Nicole Moudaber's US & Colombia Tour Diary

Nicole Moudaber is on fire right now, and the trajectory sees no bounds. An affiliate of both Intec and Drumcode, Nicole is taking her DJ prowess and sleek, driving sound across the globe. She's recently just finished a US and South American tour and agreed to share some moments from her recent tour with Pulse Radio. From judgemental airline staff, to the glamorous cocoon of Pacha NYC and beyond, read on as Nicole shares her thoughts, feelings and funny anecdotes. Oh, to be a globe-trotting DJ...

Day 1: Provocateur, New York City
My first of 2 gigs back in New York saw me return to this venue for the third time. I normally do it as an exclusive show while I'm in NY. It’s very different to most gigs I play, in the sense that the club only holds 150 people and it’s a proper table service and champagne crowd. It’s quite visual too, since every champagne bottle arrives with fireworks and gorgeous girls bringing it down. Also the policy on the door is very strict, I heard once a girl was refused entry because her boobs were too big! I enjoyed it and played a lot of vocal house records which everyone got into. 

Day 2: Pacha NYC
This was the big release party for ‘The Journey Begins’, my new track on Drumcode with Victor Calderone. It was only my second gig at the mighty Pacha and boy it was special. I wasn't expecting to feel like the whole city was there for me, but I felt so much love from everyone from record one. I started with my track ‘Give Me Body’ which features me on the vocals and NYC just turned it! I cannot begin to explain what I feel for this city, it's definitely home for me. Had all my friends in the booth with me dancing and going crazy, then I did a back2back with Vic for a bit which was great. I really liked it and hope to do it again. I'm hoping to bring back the feeling that NY had in the past, when the scene was famously vibrant, hip and cool and packed with fashion, art and freaks.

Day 3: Radio Berlin, Bogota, Colombia
What a welcome I had. The club was boiling hot, caliente to the max! But, my hotel couldn't take it to be honest. I checked out the minute I checked in. So after my set in Bogota, had to scout for a decent hotel. I was staying over 2 nights and there was no chance I'm sleeping with bed bugs or anything like that. At around 8.30am I was in bed at The Hilton. Thank you Paris, you made my stay very enjoyable.

Day 4: Bogota
Had a nice night off and went to a local restaurant for some local food. The best thing was Chicharron, which is fried pork skin...damn! Kinda like bacon with added pigs blood. I haven't seen anything as colourful as this place. Salsa playing all night, so I felt like I was in heaven. People were surprised I spoke Spanish, so that was cool to understand them and even joke with them. They got me drunk, of course, sinking mojitos and Aguardiente which was incredible stuff. I was about to dance with the "white lady of the house", be silly not too I thought at the time. Luckily she wasn't there, thank God she wasn't!

Day 5: Medellin, Colombia
Woke up very tired and slightly dizzy, fighting a chest cold. All I really wanted was to sleep, stealing hours here and there before and after the soundcheck. I guess this whole tour was coming down on me. I've been on the move a lot recently from hot to cold weather, which doesn't really help. Thank goodness for the Berrocca I have in my bags that gives me the boost I need before I play, but I'm ready to go home now. I'm dreaming of my space and my bed, I need 48 hrs of continuous sleeping to recharge my batteries again. I must say the girls are stunning in Colombia. There was this girl driving me around in Medellin and I mean, if you drew a body like that, you couldn’t get it so perfect :) Oh well, we can't have everything in life can we, but def need to hit the gym when I get back…

6. Pereira, Paradise Club, Colombia
Wow, what a way to finish the tour, 1500 people waiting to get infected. Incredible is an understatement. I loved every minute of it and they did too. Finish my set at 5am and zoomed to the airport to catch my flight back to Bogota and connect to JFK. Had to stop by NY as my main luggage was there… gurl needs to pick up her shoes!
But I'm dead beyond exhausted now. No sleep, no proper food but lots of water. I skipped all meals on the flights just to sleep. People look at me in a weird way. I guess it’s the hair and the outfits, which are not very suitable for a Business Class environment. Trolley dollies raise their eyebrows when I settle there. It’s like, "excuse me, this is for first and business class passengers. What's your seat number?"
“1a, bitch.”
Funny how people still judge based on how you look and what you wear. Mind you, coming out of a club with baggy pants and wild hair may not help much… but still.

Nicole Moudaber plays 'Drumcode Halloween Fright Night this Saturday at Great Suffolk Street Warehouse'. Her 'Sonic language' EP is out on Drumcode on the 26th November.

Listen to Nicole Moudaber on Pulse Radio.