Defected's Marcus Barnes examines the past, present and future of one of the underground's true heroes...
Hailing from Mannheim, in the south-west of Germany, Nick Curly notched up an impressive list of achievements in 2012. He released his debut LP, Between The Lines, celebrated five years of his label Cecille Records and secured a debut appearance at Richie Hawtin's much-lauded ENTER at Space in Ibiza. As well as this, Nick also criss-crossed the globe from Mexico to Tokyo, while holding down his residency at the much-respected Kehakuma night in Ibiza. Now, as 2013 looms, Nick says he's 'feeling more relaxed than ever before' as he prepares to ramp things up a notch over the coming year.
Never content to rest on his laurels, Nick's next phase will involve a huge album remix package to be released via house titans Defected, launching a new sub-label of Cecille and festival appearances across the globe. Likewise, he will also continue to tour the world relentlessly and to work on his music, branching out to record to different labels and expanding his musical palette.
It all began way back when Nick was just 15, his passion for DJing landing him a residency at the legendary Vibration Club in the Karlsruhe region of Germany. Inspired by a host of musical luminaries from DJ Sneak and Frankie Knuckles to Dennis Ferrer, Fred Everything and Villalobos, Nick built up a strong reputation and was soon picking up bookings across Germany. Ten years of solid work put him on the map and, as well as his DJing, he began to make music, releasing his tracks via his own labels Cecille and 8Bit. Cecille dedicated to the more experimental side of music, supporting artists like Markus Fix, Butch, Alex Celler, DJ Sneak, Uner and Leon. The label is currently in its fifth year and has inspired a worldwide tour, which is still on. Meanwhile 8Bit is focused around the deeper end of house music, bringing together a family of younger artists including Afrilounge, Johnny D, Gorge, Joe Montana, SIS and Nick himself. Both labels (and sub-label Cecille Numbers) are now firmly established with widespread from Nick's peers and will soon be joined by a third sub-label, CIC.
His music has also been released via other influential labels, cementing his reputation as a formidable producer with EPs on Get Physical, murmur, Liebe*Detail and Cocoon – in fact his Sun City EP was the biggest selling 12” on Cocoon in 2011. Nick is also responsible for the strictly dancefloor Series collection of EPs, as well as numerous releases on his own labels - Still Not Sorry, Azylum and Stuntman among them.
In turn his abilities both on the decks and in the studio have brought him to the attention of the rest of the world and he was soon being booked to play across Europe and, eventually, America and Asia. In 2010 he became resident at a brand new, underground night at Space in Ibiza – Kehakuma. Providing the perfect environment for Nick to play his own brand of deep, tech house Kehakuma became a seminal night in Ibiza and is widely viewed as one of the few truly 'underground' events on the island.
Nick's tireless work in the studio culminated in the release of his debut album, Between The Lines, at the beginning of 2012. The LP featured a collection of music that, though electronic-based, was not quite 'the norm' as far as his sound is concerned and what he describes as “Nick Curly from Monday to Friday afternoon”, essentially what he likes to listen to when he's not DJing at the weekend. “I'm inspired by a lot of eighties music, stuff that's on the radio – pop and rock songs - when I'm at home or in the car during the week. I need it to maintain the balance,” he says.
He introduced more live instrumentation to his productions and hired vocalists like Rebecca Maas, Luca Sportiello and Worthy Davis to add greater depth to the long player. It was an exercise in broadening both his skill set and his audience too. From the smooth subtle sounds of Wake Me Up through to the RnB-tinged Piano In The Dark, Between The Lines showcased Nick at his most dextrous and has set him up for a even more promising future than he'd already worked for.
A few months after the release of the album, Nick commissioned a series of remixes – among them a mix of Underground by one of his heroes, Dennis Ferrer. The track caught the ear of Defected boss Simon Dunmore and led to a pivotal meeting between Nick and Simon, giving way to a deal that will see a further set of remixes from Between The Lines, produced by some of the biggest names in house and techno. Legends Larry Heard, Derrick Carter and Osunlade will step in to create their own interpretations of tracks from the album for this exciting new project, which will undoubtedly introduce Nick Curly to an entirely new audience. “Having the album signed is one of the biggest things to have happened to me,” he says.
And, after getting a feel for the festival stage in 2012 with appearances at Audiogate, Hell und Dunkel and Day&Night Fest (DE), RideFest (HU), Eastern Electrics (UK) and Around Festival (CH), Nick already will add even more festival dates to his 2013 diary heading back to the UK for several appearances, as well as the States and south America.
Nick never makes stringent plans for his future, so as not to exert too much pressure on himself, instead he continues to focus on working hard from day-to-day – the key to his growing success seeming to be his penchant for living in the moment. “In music you can't plan anything, you never know it could all be over tomorrow – at the moment I'm super happy with everything. You should enjoy your life now and not plan too much” he says. His career in 2013 it seems, will only benefit from this attitude...
Words: Marcus Barnes
Nick Curly appears on Beatport Live 1st February and plays Ministry of Sound, London 9th February - click here for full event info
Between the Lines (Bonus Edition) is out now
