RECAP: Kaynaş Club 2025
We look back on the second edition of Kaynaş Club!
A CONVERSATION WITH FIGI, NATHAN KOFI & YOUNGWOMAN
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A CONVERSATION WITH FIGI, NATHAN KOFI & YOUNGWOMAN
Discover the most exciting artists at Melkweg RADAR! For our special ADE edition on October 24, Nathan Kofi, Figi, and YoungWoman will take you deep into their worlds of electronic music — from big rhythms and dreamy electro to playful experimentation. We caught up with all three ahead of the show.
YoungWoman: maximalism for heart and hips
Egyptian-Amsterdam DJ and producer YoungWoman is beloved for her mixes of diverse styles, ranging from techno and UK garage to even poppy vocals. In her sets, she embraces a sense of grandeur: ‘Maximalism is the common thread in everything I do. Whether it's club music, ambient or live performances, it has to be as big as possible and it has to go straight to your heart and hips.’
Her talent did not go unnoticed, as in April this year, 3voor12 selected YoungWoman as one of the greatest DJ talents in the Netherlands. ‘I moved to the Netherlands five years ago and have been DJing for half that time. Sometimes it's difficult to shake off that feeling of being an outsider. That's why I'm very happy and grateful to know that what I do resonates with people, both on and off the dance floor. That feels good.’
"Maximalism ties everything I do."
In addition to being a DJ and radio host, she is also part of the T4T (Trans 4 Trans) Los Angeles collective. "I strongly believe that marginalised artists are what make every scene interesting! Unfortunately, prejudice, in this case transphobia, often stands in the way of great talent that deserves a chance. That's why we need to actively make room for everyone. Tokenism is also an issue. Everyone is happy when they programme one trans artist per season, but we show that you can fill three years of programming with only trans artists. That's exactly what I'm doing with my girls. And finally, it's just really fun to organise an event where artists and audiences feed off each other's energy!"
Needless to say, we couldn’t ignore YoungWoman either: this autumn, she’ll be playing not just once, but twice on our ADE programme! In addition to this show, YoungWoman opens for hyperpop icon Danny L Harle on the Thursday of ADE, along with The Haguebased producer Willem Feltzer. YoungWoman: ‘I love PYXLS and the girls behind it. The last time I played there, I had a great time, so I'm very happy to be back! Besides, I played the closing slot for most of the summer. It's refreshing to be playing early now and giving hyperpop the YoungWoman touch, and vice versa.’”
Nathan Kofi: experiment as motivator
As a DJ and producer, Nathan Kofi embraces experimentation and broadening horizons when it comes to making music. It’s a defining trait of De Lichting, the collective and label he helped establish—where DJs and producers connect through a DIY approach to electronic music.
On Nathan’s debut album "I Am That I Am (2024)", he seems to take a step beyond his house and techno roots, giving more space to breaks and melody. But does he share this notion? “Experimenting with sound is literally how I make music. The album explores multiple layers of myself: reflections on my years in the music industry, me as an artist, who I am and who I want to be as a person—identifying with your music, but also losing yourself in that identification. The album is a direct response to all of those internal processes; hence the title.”
That open-ended approach has clearly led to noticeable development, he notes. “You can definitely hear a shift in my earlier work. That comes from both personal and artistic growth. These days, I care a lot less about what others think of my music, and I’m less influenced by scenes. That’s been really liberating for me—and it's clearly reflected on the latest album. It was a very intentional choice.”
"Reclaiming my birth name was important to me — even a form of poetic justice."
He changed his artist name from Nathan Surreal to Nathan Kofi, his West African birth name.
“That was really important to me. It even felt like a form of poetic justice, because my previous name translated to something unreal, something ‘not real’. At the time, I liked that concept — and you could hear it in the experimental techno I was making back then. After COVID, I changed my name back to my African name, ‘Kofi’. The Black Lives Matter movement definitely influenced that decision too. It was about reclaiming something real — moving away from ‘surreal’ and returning to the real.”
When a project is that personal, is it hard to call it finished? “Of course it’s difficult — when is music ever really done? It’s always a tough decision that only you can make. But every time I do make that decision, it feels like a success. It’s also a form of acceptance — being happy with the result. And honestly, if I can dance to it and laugh out loud while listening, then that’s when I know it’s really worked.”
Figi: towards a more emotional sound
Amsterdam-based producer Figi creates music inspired by electro, techno, and disco. His tracks are emotionally charged, translating moments and feelings into sound. On Magnetron Music, the label run by Bas Bron, his analog, melodic style truly shines.
Figi: “For a long time, I tried to decide what I wanted to make at the start of a studio session, but the most original tracks usually come about when I let go from the beginning and just go on a journey of discovery. The music usually reflects how I’m feeling at that moment—and I can be a bit of a drama queen, haha—so I tend to amplify those emotions even more.”
There’s also a musical trick behind Figi's sensitive sound. “My music has become more emotional because I started playing my synth lines instead of programming them. Or sometimes I deliberately create contrast—I’ll program a synth line and then play another sound over it. With velocity and timing, you can also add more emotion or intensity to a melody or to chords.”
"I can be a drama queen at times haha, and then I'll emphasize that feeling.”
For his album "Fig.1" (2025), Figi drew inspiration from places, people, and situations—like his childhood friend Luuka, or the natural surroundings of Pays de Gex, where some of his family lives. “It’s hard to explain, because it’s very abstract, but sometimes a feeling I get from a place, a person, or a situation matches the feeling I get from a track. The songs with Luuka came about in a really improvised way. He’d often bring his modular synth setup to my studio. We’d just jam, and only at the end of the day, week, or even month, we’d pick the good apples from the tree.”
His biggest dream? Fully improvising a live show. Figi: “But that remains really difficult, because my music is very structured and arranged.”
As we hear it, there's much to look forward to! So what can we expect of their ADE sets?
Figi: “I’m really stoked! Expect lots of tracks from my latest album "Fig.1", as well as a bunch of new demos I’ve been working on. All of this will be supported by visuals I created together with one of my best friends, Maurice Truijen (aka OGR Momo), who manipulates the visuals live using Max for Live.”
Nathan: “The live show grew out of the album, but at the same time, it tells my story and development as an artist—because I move through a mix of unreleased and released material. You can clearly hear growth, evolution, taste, interests, the spirit of the times, and emotions in a kind of timeline—but not necessarily in chronological order. That’s what I love about it. It flows from more ambient-leaning tracks to electro, house, and more driving techno—but always with atmosphere and loads of vibe. That’s the common thread: atmospheric, otherworldly, euphoric, dreamy, and a bit cheeky.”
YoungWoman: “Get ready to dance your ass off — and maybe cry a little bit x.”
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SIXTH EDITION IN-EDIT FROM 11 TO 21 APRIL IN MELKWEG
The Dutch edition of the international music documentary festival will be at the Melkweg from 11 to 21 April 2024, including the Dutch premiere of Nick Broomfield's "The Stones and Brian Jones".
