people. I incorporate live performance in my set. Gimana caranya untuk memberikan hal yang beda, suara yang lebih organik dan unik. Masalah teknik bisa banyak banget untuk diobrolin. Intinya adalah untuk menjadi unik dan orang-orang juga teredukasi.

After we listened to your remixes, semuanya berasa like melodic & RnB taste, who’s inspiring you to do of those ?

NAJ : Hal yang menginspirasi gue sebenernya adalah para audience sendiri. People really do enjoy popular songs right ? Biasanya kan its made as its should be. What I did, basically to give my own taste & flavor. Yang paling trigger gue untuk bikin terus, ya dari audience sendiri karena mereka enjoy for what I made.

Any idea to making a EP and collaboration in the future ?

Naj : Im actually working on an EP. Im going to feature dope artists such as Rizkia Larasati, Ariel Nayaka, Janitra Satriani, just to name a few.

What is the real sound of Noctem does wants to express to people ?

NAJ : Sebenarnya Noctem came from different background, but we have common things in music. Like me, gw main classic piano dan gw main bass. Ikhsan ( Decemberkid ) plays drum really well, Rere ( Erik Soto ) is a Sound Engineer & his voice really good, Dewa (Aytsaga) playing guitar and enjoy lo-fi songs dan Dion ( Mashiro ) paling nyebrang banget, he likes to listen cute Japanese music and metal. Dia bener-bener diverse bgt. Kalo digado-gadoin, that’s the sound of Noctem.