Name: Nouf Abdullah aka Cosmicat
Occupation: DJ, producer
Nationality: Saudi-Arabian
Recent release: Cosmicat's Ascension EP is out February 2nd 2023 via MDLBEAST.
Recommendations: I will always recommend The DNA of Achievers written by Dr Mathew Knowles, Beyonce’s dad. And also listening to Sofiane playing piano.

If you enjoyed this interview with Cosmicat and would like to stay up to date with her music, visit her official website. She is also on Instagram, and Soundcloud.



Can you talk a bit about your interest in or fascination for DJing? Which DJs, clubs or experiences captured your imagination in the beginning?
 
My interest and fascination are about all things music and making music. I grew up in Saudi Arabia back in the 90s and we had no method available to study music, find proper instruments or even music books to learn. So DJing was my entry point to understand rhythm and how to count beats. This is where I discovered the beauty of electronic music sounds.

Naturally I also had no club or nightlife experiences. We still don’t have nightclubs in my country till this day and most of my admiration for this music came from watching my favourite musicians and DJs on Youtube. Boiler Room TV was a game changer for me and made me feel like I was present during the show.

I love Nicole Moudaber as a representation for Middle Eastern women on the scene. I also love musicians such Maya Jane Coles, Amelie Lens and Nina Kraviz who was also a dentist like me.

[Read our Maya Jane Coles interview]

What made it appealing to you to DJ yourself? What was it that you wanted to express and what, did you feel, did you have to add artistically?
 
Since day one I always expressed myself with art and music. Being extremely introverted I found salvation in music.

My entry point to DJing was an attempt to understand music - I just wanted to play music for myself in my bedroom and for my close friends.
 
Clubs are still the natural home for DJing. What makes the club experience unique? Which clubs you've played or danced at are perfect for realising your vision – and why?
 
I honestly can’t give feedback about clubs because funny enough I have never been a club person. Clubs have never been part of our Arab culture, so I don’t have enough personal experience to evaluate them.

On the other hand, I am more of a music festival or a concert person because I truly believe people who attend festivals and concerts are in it for the music 100% and that’s what I care for.

Mostly clubs are about the social experience and I’m a very shy introvert, so it makes me really nervous unless I’m playing music in my zone. But in music festivals there are so many things to do and enjoy if you want to take a break from music and dancing - such as enjoying nature or getting a good meal or simply lay down and relax somewhere.
 
There is a long tradition of cross-pollination between DJing and producing. Can you talk a bit about how this manifests itself in your own work?
 
I believe after some time of being a DJ you become much more picky about your music and what you play. With time you feel the need to create your own music because you can’t possibly keep looking for that perfect track forever, you must make it yourself! And that’s what I did.

I always wanted to make music and I feel great when I turn the melody in my head into an actual music piece.
 
What role does digging for music still play for your work as a DJ? Tell me a bit about what kind of music you will look for and the balance between picking material which a) excites you, b) which will please the audience and c) fulfill certain functions within your DJ set.  
 
Digging for music is a 24/7 ongoing process and it never stops. I’m always listening to everything and every genre you can think of, and whatever I can’t use in my upcoming set I keep it in mind for my next track brainstorming session.

I like pretty much everything, I love melodic sounds in techno and house, I love futuristic synth sounds, powerful and groovy drums, also remixes of my favourite early 2000s throwbacks excite me a lot.

I've always wondered: How is it possible for DJs to memorise so many tracks? How do you store tracks in your mind – traditionally as grooves + melodies + harmonies or as colours, energy levels, shapes?
 
I’m really bad with remembering names and titles, as my library holds thousands of songs, it's impossible to remember them all.

But the cool thing is my brain instantly remembers every melody or sound I hear even though I always struggle looking it up. I can never forget anything I heard, I can even recognize samples within the track. I just can’t recall their names.

Using your very latest DJ set as an example, what does your approach look like, from selecting the material and preparing for and opening a set? What were some of the transitions that really worked looking back?
 
I like to understand the vibe of the place that I’m playing at. Who’s going to be there? How many people? Is it a big festival or an intimate setting?

All that helps me make a crate for the tracks that complement the vibe. I like to have everything sorted out in key, I love playing lots of vocals and lots of melody and would never play a track that I personally don’t love or doesn’t make me dance.

How does the decision-making process work during a gig with regards to wanting to play certain records, the next transition and where you want the set to go? How far do you tend to plan ahead during a set?
 
It really depends on what time I’m playing and where my set falls within the line-up and for how long.

For example, if I’m kicking off a line up early in the night, I would start with something nice and groovy and just escalate the energy upwards from there. Or if I’m mid line-up I would always start with high energy or one of my originals. Then if I’m closing, I have to end it with an unforgettable banger.
 
As a DJ, you can compose a set of many short tracks or play them out in full, get involved with mixing or keep the tunes as the producer intended them, create fluent seagues or tension. Tell me about your personal preferences in this regard, please.
 
It’s always a mixture of all the above really. It depends on the music and the people and the moment.

But for the most part I like to transition within 3-4 minutes to the next song, sometimes the track is so perfect the way the producer intended to be, so I would play it out. Sometimes with tech house and techno whenever there are cool vocals that are compatible, I would mix and let them speak to each other. Or when there’s a cool percussion on a track I like mixing it with compatible interesting counter sounds or melodies.
 
Pieces can sound entirely different as part of a DJ set compared to playing them on their own. How do you explain this? Which tracks from your collection don't seem like much outside of a DJ set but are incredible effective and versatile on a gig?
 
That’s true, well simply because when you listen to a track within a DJ set it’s usually mixed with some other elements or maybe played in a different tempo or with some effects on it.

For example my track “Toxic Romance” is one of the tracks that I love having fun mixing with other tracks and that changes the vibe of it completely.

I can make it dreamier and more spacey or give it a different groove to make you move.

Online DJ mixes, created in the studio as a solitary event, have become ubiquitous. From your experience with the format, what changes when it comes to the way you DJ – and to the experience as a whole - when you subtract the audience?
 
There’s no major differences for radio sets and live festival sets. But personally, I like doing long gradual transitions for radio mixes. My direction would be focused on music that someone would enjoy listening to in the car

Advances in AI-supported DJing look set to transform the trade. For the future, where do you see the role of humans in DJing versus that of technology?
 
Already there’s lots of technology assistance, even if it’s just having tools that help you mix in key or Beatport links that makes your life easier.

But honestly, I would like to maintain the human touch and errors in all forms of art as much as possible.

Let's imagine you lost all your music for one night and all there is left at the venue is a crate of records containing a random selection of music. How would you approach this set?
 
First of all, I would scream … second of all I would probably ignore the crate and find an aux and connect my phone … unless the crate has some Beyonce … then we are good.