Bringing the African Drums Vibe to Phangan is DJ Faraj

What brings you to Koh Phangan?
The first time I came to Phangan was in 2008, it was just as a mistake. A friend said we should go to the Full Moon party, I didn’t know what it was but we checked it out and I didn’t like it as it was too commercial for me.

Then in 2014 me and a friend from Australia came back again and we found out about Mellow Mountain and we fell in love with the place, we found the underground style here and I have been coming back and forth ever since, I come every sixty days for at least a month. I have been here this time for three weeks, I was here for new year to play Mellow Mountain and Sandcastle.

What made you want to be a Dj?
It’s a funny story, I guess since I was a kid, I used to carry an organ kids toy with me. I had a passion for music and was a natural musician.

Back in the days of cassette tapes I would spend my time recording mix tapes, one day I said to my friend that I wanted to find a way to speed up the songs or slow them down so we found a way to speed up a set.

I wanted to record two songs together and mix them but had no clue how, so I met a friend from Tunisia, he was a real dj and I was surprised to see him mixing and recording, he taught me and I took it from there.

I have been djing for twenty years now.

What is your style?
Tech House, that’s my main genre, sometimes Minimal Techno. To me Tech House as a producer is more about the drum elements, Bass line and percussionist that gives you the ‘African drums vibe’ and swing, so this is the genre I like the most, it makes sense to me.

You have two record labels, tell us more about them…
The first one opened in 2012 called ‘Low Frequency’, it was mainly for Deep House and soulful House. Then in 2014 I have just opened the second called ‘Superstitious’ that is for strictly for Tech House and Techno.

I do have a few artists on both labels, some of them I know by name and some I know through friends or demo submissions. There’s a lot of guys from Germany and Italy and I am receiving demos from Brazil as well.

What have been your standout gigs on Koh Phangan?
No doubt Mellow Mountain, it’s the vibe and the response I get from the crowd and dance floor. They are the gigs that stand out for me from the rest.

Don’t get me wrong, they’re all nice but it’s the right time and the vibe I get from the crowd.

So what have you been up to when you are not on Phangan?
A lot I guess, I do have a daytime job back home as a music producer and sound design engineer and I’m always in my studio producing tracks and handling demos.

I also have a residency Sunday nights at ‘W Hotel’ in Qatar and Thursday’s at ‘Kempinski Hotel. I will work in the morning in my studio then if I do have spare time I like to go out with friends and I do a lot of reading which is related to music.

I like filtering my music, backing up good tracks from demos etc.

Where have you been playing this time you have been here?
I played Sandcastle, Mellow Mountain twice, Infinity and also Moon House. We have something coming up in May at Mellow Mountain, everything is all last minute but I am sure I will have more gigs.

Infinity was absolutely amazing, the whole concept, the place and the good thing is it can hold young and old people at the same time, it’s a nice bar.

What are your projects for 2016?
There’s a lot of things, first of all I want to be more focused about moving to Koh Phangan, this is the first thing, and then try to focus and establish my business, that’s my aim for 2016.

What do you do in your free time on Phangan?
I like to spend time by the beach, just to clear my thoughts and to get new ideas from the surroundings of nature.

If you asked me my favourite place I would say that I have no favourite as every place has its own vibe and magical touch to it.

And finally, what is your life philosophy?
If you have a dream and a goal in your mind I would really encourage you to live it and believe it but don't give up, work hard and achieve it. Don’t forget practice makes art.

https://pro.beatport.com/artist/faraj/496953
https://www.facebook.com/farajmalkuwari/
https://soundcloud.com/farajalkuwari