Few things are more satisfying for a verified music nerd like myself than being able to say confidently that, well, I knew about it before you did. I have absolutely no problem admitting that I was early on the Disclosure, Porter Robinson and Dillon Francis tip—and guess what? It feels pretty damn good.It's akin to the feeling of finding 20 bucks in your pocket, or opening the fridge to find a tray of proscuitto-wrapped melon slices with a note that says, "bon appetit!" OK—the second one has never happend to me, but maybe my roommate will be reading this and he'll know what to get me for my birthday. But what I was saying before indulging that dreamy tangent is that it's a wonderful feeling to hip the rest of your friends to their favorite new favorite artist, and I like to think I'm pretty good at it.So let me introduce you to a London producer who's future is looking pretty bright. Say hello to Mokadem. This young Brit has already broken the Internet on a number of occasions with some clever remixes, like her haunting re-work of Lana Del Rey's "Gods and Monsters" and has gained support from tastemaking big shots like BBC's Rob Da Bank. Mokadem is gearing up to release her debut EP on Melodica Records and it's giving you four original deep house grooves that are guaranteed to wiggle through your ears, past your shoulders and down to your hips. Take my advice, get up on Mokadem before you have to jump on the bandwagon with the rest of the village people.To add some extra sunshine into your Monday, THUMP has an exclusive advanced stream of Mokadem's debut EP as well as a Q&A with the budding producer.THUMP: Can you tell me a little bit about your background as a producer? How long have you been making music?
Mokadem: I started writing songs as soon as I was "old enough" to do so. I got some software about four years ago but was producing pretty sporadically because I wasn't really that confident in my technical ability. I would start songs and never finish them—there's one I made three years ago that my mum's still asking me to finish.How did you choose the name Mokadem?
It's my surname actually.You're from South London, right? How were you influenced by the city? Was there a particular DJ or producer that you looked up to and gained inspiration from?
I'm actually from West, but I went to school in South. It's built up and cramped and you can hear that a lot in the kind of metallic and kinetic sounds that come out of London. In West I grew up immersed in Arabic and Asian culture so I was definitely affected by my exposure to a lot of those things. The immediacy of living somewhere so well connected means that you have endless things to be influenced by, scenes like grime and garage were important. Mary Anne Hobbs directed my attention to a lot of new music.Do you have a day job besides being a DJ and producer? Or is it a full-time thing?
I used to be a cocktail bartender until I had to give it up to tour last spring.Where are some places that you're dying to gig at?
Berghain.Do you care to address the ongoing discussion about dance music's gender problem? Do you experience frustrating road-blocks as a female DJ?
In the beginning some people wouldn't take me seriously. Once I stood up to do a soundcheck and the engineer went to take my CDs from me, until he realized I was the one playing. He was standing behind me during my set watching what I was doing and then tried to step up and mess with the EQ. I turned around and told him to get off the stage. For the most part it's been really positive, but female artists have a completely different set of pressures to those of male artists in any field. I feel like the current atmosphere is pulling everything in the right direction and it's not something that affects me often.What type of rituals do you have when you're in the studio? Is there a specific snack or drink, or other vice that keeps you level when you're making your music?
I drink a lot of tea and if I get stuck I go to sleep.Tell me about this debut EP. I saw that it is supposed to represent the culmination of a relationship?
In a way, yeah. There was catharsis in assigning the tracks to one relationship, but they talk about more than that. You use music as a way of addressing emotions that can't necessarily be vocalised. It's like worm-holing your feelings into someone else's head.What are your plans for the future? Where do you want to be as an artist a year from now?
I want to keep doing what I'm doing, and to start doing it more comfortably. I want to move around also—maybe America.If you could choose one non-DJ celebrity to play this EP for who would it be?
Cleopatra.Pre-order Mokadem's debut EP (out Jan. 27 on Melodica) on iTunes.
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Mokadem: I started writing songs as soon as I was "old enough" to do so. I got some software about four years ago but was producing pretty sporadically because I wasn't really that confident in my technical ability. I would start songs and never finish them—there's one I made three years ago that my mum's still asking me to finish.How did you choose the name Mokadem?
It's my surname actually.You're from South London, right? How were you influenced by the city? Was there a particular DJ or producer that you looked up to and gained inspiration from?
I'm actually from West, but I went to school in South. It's built up and cramped and you can hear that a lot in the kind of metallic and kinetic sounds that come out of London. In West I grew up immersed in Arabic and Asian culture so I was definitely affected by my exposure to a lot of those things. The immediacy of living somewhere so well connected means that you have endless things to be influenced by, scenes like grime and garage were important. Mary Anne Hobbs directed my attention to a lot of new music.
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I used to be a cocktail bartender until I had to give it up to tour last spring.Where are some places that you're dying to gig at?
Berghain.Do you care to address the ongoing discussion about dance music's gender problem? Do you experience frustrating road-blocks as a female DJ?
In the beginning some people wouldn't take me seriously. Once I stood up to do a soundcheck and the engineer went to take my CDs from me, until he realized I was the one playing. He was standing behind me during my set watching what I was doing and then tried to step up and mess with the EQ. I turned around and told him to get off the stage. For the most part it's been really positive, but female artists have a completely different set of pressures to those of male artists in any field. I feel like the current atmosphere is pulling everything in the right direction and it's not something that affects me often.What type of rituals do you have when you're in the studio? Is there a specific snack or drink, or other vice that keeps you level when you're making your music?
I drink a lot of tea and if I get stuck I go to sleep.Tell me about this debut EP. I saw that it is supposed to represent the culmination of a relationship?
In a way, yeah. There was catharsis in assigning the tracks to one relationship, but they talk about more than that. You use music as a way of addressing emotions that can't necessarily be vocalised. It's like worm-holing your feelings into someone else's head.What are your plans for the future? Where do you want to be as an artist a year from now?
I want to keep doing what I'm doing, and to start doing it more comfortably. I want to move around also—maybe America.If you could choose one non-DJ celebrity to play this EP for who would it be?
Cleopatra.Pre-order Mokadem's debut EP (out Jan. 27 on Melodica) on iTunes.