A vibe, a mood, a dream. Nicole Moudaber personifies female empowerment. A philanthropist and car racer, she landed in the Techno Capital of the world to celebrate Movement Festival and close the weekend to celebrate a decade of her radio show, label, and event production In The Mood. Moments before her set, we sat down with Moudaber in the green room of the Magic Stick in Detroit to reflect on her journey, some light banter, and upcoming crazy projects.
We’re on Memorial Day with Nicole Moudaber. At the afterparty, celebrating 10 years of In The Mood, how are we feeling?
NM: Feeling good! where did time go? I have no idea, it feels like yesterday when it all started. I didn’t get to play yesterday at Movement Festival because of the rain, so we will make up for it tonight.
Yeah, we’re glad we get to see you tonight! Besides the festival, you were also doing a Beatport social media takeover yesterday, correct?
NM: Well it was funny, we were trying to catch some sets but when the rain started. I tore up a piece of plastic sheet from the stage to cover myself. So that was the fashion for the evening.
Hahaha, we love it. Just make a poncho out of a plastic tarp and run around wet Detroit, and serve! Hopefully this just fuels you even more to give it your all tonight!
NM: Absolutely, I can’t wait to host Chris Liebing, massive German techno DJ. Very fitting for the city of Detroit, the capital of Techno.
We were present at your b2b with Chris back in Ultra Miami 2023, so our expectations are high! Sadly, Layton Giordani couldn’t make it to play with you tonight.
NM: Yes, unfortunately he is battling a lung infection, we are really sad to miss him tonight.
Well, let’s dedicate this party to him and all the listeners! We have noticed you’ve been hanging out recently with long-time friend Carl Cox. You played at his San Francisco Burning Man Camp fundraiser, and did an insane b2b for EDC Las Vegas. My question is… who’s the better car racer?
Hahaha, well he is into drag racing and I do GT racing. They have similarities but still very different kinds of racing. We spent five days in Napa. After the Burning Man Fundraiser we took an F12 Ferrari Berlinetta and we just drove and took our time. We raced, did some wine tasting, chilled a little bit. It was lovely. We then landed in Vegas and smashed it. We closed out Neon Garden with our b2b and it was so amazing. We then went straight to NYC the next day. Technically we spent 10 days together. I’m also going to Burning Man with him this year.
That’s amazing! I have heard nothing but great things of Burning Man, we will have to make our way there soon. Circling back to In The Mood, after tuning in each week in the past few weeks I can’t help but notice how diverse each set is. How do you pick the mood each week?
NM: You know, it is a big commitment to make the show every week. I get a lot of records sent to me each week and I listen to every single one of them. When a record hits me, and I feel it, it has to be on the show. It’s a great platform for me to have. There are many tracks I don’t get to play at festivals and clubs that I actually love. So I love to showcase all that amazing talent that deserves to be heard.
We’re backstage while your opener Devon James is playing some sick tracks. We were actually chatting with him earlier and he helped set up this interview for us. Tell us, how it is working with him?
NM: I’ve been working with him for longer than 10 years. We will be touring the US and South America again soon. He is a very talented boy. Very tech-driven and he has great taste in music. He was already here with me and I asked him to open the show for me. He said, “Of course, let’s do it!”.
We also noticed you spent your Friday at Movement. With the crowd, watching different sets. How was your day?
NM: Friday was incredible, I got to spend time meeting people and enjoying myself. Saturday was a sh*t show. Tonight will be amazing. This festival is very special. The vibe is very intimate, you don’t really get that in more mainstream, massive events.
We felt the same way, and the underground stage has its own gallery dedicated to the pioneers of Techno. They paved the way for so many artists. We continue to see you in many other lineups for the remainder of the year. One that stood out to us was Groove Cruise in January. Have you played on cruises before?
NM: I’ve done other cruises but this will be my first Groove Cruise. It’s just crazy, you have 5000 partying on a boat all week.
We always hear crazy stories from the cruises, but that closeness between the artists and the audience reminds us of Movement in some way. The support that DJs show to each other here is very visible.
NM: And you can only get that in shows like Movement, it’s so small, you can tour the festival in five minutes from stage to stage. It is fabulous. Yesterday I got to see Kevin Saunderson B2B Idris Elba, that was Mega.
We appreciate diverse artists. Idris Elba for instance being a world-class actor but also an incredible DJ. That set was incredible. We wanted to mention your latest project Ankh Unveiled, which you debuted in NYC this past weekend. Can you elaborate on it?
NM: So we’ve been working on it for a while. I first showcased it last summer in Arts District in New York. But this year we kind of narrowed down the story. It is very organic, very feminine. Not about robots, not about anything technological. It is very relatable, and it’s about female empowerment. I wanted to showcase the goddess in every woman. Women give life, that is very powerful. Every time I play it I want to develop the story more and more. Hopefully I will tour it in fall of next year.
That’s just beautiful. Speaking of feminity. I wanted to bring up female DJs that are the backbone of the scene currently. Especially in this generation. Which female DJs should we listen to?
NM: Now that’s a good question, Lauren Lane is producing great stuff. Collette also. They are more on the house and tech-house scene. On the techno side, yesterday I heard Adiel, very good, I liked her. She is excellent. We have many DJs that are killing it, we just need more to come forward!
Absolutely! Thank you for the work you’re doing, inspiring more and more female artists.
Following the interview, Nicole Moudaber completely destroyed the decks with an incredible set. Lastly, she ended the night with a 3-hour b2b with Chris Liebing, which easily became one of our favorite sets of the weekend.
