Barcelona-based Beirut native Momoda always dreamed of being a DJ.
"Back in 2003, when I came to study in Barcelona, I was pretty much out all the time, from club to club, after-hours parties with 3,000 people every weekend," he says. "Then I went to my first festival, which was Sonar Festival. I became even more obsessed with music and DJs, spending hours online looking and digging for music which took a lot of time and dedication."
"After I graduated, I got my first pair of CDJ 1000’s in 2009, and I started DJing as a hobby," he continues. "Some friends and I started throwing house music parties in Lagos, when it was non-existent back then. I was working full time and on weekends. I played at these parties, then I became a resident at a monthly event that my friends organized. They started booking intentionally acclaimed DJs in 2015 to Lagos such as Black Coffee, Shimza, Djeff, Caiiro and others who are mainly Afro House, and... it worked."
Momoda's first memorable gig was opening for Black Coffee in 2016.
"I had seen him at Circoloco, Ibiza in 2015 playing a b2b with Kerri Chandler," he says. "I heard different styles of music being mixed together that I had never heard before, it was like magic, I was inspired. I decided to move back home to Beirut first in 2019, where I spent the next two years working full time as a DJ and got into the scene slowly playing several times a week in events and private parties, working with different promoters and clubs which helped me make a name in Beirut which is known for its incredible nightlife scene and parties that have been going on for such a long time."
But Momoda feels connected to Barcelona and he moved back permanently three years ago.
"After quitting my full-time job and deciding to focus fully on my musical career, I got into the studio and started producing music," he says. "I knew that if I wanted to make it as a DJ, I had to produce my music and contribute to the music scene and its community which is the most important thing for me as a producer."
"I started playing once a month in Barcelona and then decided to create a brand and party that was sort of lacking in Barcelona, me and some friends came together and created Superfekta which is now a weekly party in Barcelona, booking our favorite artists and creating a community of party goers who wanted a different kind of party, a more intimate, cool and mainly a little bit different to what we have here."
Regarding his sound, Momoda says, "My sound is relative to a moment, mood, setting and my inspiration. I have learnt naturally that when I produce, I am producing different sounds and different styles while trying to work within a signature sound so that when you hear my tracks, they have my name written all over them. This takes time and I spend certain hours every day in the studio no matter what, sometimes it's hard to lock yourself and get in the zone, but consistency eventually gets you working even if sometimes you don’t feel like it but then you make small steps, this encourages you to continue."
"As a producer, I produce music that I feel inspired by, even if that sound is new to me," he continues. "I will try to explore that sound because it is important to ask yourself why are you creating this record?"
Momoda's latest release is the Beam Me Up EP, via Anims.
"This is one of the first projects I started working on at the beginning of last year, I wanted to create a record that I could play during my sets, I had just bought a new synth, connected the midi of a guitar sample to it and started playing around with the presets and a sound comes on that I really loved, and that is the synth in the main break which I thought sounded epic," he says.
"I built the record around it and started testing it at my gigs to see the reaction of the crowd, which was great, I kept changing things around and kept making adjustments until i felt it was right. I then shared it with some friends and then it got to Jaime (DJ Squire) who runs the Record Label Anims, he reached out and said he wanted to release the track."
"I am based in Barcelona and the Label was also based in Barcelona and they were releasing really good records, so it felt just right and we decided to go ahead and do the release which was amazing for me to finally release by debut EP. Eight months later the track got released and i feel very proud about the feedback i have received, it is a good feeling to know that all that time spent working on this EP finally paid off."
As for gear: "Ableton is what I use. It's great for making music. I bought several gears in the past two years, and one of my favorites is the Nord Lead A1, such an amazing synth and has sounds that pretty much work on most tracks. The Moog Sub 37 is a really power machine, the sound is so powerful and distinct. Moog is the best at making synthesizers and this one is incredible. There is a lot of aggressive and gritty tones that can rock really hard and drive synth solos and bass lines into a new stratosphere."
"Recently, I got the Prophet 6, this is an incredible addition to have," he continues. "Simplicity is the key, the recording process is easy, also it has 1000 patches which is incredible and it has a well-specified MIDI implementation which makes it a go-to piece of gear."
Looking ahead, Momoda has plenty planned for the coming months.
"2024 has been a good year for me and I felt like I was able to achieve certain goals and dreams," he says. "I have the feeling that things are falling into place gradually... and I am enjoying the process very much. I just performed The Lab Lagos by Mixmag as a headliner and it was an amazing moment to go back to Lagos after so many years. The Video will be out on Mixmag's YouTube channel so I´m really looking forward to sharing that with everyone."
"My Superfekta residency is really where I enjoy playing most, a crowd that I have shared more than a year with, so we now have a special bond," he continues. "I look forward to playing there every week, alongside artists I love, so for me this is always something that feels good to do, and doing it week in and week out is what makes it more fun. We will be doing our first Superfekta party in Athens this autumn, which will be our first one outside Barcelona. I have lots of new records in the pipeline and I constantly work in the studio to put more releases out there and aiming to hookup releases with some of my personal favorite labels in the future."
Photo by Pablo Bustos
