Today, NYLON House published a new cover, featuring a rare interview with elusive tech-house superstar PAWSA, ahead of his return to Coachella. In the conversation, PAWSA breaks down his instinctive pull toward dance music from an early age. He also shares his commitment to staying present and shaping energy in real-time from Coachella to Ibiza. Additionally, he explains how his passion for painting taught him to embrace imperfection. The Tech-house DJ and Solid Grooves lead is returning to the desert with a special extended set at the Quasar Stage tomorrow, April 10th.

Nylon House

Nonchalantly, PAWSA carried himself through the interview with light banter and strong branding. While discussing with Nylon, he explains that he does not have high expectations for one show over the other. Nonetheless, he also explains his love for music. He discusses his recurring connection to the emotional and precise elements that drew him into the scene in the first place. Very early on, he chose the decks over conventional instruments for the impact they have when a track hits just right in a crowd.

Credit: Nylon House

House music became his fixation, and PAWSA explained during the interview that:

“It’s physical and direct. There’s something powerful about repetition and rhythm,” he says. “It has a particular relationship with the body. If it’s done properly, it can feel simple on the surface, but a lot is going on underneath.”

PAWSA

By 2014, he was already taking over the London scene, and while collaborating with Michael Bibi, they co-founded their label Solid Grooves in 2015. Now, 11 years later, Nylon then understood what it takes to run a label successfully, according to the artist. The label has bolstered the careers of acts like Dennis Cruz, ANOTR, Ben Sterling, and Beltran. It has also racked up more than 50 million Spotify streams, according to the label.

The artist also complimented long-time friend Dennis Cruz and their trajectory within the scene. Nylon was able to approach Cruz through email and get some words on PAWSA. “The simplicity in the way David makes music is something else — it’s so refined but still so effective, and that’s not easy to do. He’s a genius at it, honestly.”

Other Relevant Topics

The interview also touched on the following:

• On why house music specifically: “House music is physical and direct. There’s something powerful about repetition and rhythm. It has a particular relationship with the body. If it’s done properly, it can feel simple on the surface, but there’s a lot going on underneath.”
• On what defines a record label: “For me, a label is about curation and creating a home for work that fits a certain standard and a certain identity…a label should feel like a language, not just a release schedule.”
• On why he doesn’t play 100% original sets: “I wouldn’t play a set that’s 100% my music — it doesn’t have an arc if I did that…I like to balance it with older music that can support the groove. ”
• On how painting influences his music: “What painting helped me to do is accept imperfections…you can quite easily wreck a painting by doing too much. You can’t just remove something like you can in music. It taught me how to accept whatever comes out and be less of a perfectionist.”

PAWSA

PAWSA is now a mainstay on all the buzziest festival lineups and routinely sells out venues like Manchester’s The Warehouse Project and Brooklyn Storehouse. Moreover, he is an honoree on NYLON’s inaugural Dance 100 list, celebrating the DJs and producers ruling nightlife right now.