Nurko shares message behind new ‘Arrival’ EP and his inspirations (DMNW Interview)

Melodic future bass DJ and producer, Nurko, had a big start to the year with a 5-track EP titled Arrival and embarking on his first tour. Featuring some of your favorite artists, Nurko has racked up millions of streams. Creating heavy drops and songs that will also get you in your feels, Nurko knows exactly how to get himself on your next playlist. We had the chance to sit down with Nurko before his Atlanta show at Believe Music Hall. Check out the full interview below.

Photo: Bobby Bengal

DMNW: How has the tour to been so far?

Nurko: Oh, it’s been good. It’s my first tour, so it’s a little new to me. Before this, I’ve been doing more support shows and stuff. Every market is a little bit different and I’m not really sure how each market performs until I play it. It’s always surprise every show.

DMNW: Which tour stop has been your favorite and which one are you most looking forward to?

Nurko: Honestly, I like all of them. They’ve all had good energy. Yesterday I was at the Skyway in Minneapolis, and I’ve played there before. Minneapolis always throws down a little bit harder than other cities. For shows I’m excited for would be Webster Hall in New York. Just because that’s like a hometown show, but also a legendary venue.

DMNW: Are you from New York?

Nurko: I’m from Jersey, but New York is right there. Also, it’s a bigger venue than some of the other ones, so I’m a little nervous as well.

DMNW: In your song Lost Without You, it features Seattle’s very own, KnownAsNat. How did that collaboration come to be?

Nurko: she sent me a rough vocal that I think originally she had for somebody else, but it didn’t really work out. Then I built a little instrumental around it and then me, her, and actually my girlfriend, who’s a lyric writer, they teamed up and wrote the lyrics. As they were doing that, I hit up Crystal Skies and sent them the vocal. They were like, “Oh, yeah, this is cool.” Then we just built the track from there.

DMNW: It had been one of our favorite songs. We have been playing that on repeat!

Nurko: Yeah, I like it a lot too! It was a lot of fun because me and Crystal Skies, they kind of did the first drop and I did more of the second drop. We were able to incorporate our own styles.

DMNW: In your new EP, what was the message you wanted fans to embrace when they were listening to that?

Nurko: Pretty much the story of Nurko, it’s always been talked about a little bit, but this was the kind of defining moment of it, where basically I explained what the logo means and the story behind it. The logo, with the seven lines, it resembles the seven continents of the earth, unity and how music brings people together, no matter what. They might have disagreements, but music is something that’s universal. In a nutshell, that’s what it is, but it was the first time that I really wrote it out for everybody. So that’s the most exciting thing about the EP, I would say.

DMNW: What do you have in the works for the rest of 2022 and also for 2023?

Nurko: Working on more music as always. I have some cool stuff that I can’t quite say yet, but I’ll release it publicly soon. Also, phase two of the tour and then just a lot more festivals as well.

DMNW: What genre of music inspires you outside of EDM?

Nurko: Classical, cinematic music. I’ve been taking piano lessons for years, so I learned Mozart, Schubert and Bach. I like the way that some of those classical virtues are able to convey emotion just like on a piano. So I take a lot of inspiration from that.

DMNW: Who are some of your favorite artists that you are listening to at the moment?

Nurko: I’ve always been an Illenium fan even before I started working on this vibe of music. So still Illenium. There’s a lot of music I’ve discovered from actually TikTok. There’s this one band called Molchat Doma. They’re this Belarusian post-punk band but some of their stuff is really good and I’ve been just listening to that. I wouldn’t have known about them if it wasn’t for TikTok.

DMNW: Do you have any last words for your Pacific Northwest fans?

Nurko: There’s something about just whenever I’m out there, especially Washington, it’s so beautiful. I see how Jeff “Seven Lions” lives out there, the nature just inspires you. I definitely want to go out there and try to work on music in nature. The Gorge, it was breathtaking when I saw it for the first time.

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