Nørus is a Brazilian based artist who co-founded the brilliant Yellow Island Records, a Label full of wonderful effervescent sounds inspired by the creative and chaotic environment of São Paulo. I was lucky enough to be able to talk to him about his journey so far.
Hey Felipe, great to meet you! Would you like to quickly introduce yourself?
Hi everyone! Thank you so much for having me. My name’s Felipe Bortoloti, I’m a music producer and DJ from Brazil under the name Nørus.
You’re currently based in Brazil and grew up in São Paulo? Can you talk a bit about life growing up there and how you got into dance music and DJing?
Yeah! Actually I used to live in a city next to Sao Paulo when I was a kid, but I’ve always came here with my father.
São Paulo was and always will be a huge inspiration for me: The multiple cultures and the “artistic” chaos (love to say that) always fascinated me. I can say that living here is a interesting experience of life. Talking about my starting point on Electronic Music, I was a drummer and member of 3 different bands before becoming a DJ and producer.
After having some bad experiences, I decided to explore my own music alone. I remember that a friend of mine showed me a Gui Boratto’s song called “No Turning Back”, and I was amazed by that. It happened 10 years ago and since then I’ve been discovering and studying this magical world.
You founded Yellow Island Records with a friend, Flavio? Can you talk to us a bit about the story behind starting the label and the ethos behind it?
Yeah, everything happened in 2018. I met Flavio on Facebook, he lived in another city and was working on another music collective/label, the same situation I was living at that time.
Coincidentally we were not feeling comfortable and decided to leave those collectives almost at the same time. Few months later I showed him my idea about the label and we started Yellow Island together. We decided to divide our activities inside the label, making the process easier and more controlled. I’m the Mastering engineer, taking care about all the processes involved with the audio files, like Metadata and bureaucratic matters.
Flavio is doing a great job being the A&R Manager talking to new artists, creating new relationships on Social Media…a lot of daily work.
How has Covid affected you guys and What are the future plans for Yellow Island Records?
We were doing a tour in Europe when pandemic started, and it was very difficult because we needed to cancel a lot of new plans that we had. Now we’re focusing on finding new releases and developing new projects to explore different styles, like our first sub-label called “Astral Therapy”. We’re not thinking too much about the future right now, we’re just doing our best every single day and living one day at a time, waiting to party again as soon as possible.
What is it like running parties in Brazil?
It’s very difficult because of the bureaucracy, but people here are amazing and love to party. We had a lot of big and small collectives doing parties here, and the vibe is insane. Literally, the city never sleeps. Unfortunately we’re going through this boring COVID situation, but I believe that everything is gonna be alright soon.
From my understanding, you’ve lived in a couple of different cities in Brazil, which ones? And how does their musical sound differ?
Well, before I came to Sao Paulo I lived in a city called Campinas for a long time. In 2017 moved to Curitiba, a city in the south of the country, and lived there for one year.When I was a kid, i lived in different small cities inside São Paulo’s state, because of my family. I don’t like to move a lot, but musically and culturally speaking it’s great to see the diversity of this country. The rhythm and the musical instruments are different depending on the region you are at. Every city has its own cultural events with traditional music, and you can learn a lot about its culture listening to their music.
Are there any particular clubs and events run in Brazil that have had a lasting impact on you? Are there any recorded sets from these that you can share with us?
Yeah, I had one in particular that i’ll never forget: Mamba Negra almost5 years ago.
It was the first big party I’ve ever played here in São Paulo.
What was the first record you bought?
Pink Floyd – The Dark Side of the Moon was my first record ever.
Who are some DJ’s and Producers that you think we should all keep an eye on in the near future? And why?Brazil has a lot of great artists, like my friend Villaça. He’s a producer from São Paulo and has released great songs and is a talented DJ.
One of the most talented producers I met in a long time is Kessler, based in Rotterdam. We`ve just released his first EP on Yellow Island, and it’s one of the most praised ones by our public.
Moodrich and Urbnmowgli are two incredible producers I met in Berlin, and they have just started their own label called Emotional Voyage Records.
You also produce music, what is your process behind this? And what are some of your particular highlights of your own productions?
I consider myself more a producer than a DJ, because I love the whole process and I began my career making music before learning how to DJing.
My process is never the same, and I try to do something different every time I’m at the studio. I definitely don’t like to produce the same kind of song, so I always try to find new ways to do my music.
Although making different every time, I believe that every song has a connection, and that’s what I consider my highlight.
What was the process behind your Denise EP?
I made this EP at my mom’s house, remembering all the good things I’ve lived there. It’s a mix of happiness with nostalgia, and it was a very special moment that I had with myself. The process was very natural, trying to transpose all my ideas and feelings from that moment into instruments, studying new chords and melodies to each song.
You’ve curated a small youtube playlist for us – can you talk to us about your process behind curating it and some of the tracks you have included?
It was a very nice process and I tried to include some songs that I consider “game changers” in my life and career.
From Pink Floyd to Warren Harris aka Hanna, including Kamaal Williams, Chico Buarque, Banda Black Rio, Aphex Twin… artists that helped to mold what I’m nowadays.
And finally, what are your plans for the near future?
Party again and keep doing what I love the most in my life: music.
Hope to see you soon on the dance floor!
Thanks so much for your time Felipe!
Thank you very much! It was a pleasure for me.
Interviewer: Tom Allman