{"id":398439,"date":"2025-02-19T08:46:37","date_gmt":"2025-02-19T00:46:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/citynomads.com\/?p=398439"},"modified":"2025-03-19T17:48:25","modified_gmt":"2025-03-19T09:48:25","slug":"exploring-nuno-da-cruzs-dj-journey-musical-roots-and-evolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citynomads.com\/exploring-nuno-da-cruzs-dj-journey-musical-roots-and-evolution\/","title":{"rendered":"Exploring Nuno da Cruz\u2019s DJ Journey: Musical Roots and Evolution"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/player-widget.mixcloud.com\/widget\/iframe\/?hide_cover=1&amp;light=1&amp;feed=%2Fcitynomadsradio%2Fcity-nomads-radio-106-nuage-ape-nuno-da-cruz%2F\" width=\"100%\" height=\"120\" frameborder=\"0\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Born in Porto but shaped by the streets of London, DJ and producer <\/span><b>Nuno da Cruz<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> has carved out a unique musical identity that bridges cultures, genres, and decades. Known for his genre-defying sets and raw approach to artistry, Nuno\u2019s story is as eclectic as his sound. In this edition of <a href=\"https:\/\/citynomads.com\/culture\/interviews\/city-nomads-radio\/\">City Nomads Radio<\/a> we caught up with him for a candid conversation that took us from his early days in Portugal\u2019s underground scene to his immersive experiences in London\u2019s iconic clubs including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fabriclondon.com\/\">Fabric<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/dalstonsuperstore.com\/\">Dalston superstore<\/a>, and south London Diggers Heaven <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/thegowlettarms\">The Gowlett Arms<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b style=\"color: var(--text--primary__color); font-family: var(--headings__FontFamily); font-size: var(--h3__FontSize);\">&#8220;Everything Starts with Silliness&#8221;<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>City Nomads (CN):<\/b><em><b> Hey Nuno, how\u2019s everything? Ready for this?<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Nuno: <\/strong>I haven\u2019t had time to prepare\u2014I\u2019m so sorry!<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (laughs) <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Honestly, I\u2019ve been anxious for the last two days about this.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>CN: <em>We should\u2019ve sent you the questions ahead of time!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Nuno: <\/strong>Yeah, I thought about that. But you know what? Maybe it\u2019s better this way. Everything starts with silliness, right? And anyway, isn\u2019t that what being an artist is all about? Not being prepared? LOL<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Finding His Sound: Porto to London, and the Spaces In Between<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><b><strong>CN: <\/strong><em>You were born in Porto but spent most of your life in London. How do you think these two cities have shaped you, both personally and musically?<\/em><\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Nuno: <\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are so many ways you can approach this question. Porto and London have this cultural bridge. Portugal has always been massively influenced by British music, and that comes from geography. Since the 1920s, even during World War II, we were picking up British radio waves. By the 1980s, Porto had this boom in underground and alternative music because kids were tuning into British radio and spreading what they heard.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I grew up during that time\u2014the first generation born into freedom after the dictatorship ended in 1974. Music was the first thing people used to express themselves. My dad played a huge role too. He was a businessman working with a British company, flying to London all the time. He brought back so much culture\u2014my first silver t-shirt, my first single, my first portable console. But more than that, he brought back 8mm films in Camden Town, Soho, even early Carnaby Street. I was like six years old, watching these raw, gritty images while living in the middle of austerity in this tiny suburb outside <a href=\"https:\/\/citynomads.com\/experience-porto-portugal-like-a-local-the-perfect-4-day-3-night-itinerary-to-see-eat-drink\/\">Porto<\/a>. That became my playground, my escape.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Moving to London: The Reality Check<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><b><strong>CN: <\/strong><em>When you finally moved to London in the late &#8217;90s, was there a culture shock?<\/em><\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Nuno: <\/strong>Oh, definitely. I thought I knew everything about London\u2019s music scene because I\u2019d been obsessing over it for years\u2014reading The Face, ID and Wraygun, trying to replicate the culture from afar. But when I arrived, I realised even a six-year-old in London probably knew more about music than I did. There\u2019s just too many <a href=\"https:\/\/citynomads.com\/borough-market-london\/\">things to do in London<\/a>. That was my culture shock. I\u2019d been so in my bubble, thinking I had it all figured out. But London is so vast, musically. It humbled me real quick.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><strong>CN: <\/strong><em>Were you a raver before you became a DJ? What\u2019s your first memorable experience in the club scene?<\/em><\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Nuno: <\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I became a raver out of necessity, I think. It wasn\u2019t like, \u201cOh, I\u2019m going to be a raver now.\u201d Things in my life just happen naturally, and I decide to embrace them. My background was in rock\u2014I studied classical piano as a kid, was in bands, wrote poetry, all that. But when I started writing for a ska band called Sloppy Joe, that\u2019s when I realised I wanted to explore dance music more deeply.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The first real \u201cwow\u201d moment I had in a club was seeing Kruder and Dorfmeister in 96 promoting the now classic DJ-kicks. They were throwing in Bossa Nova elements\u2014it wasn\u2019t even fully electronic\u2014and it blew my mind. I walked out of that set thinking, There\u2019s so much you can do as a DJ that I never even considered. And then I saw Rockers Hi-Fi, and I was like, What the fuck is this? I wanna do that! That kind of stuff opened my eyes to the possibilities within the art of mixing.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>DJing as a Learning Process<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><b><strong>CN: <\/strong><em>So DJing wasn\u2019t the original plan?<\/em><\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Nuno: <\/strong>Not at all. But once I started DJing, I realised it was the best way to learn about music composition. You\u2019re learning from other people\u2019s processes\u2014figuring out how tracks are structured, how to mix them into other songs, how to create momentum. I learned so much more about composing through DJing than I ever did in school. It made me hyper-aware of the intricacies in song structures, and that became a big part of how I approached my own music.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><strong>CN: <\/strong>When you\u2019re in the studio, do you have a particular creative process, or is it all about improvisation?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Nuno: <\/strong>I wish I could say I had a process, but honestly, it\u2019s mostly improvisation and making the most of the tools available to you. I struggled with the transition to digital production in the &#8217;90s. My first experience with computers in music was traumatising\u2014I hated it. I recorded an album with my band Driving Under Influence, in 97 that goes unpublished to this day but introducing computers into the process to time the drums felt like a total failure, we lost hours over it<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It wasn\u2019t until much later, around 2003, that I started experimenting again. Even then, it was more about playing around with sequencers and synths. During COVID, I finally had the time and space to dive back into production seriously. But even now, I don\u2019t see myself as both a DJ and a producer at the same time. When I\u2019m DJing, I\u2019m analysing; when I\u2019m producing, I\u2019m creating. They\u2019re two different mindsets for me<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-398442\" src=\"https:\/\/citynomads.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/NuAge-Ape-press-shot-615x767.png\" alt=\"Nuno da Cruz, looking at camera, smoking a cigarrette.\" width=\"615\" height=\"767\" srcset=\"https:\/\/citynomads.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/NuAge-Ape-press-shot-615x767.png 615w, https:\/\/citynomads.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/NuAge-Ape-press-shot-821x1024.png 821w, https:\/\/citynomads.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/NuAge-Ape-press-shot-64x80.png 64w, https:\/\/citynomads.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/NuAge-Ape-press-shot-768x958.png 768w, https:\/\/citynomads.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/NuAge-Ape-press-shot.png 1072w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 479px) 90vw, (max-width: 599px) 432px, 536px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3><b>Vinyl Obsession: Analog vs. Digital<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><b><strong>CN: <\/strong><em>Technology in DJing and production has evolved massively. Where do you stand on the analog vs. digital debate?<\/em><\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Nuno: <\/strong>Ah, the eternal question!<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (laughs) <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I come from the old school, mixing vinyl obsessively for years. At one point, I had over 8,000 records\u2014I thought I was a collector, but really, I was just hoarding vinyl like a lunatic. Eventually, I had to confront that. I listened to every record, decided which ones to keep, and gave away or sold the rest. I\u2019m down to around 5,000 now, but each one means something.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That said, I\u2019ve embraced digital too. When I first tried to transition to digital in the &#8217;90s, both in graphics and music production I failed miserably. But later, especially in London, I learned to adapt. Mixing with CDJs, USBs, or even software like Traktor became part of the process. It\u2019s not about being purist for me\u2014it\u2019s about using whatever tools help you express your sound best.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><strong>CN: <\/strong><em>You\u2019ve played in clubs in both Porto, Portugal and London. Do you adapt your sets based on the city and its crowd, or do you stick to your core style?<\/em><\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Nuno: <\/strong><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I definitely adapt. My sets are never the same because I\u2019m always in a different phase of discovery. Sometimes I\u2019m deep into Italian library music, other times it\u2019s Nigerian funk or early &#8217;80s Greek pop. I source music from friends, favorite labels, and even political soundbites or obscure vocals. I like to throw in elements that aren\u2019t necessarily \u201cme\u201d but add a layer to the story I\u2019m telling.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><strong>CN: <\/strong><\/b><em><strong>How do you plan a set? Do you have a narrative in mind, or is it more instinctual?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Nuno:<\/strong><\/span><\/b> I don\u2019t pre-plan the sequence of tracks. Instead, I listen to everything I\u2019ve gathered, learn the structures, and figure out where I can break or cut them. The real magic happens live. That\u2019s when I discover how different sounds interact and how the crowd responds.<\/p>\n<p><b><strong>CN: <\/strong><em>What\u2019s next for you? Any upcoming projects or plans we should keep an eye on?<\/em><\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b><strong>Nuno: <\/strong><\/b><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The good news is that, after a period of enforced hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I&#8217;ll be resuming my DJing career with a residency at OpenBox in Porto&#8217;s Art District Miguel Bombarda in 2025. This residency will build upon the spirit and work done for 8 years with Club Return to Forever at the Gowlett Arms in Peckham, South London, exploring a diverse range of funk and experimental sounds. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I&#8217;m currently working on new productions, including enough material for an LP tentatively titled &#8220;The NuAge is an Ape * The Artist is no wonder.&#8221; I&#8217;m also experimenting with incorporating more live elements into my sets, blending DJing with live performance and musicians. And while I&#8217;ve been sitting on an unreleased album for a while, I&#8217;m primarily focused on staying inspired and seeing where this musical journey takes me.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><strong>CN: <\/strong><em>Thanks for the chat, Nuno. This was a wild ride!<\/em><\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b><strong>Nuno: <\/strong><\/b>Thank you! This was a trip down memory lane. I hope it all makes sense once you edit it!<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (laughs)<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Listen to the mix he created for City Nomads via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mixcloud.com\/citynomadsradio\/\">our mixcloud<\/a> or click play below:<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/player-widget.mixcloud.com\/widget\/iframe\/?hide_cover=1&amp;light=1&amp;feed=%2Fcitynomadsradio%2Fcity-nomads-radio-106-nuage-ape-nuno-da-cruz%2F\" width=\"100%\" height=\"120\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>Follow Nuno and stay updated on his latest happenings at his channels:<\/em><br \/>\n<em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/nuageape\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@nuageape on Instagram<\/a> |\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/nuageape\/sets\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Soundcloud<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/ra.co\/dj\/nuage\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Resident Advisor<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\ufeff Born in Porto but shaped by the streets of London, DJ and producer Nuno da Cruz has carved out a unique musical identity that bridges cultures, genres, and decades. Known for his genre-defying sets and raw approach to artistry, Nuno\u2019s story is as eclectic as his sound. In this edition of City Nomads Radio &hellip; <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/citynomads.com\/exploring-nuno-da-cruzs-dj-journey-musical-roots-and-evolution\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Exploring Nuno da Cruz\u2019s DJ Journey: Musical Roots and Evolution&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10099,"featured_media":398444,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[522,37,4050,27,388],"tags":[7239,5539,7229,2482,7238,7237,7231,7230],"class_list":["post-398439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-city-nomads-radio","category-europe","category-interviews","category-music-and-festivals","category-united-kingdom","tag-city-nomads-radio","tag-dj","tag-london","tag-music","tag-nuageape","tag-nuno-da-cruz","tag-porto","tag-portugal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citynomads.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citynomads.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citynomads.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citynomads.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10099"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citynomads.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=398439"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/citynomads.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398439\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":398457,"href":"https:\/\/citynomads.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398439\/revisions\/398457"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citynomads.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/398444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citynomads.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=398439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citynomads.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=398439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citynomads.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=398439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}