With her dedication and untiring perseverance, Niki Sadeki has managed to put herself on the map as an up and coming DJ, and musical artist within a very short time.
With music at the forefront, she has been travelling globally and playing in renowned venues in cities such as Berlin, Amsterdam, Ibiza, Paris, London, Beirut, and many more. With a focus on deep, melodic and ethereal dance music, Niki conveys her expression of life to listeners and engages crowds through her live sets when she’s behind the decks.
Niki is also the founder of Deep House Vancouver, a platform dedicated to showcasing DJs, musicians from various genres of electronic music through carefully crafted podcasts, premieres, and events. With her collectivist approach to music, she hopes to develop opportunities and expand the platform into a broader community which engages and unifies its listeners through the various sounds it explores.
Balance Selections Q+A
Name: Niki Sadeki
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Facebook: facebook.com/nikisadeki
Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/nikisadeki
What music did you listen to as a child?
Music has been always a part of my life since as long as I remember. I got my music education from my parents. They both were, and still are, two of the people with the widest range of music I’ve ever known. It was really inspiring to be surrounded by so many different sounds from different genres and musical expressions. Anything from Psychedelic Rock, Blues, Jazz, Classical music and even Traditional Persian music. This is something that I obviously realized when I got older and feel extremely lucky.
When was the first time that you realised that you liked electronic music?
Electronic music and its elements always stood out for me, even at an young age. I remember Around the World by Daft Punk was a favourite of mine when I was 10 or so. I was also always fascinated by Bjork’s sound, and also the unique elements of Portishead’s music.
When was the first time you saw a DJ in a club?
That actually happened very late in my life, relatively. It was after our move from Iran to Canada, and I was in my late teenage years I think. I cannot pinpoint exactly who it was, but from the first time I experienced “that feeling”, and I got hooked immediately… hard! Since then, I was always gravitated towards it, and really enjoyed the music, and the sense of freedom it gave me at a very young age.
Which producers/artists/acts inspire you?
Gosh… There are so many! I tend to get inspired by a wide array of artists from so many different genres.
What is your current production and DJ set up like?
CDJs and Xone 92 mixer (my favourite mixer), and then I finally finished setting up my home studio setup. It’s very basic at them moment, Akai MIDI keyboards, Ableton Push 2. My guitars are also always there of course. I’m sure once I get deep in the rabbit hole of production my setup would look totally different from now.
Where can we hear you perform?
Well like everyone else, I had big plans for this Spring and Summer with tours all over Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the United States. But given the current situation, I’m just at home these days. I tend to spend a lot of time messing around with different ideas in Ableton. I also started a couple of side projects for myself that I cannot share just yet.
I did a number of Livestreams since the start of the pandemic. With all the uncertainties about the future I cannot really predict the next time I’d get to actually perform at a club or a festival… which sucks obviously.
Tell us more about the podcast you made for Balance?
Putting together this mix has been one of the most interesting journeys I had to go through in my music career so far. It wasn’t until I started working on it that I realized how much this global pandemic has impacted me – emotions were pouring right out of me to a point that I thought it was overwhelming. I did a number of variations but each time the one common element was this outpouring of emotions. So I finally decided to trust it and go with it. It’s uplifting, hopeful, yet It’s melancholic and moody at the same time. I really wanted it to be a timeless set, but at the same time, telling of our times.
My Recommendations
The top track in my DJ wallet currently is:
Well given the craziness that we are living in at the moment, my DJ wallet is not as full as usual. I am blessed, however, that I have many artists and labels that I adore, follow and support, sharing their creations with me regularly. Which feels incredible, especially now that music is pretty much the one constant in my life during this pandemic.
If I could recommend only one of my mixes for you to listen to it would be:
My set from Mira’s birthday event at Kater Blau from December 2019. It was such a magical time, and I had so much fun playing.
The last movie I watched that I really liked:
Parasite
My favourite TV show:
I watch stuff like Rick and Morty, South Park, and docu-series’ about the topics that intrigue me (not Tiger King!), and I listen to a lot of podcast series, especially the Joe Rogan Experience.
Balance Selections 127: Niki Sadeki
Tracklisting:
1. Joakim – On The Beach (Superpitcher Remix)
2. Marco Rollo – The causes of Insomina (Van Der Kirche Remix)
3. Frezel – Out of the Twilight (Original Mix)
4. Pawas – Dhun (Original Mix)
5. Monograph & Teleport-X – Baltic Pearl (AMPISH Remix)
6. Hermanez & Eran Aviner – Aria (Original Mix)
7. Alex O’Rion – Alone (Original Mix)
8. Remcord – Continuous Trip (Cioz Remix)
9. Marco Tegui – Coconut Oil (Original Mix)
10. Mira & Chris Schwarzwalder – Ayun (Jonas Saalbach Remix)
11. Swann Decamme & Mark Howls – Pacific (Original Mix)
12. Rowee & Nuiton – Description of a Dream (Original Mix)
13. Niko Schwind & Felix Raphael – Raphael Circles (Original Mix)
14. Dahu – Entanglement (Original Mix)
15. Karmon – 6 a.m. Funk (Original Mix)
16. Yor Kultura – Hypnosis (Original Mix)
17. Max Cooper – Arc (Original Mix)
18. Midas 104 – Carry On (Original Mix)
