Wednesday 2 March 2011

Get to know... WAFA (Grizzly)

WAFA (GRIZZLY)
Norwich born Nathan Curran (aka WAFA) is regarded as one of the most talented drummers of recent years - providing the beats for the likes of Lily Allen, Faze Action, Kano, Lady Sovereign, Pnau, Craig David, Reef, Tinchy Styder, James Morrisson, Paloma Faith and most notably UK dance/electronic house sensations Basement Jaxx.



Whilst studying at music college in London, Nathan became close friends with Tim Land (who went on to release on Hospital Records as 'Landslide'), who encouraged him to get himself a laptop and 'start making beats'. With the success of his drumming, he didn't have the time to fully focus on his own music production, but whilst on tour he would spend his spare minutes getting his production skills down, and sending the tracks to his friend Seiji for feedback.

His musical epiphany occurred at The Big Chill in 2009, when (after headlining the festival with Basement Jaxx) Nathan stumbled across a late-night DJ set from Stealth favourite Toddla T.
“I saw Toddla T and he blew me away. It reminded me of the Grant Nelson vibe with mash up rave, and everyone was going mental. I thought at the time - I wanna make some mad beat bleep shit like this, so I came back to my humble studio in Kensal Rise and made “Ewid Disco”

After Djing at clubnights in and around London, Nathan became a resident at Basement Jaxx's 'Inside Out' parties in Brixton, where he would play disco alongside the Jaxx's official tour DJ Graeme Sinden. When Sinden mentioned to him that he was setting up a new record label, Nathan sent him some demos (including 'Ewid Disco') and Wafa was born!




The tracks were signed on the spot, and WAFA's debut EP was released in 2010 on Sinden's 'Grizzly' label. The lead track 'Ewid Disco' was featured on Crookers' Mixmag CD, Brodinski's 'Mystery Mix' and Drop The Lime's Fabriclive53 Mix; and the EP also recieved props from the likes of Annie Mac, MJ Cole, Gilles Peterson, xxxy, Nick Grimshaw, Mary Anne Hobbs and SBTRKT.


To help promote the EP's release, WAFA & Grizzly were kind enough to give away two remixes of the tracks. Click here for the link to download Canblaster's remix of WAFA's track 'Pop Up', and here for the link to download the Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs' remix of 'Ewid Disco'.

Since the release of his debut EP WAFA has gone from strength to strength, remixing the likes of Basement Jaxx, The Count & Sinden, Steve Angello, Jon Giovanni (aka Felix from Basement Jaxx), Pnau, & Nottingham's own DJ Santero.

Jon Giovanni - Take Off (WAFA Remix) by WAFA

Steve Angello - Knas (WAFA Re-edit) by WAFA

The Count & Sinden - Addicted To You (WAFA Remix) by WAFA

WAFA has recently collaborated with some of the hottest names on the scene (Sinden and Trouble & Bass head-honcho Drop The Lime), and will soon be following in the footsteps of DJ Zinc by releasing on Dave Spoon's 'Televizion' label.

Make sure you catch him when he plays at Stealth Vs Rescued on March 19th. Also keep your eyes peeled on the blog for an exclusive interview and some more bits and pieces from the man they call WAFA.