Nupoke Music / Guest Mix / Dj Set / Interview

Nupoke

Subtempo Guest Mix 011


Bio

Nupoke is a Spain based artist who’s been actively moving dancefloors and chill-outs around the globe for over 20 years. With his first ventures in music in the rock world, it was in a period around the late 90’s, early 2000’s, during his residence in London that he dove deep into the underground electronic scene of that city. At the time best known under his Shuniam alias, where ambient, trip-hop and chill-out filled his very organic dj sets, his latest project, Nupoke, allows him to deepen his dancefloor focus.


Surrounding the release of this mix, we caught up with Nupoke, aka Shuniam Sanchez, to talk about music, his background and his other passions. Read below for this insightful interview into the man's career expanding over 20+ years.

Hi, thanks for taking the time to answer our questions, and doing this mix for us. To start off, I wanted to ask you about the beginning of the Nupoke project.

Nupoke started around 2008, to encompass different styles than what I had been playing until then. I wanted to investigate deep house, deep techno as well as ambient and electronica.

And before Nupoke? Did you have a different project?

Yes. Back in 2005, some friends and I started a band called The Incredible Sound Of Plants, with an electro-acoustic focus. Then, 2007, with my friend (Almai) we started CheatBeat, a pretty hefty electro project (you can listen to it on myspace).

Tell me a bit about how & when you got started with music.

I've been surrounded by music my entire life. My mother is a dance teacher, grandparents were musicians and there were instruments in my house since I can remember. My grandma had a piano in her living room, that was my first instruments I guess... Later on I grew passionate about rock and my grandfather gave me an electric guitar as a gift. Around that time and until I was 22 I was in a rock band called Flyback, until a guitarist friend of mine called me to tell me that while he was looking for a metronome for his practice, he accidentally bought a Roland 909, and that he wanted to give it to me. Yep, a 909 was my introduction to electronic music... there was a before and after...!

What would you say were your biggest influences around that time?

Everything started with Led Zeppelin, Hendrix and other classics and from there I started digging into psychedelic rock records... that led me to ambient and psychill.

Nupoke Photo by Cielin

And was that what led you to start your Shuniam Project?

Shuniam started 1999-2000... gobbling vinyl and Dj'ing at parties.

Were you in Spain around that time?

I had just moved to London and everything exploded over there. The underground scene was incredible, with different collectives organizing 3 or 4 different parties every weekend.

What is your best memory of those years in London? Any event or place you remember fondly? Or maybe a band or scene perhaps?

Around that time, I was living with a couple of friends who were also DJ's (Leo & Archan) and we worked in Camden market in a record store [The Psychedelic Dream Temple], where they mostly sold psytrance... Everything sort of happened there really... Musicians, Promoters, Party-people... everybody came through there. We did some memorable parties. In one of them I met Alex Patterson (The Orb)... fucking legend.

And after that you came back to Spain where you have been living ever since, correct?

Yes, I came back to the sun, playing tracks on the beach-bars, terraces, summer almost year-round, the beach... you know what I mean.

And is that where you have your studio?

Yes, since I came back in 2004 from London, I built my home studio in Denia.

Tell me more about what other things you feel passionate about right now. I know you have been involved in high end cuisine.

That is my other passion. One day I went to offer my Dj services to a friend of mine who is a chef (Bruno Ruiz), who owns an excellent restaurant called Anticook. He ended up hiring me and I spent a year training with him as a chef. He's taught me the ropes of high end cuisine and here we are.

Nupoke Photo by Cielin

Do you have your own restaurant or do you work for someone else?

I work as a chef at La Cornamussa, owned by some friends of mine, which has been running for about 1 year.

Where is it located? If I happen to be passing by the area, can I just drop in or do I have to reserve a table?

It's in the Denia port. It's better to reserve a table, especially during the weekend.

Have you had a chance to combine your two passions? Or are they two separate worlds for you?

Whenever I get a chance I play around, weather in private parties, events etc. I'm still recording in my free time.

About the mix you have prepared for us (thanks by the way!), where and when was it recorded and what intention did you have when you prepared it?

I'd been thinking about it for quite some time and suddenly, there was a rainy day, perfect to get into the studio. And that's how this ethereal and pearlescent mix was born.

What are your plans for this year, as Nupoke or as a chef, anything special planned on the horizon?

As Nupoke I have a new ambient techno project with a friend of mine that will soon see the light, and as a chef... who knows... maybe "Deck & Dish Restaurant"?

[LAUGHS]

Alright, keep us posted and thanks again!


Tracklist

  1. Olaf Stuut - I see [Rhapsody]
  2. Natural/electronic.system - Terrae nullius [Tikita]
  3. Dj Tennis - Certain angles feat. Fink [K7]
  4. Different Universes - Room 91 (Lazy Sofa rmx) [Inclusiv]
  5. Carl Craig - Sandstorms [Planet E Communication]
  6. Henrik Schwarz - Take words in return (Jimi Jules rmx) [Watergate]
  7. Masaya - Borderline (Patrice Baumel edition) [Chapter 24]
  8. Gacha Bakradze - Knowledge [Apollo]
  9. Etapp Kyle - Alpha [Ostgut Ton]
  10. Evigt Mörker - Hogre [Eskimo Recordings]
  11. Call Super, Beatrice Dillon - Fluo [Hessle Audio]
  12. Sebastian Mullaert - Every moment, I am [Apollo]
  13. Cass - ion [Unknown]

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