Meet the lineup for Glamcult Selects x NO GA: NAKANO BLU

NAKANO BLU, the Spanish-born, Amsterdam-based producer and sound designer, is forging a unique space in electronic music. Once a competitive cyclist for Spain’s national team, his name pays homage to his past on the track. His evolution from a drummer to a distinctive producer has seen him shift from the intensity of deep techno to a sonic landscape rich in IDM, diasporic Latin rhythms, and broken beats. Blending influences as diverse as Blawan, Pink Floyd, and the talents of close friends in the scene, NAKANO BLU has a special place in our hearts. Always putting a smile on our face with the custom-made memes he uses to promote his music (especially the Frank Ocean ones), we bet you’ll want to know more about NAKANO BLU! 

Hey Pablo! <3 Can you tell me more about how you came to your DJ name?
I used to do a lot of cycling and compete a lot. I was doing this track cycling thing, and the guy who won the most consecutive world championships was called Nakano. So I thought it would be fun to incorporate something from that time of my life. You also cannot really guess it and I like that.

Wow! Did you completely leave it behind, the cycling?
I was in the Spanish national team, doing European championships and training for the olympics. But when I was 22, I just realised I was not going anywhere. To be competitive worldwide you need a lot of goverment funding, and Spain doesn’t have it.

That’s a shame, but I get it. Do you miss it or do you still bike? Is that why you came to the Netherlands, haha? 
I like to compete, but not biking. I still do short sprinting distances, like on the velodrome. I moved here for music, not the biking!

What about the ‘blu’ part?
I wanted to have two words in my name. Blue also is kind of sad. It can be a colour with the letter E, but without it, it looks a bit different, it’s stylised. It’s kind of an abstract name, it can be so many things and I like that.

Nice! Who or what are your biggest inspirations in and outside of music? 
In music, I think the biggest one may be Blawan and bands like Pink Floyd. I listened to them a lot as a kid. Nowadays it’s everybody, I don’t know how it happened, but everyone around me is super talented in photography, film, music, and basically everything. Everybody kind of inspired me in a way and I’m really lucky for that.

Yeah, it is such a blessing to be in a scene where everything fits around you. 
Yeah, but also they all became my friends so recently. They’re all crazy talented, so I don’t know how that happened, but I’m so happy.

That is lucky. I wanted to ask you what your biggest DJ ick is?
Oh, I have a list. I hate when the beatmaching is correct, but the beats are flipped, so the 1st beat on the next track is on the 2nd beat of the previous track, that makes me stop dancing and the rest of the crowd stops too. I also think we have grown past ambient intros, we are almost in 2025 and people need to let go.

I also noticed you promote your music a lot with memes and that kind of stuff. What do you think is your best promotion meme so far?
I do. I like the Frank Ocean ones that I’ve been doing lately.

Those are so funny. Besides meme making and DJing, what do you do in your daily life?
I work in a gallery two days a week and I teach in my studio. I also do different kinds of tech jobs or just little jobs in the arts to support myself. I also organize the .West party. Together with Jip (Douglas Calii), Sem Allush and Niek (Compact Disorder). Where we do these art installations in clubs.

And what do you teach?
Yes, I teach drums and production.

Cool! You are also organising club nights for .West of course.. so, you’ve probably done this exercise before. If you could think of your dream lineup. No restrictions, no budget, and no spatial limitations. Where and who would play? 
It would definitely be at Garage. I would have some big names and some bands like Jack, maybe Skrillex, Kavari for sure and Nassar. Oh, there’s this DJ I love Marwa Belhaf Youssef who would be there too.

What would you say you listen to on a day-to-day basis?
I actually don’t listen to a lot of club music, only when I’m there at the club. I listen mostly to rock and hip-hop and a lot of jazz.

Really?
Certain genres are made for certain social settings. Punk is made for a small dirty bar, and club music, like Jungle, is made to be on a sound system. You listen to the same track on your phone and it’s completely different. If I listen to club music, it has to be where it’s meant to be listened to.

Would you say that you’re a purist in that sense?
No, I’m just aware of this. When I’m making my own tracks, I’m referencing tracks that I love in the club and often I notice it’s actually just a really clean 808 and a vocal. Then I think to myself I should do it more like that.

And how does your DJing inspire your producing or is it the other way around?
I think mostly drumming inspires my DJing because that’s what I have been doing for most of my life. It was more expressive and DJing is more about the selection. So the player is my drums, I try to see what I can do musically with it. Not a gimmick, but actual music.

Yeah, I see what you mean. I feel like I can hear it in your sets.
I try, I’m practising. It will work if we just speak it into existence as well.

Nice. I’m super excited to have you and see you on Friday!
I’ll see you soon!