LAUNCH: 5 Mag meets NOZU

Continuing to shine a light on upcoming artists and DJs on the horizon, 5 Mag meets LA-born producer, DJ and multi-instrumentalist NOZU.

After releasing music for the last couple of years, NOZU hit a new level on “Free,” debuting this month on Justin Martin‘s What To Do label. It blew us away:

Originally from Los Angeles, NOZU was inspired to write “Free” by “the awe-inspiring freedom of my female friends! I wanted an anthem they, and all women, could call their own in my sets. I wanted to bring their feeling of confidence alive in the record.”

5 Mag spoke to NOZU just after “Free” dropped; you can hear it on Spotify here or at your streaming site of choice.

Photo by Saylor Nedelman.

What should we know about you before we start? Where are you from, what do you do, and where might we have heard you before?

I was born in Koreatown, Los Angeles and have been pretty connected to music from a young age. I wasn’t “classically trained” in any sense, but I always had a knack for picking up an instrument and learning how to play something simple fairly quickly. Eventually, it took me down a massive rabbit hole of curiosity and spat me out in the world of electronic music. My taste of music took A LOT of forms, but I always knew I was supposed to end up here.

After some years of trying to figure out how to even start navigating this industry, I came across a local art and music collective called Subsessions in San Luis Obispo, CA, and I am grateful to have called them family, and even home. This crew of artists inspired my journey to curate a space for music to exist and enjoy. It is where I fell in love with DJing, and grew to understand that curation of the environment was more important than your own performance, so to speak.

After spending some time in the DJ/event space, I began to experiment with audio production. Soon after, I became the winner of Barclay Cresnshaw’s remix competition for his track “The Gene Sequence” in 2017. So I had to be doing something right, right? Seemingly like magic, our collective started to collaborate with other small, but passionate collectives and eventually led me to incredible producers whose talent was unmatched in my eyes, known as Boiz House and Inquiry Collective, based out of the Bay Area in CA. After a quick introduction to each other, this family of vagabonds became my best friends/confidants til this very day.

That’s when I felt my true calling began: to be creators in this space with a clear message to the world that real creative freedom lies within community – where we feel safe to take risks, learn from each other, and take care of each other in this unpredictable industry.

Even with my own production, I feel I walk a very fine line of believing what I create is complete garbage or a piece that is moving the artform forward. Some things work out, and most likely it’ll surprise you which of those things it ends up being.

My best friend MNTRA has taken a major role here, and he introduced me to an individual whom I looked up to my whole career — an absolute legend of dance music who leads with a giant light in his heart, Justin Martin. To say I’m grateful to be a part of his world is an understatement, and I’m very excited to see where this next chapter leads me.

You’ve been DJ for a lot longer than you’ve been producing music, is that right? That’s getting… kind of rare these days!

Yes! I’ve definitely been a DJ a bit longer than I have been a producer, but I believe it’s done nothing but benefit me in understanding the language of electronic music first! That being said, music creation has always been a part of my life as a multi-instrumentalist.

Can you give me an overview of tracks you’ve dropped so far?

Sure! I debuted my first self release in 2022 with a track titled “Windsor”. The track was absolutely loved by my friends, which helped me gain the confidence to keep writing! Shortly after came a few singles, “The Middle”, “Greetings”, and also a remix I did for my good friend Nok Nok called “Cold in California” released on the label Gradient Perspective.

Eventually the signing of my friend MNTRA’s album on Justin Martin’s label What to Do, led me to a few collaborations such as “Surrender” and a feature on the track “I’m Fine” with another great producer and friend, dernis, the kid.

Most recently, I released my first longer format EP titled “The Shine EP” in 2024, a project I hold dear to my heart. It is a multi-genred approach to the electronic music landscape which helped me be free of expectation of what kind of music I should be making as a producer.

What instruments are on “Free,” and which of them did you NOT play?

All of the guitar, synths, and vocals were done by me with a little help from splice for some funky samples!

Walk us through the process, from the spark of blinding inspiration to the point where we’re pressing play on “Free.” Tell us the idea behind it, the process of getting it down, the tools you use and how you found it a home on Justin Martin’s label?

The record is actually inspired by the awe-inspiring freedom of my female friends! I wanted an anthem they, and all women, could call their own in my sets. I wanted to bring their feeling of confidence alive in the record, even alluding to their powerful black boots and wigs at festivals in the lyrics!

The record is actually inspired by the awe-inspiring freedom of my female friends! I wanted an anthem they, and all women, could call their own in my sets.

On the production side of things, the track began with a classic boots and cats layer of house music that wasn’t too overbearing. Drum fills and layers of shakers were added shortly after to which to my surprise made the loop feel like it was breathing. After trial and error of many baselines, I decided to try and execute a style which could be played at any hour of the day at festivals and bring energy into the performance. A few layers of bass playing against each other really brought out that feeling, admittedly a bit on accident!

Then came the decision of how I’d like to play this live. I wanted a guitar riff simple enough so I can truly express myself on stage without any fear of technical error on my part. I have to say, the riff came so naturally. A few synth layers and samples later, the first draft of the record was born.

After a few edits and some absolute amazing feedback from Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, I gained the confidence to send “Free” and a handful of other tracks to Justin Martin. The rest is history!

When do you decide something is “finished,” done, there’s no more you can do with it?

Nothing is ever finished. It’s when you decide YOU’RE finished working on it lol.

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Demo or self-release: how do you decide, or how did you decide?

I honestly do not send music out to labels oddly enough. That might change soon, but I heavily rely on my intuition in which places I want my music to exist. I understand that stylistically my music is very different from what’s out there, and no matter how good it is, it most likely won’t “fit” their discography. I am totally ok with that. I want to make calculated decisions on my association and the people I work with because that’s what is truly important to me. Just good people with good intentions in being representatives of this art form. I trust what is for me will find me in due time.

What’s the hype so far? Who loves this record?

My mom thinks it’s pretty cool.

JK.

She does, but my friends and peers have been so supportive with this release! And most importantly Justin Martin has been loving it and has been playing it in a few sets himself!

Who is the person, artist or inspirational figure you hope hears “Free”?

I hope any artist that runs into fear of being different hears this track and helps them be more FREE of self doubt. Trying new ways to approach an artform is how innovation is born. Even with my own production, I feel I walk a very fine line of believing what I create is complete garbage or a piece that is moving the artform forward. Regardless, that’s the price we pay for wanting to roll the dice. Some things work out, and most likely it’ll surprise you which of those things it ends up being.

NOZU’s “Free” is out now on What To Do.