Sundays in The Panther Room | Maayan Nidam/ Nicolas Matar/ Special Guest

DJ and producer that also works under the names Miss Fitz, Laverne Radix and Spunky Brewster.

If her chosen name means anything—which it surely does—it's not that Ms. Nidam is some sort of misfit. It might be more accurate to say that Maayan shapes sound to fit her own singular sensibilities—a strategy that has resulted in a significant and growing body of recorded work and a reputation as a talented, versatile DJ who unerringly takes listeners to special, unexpected places.

Since she began DJing and producing in 1999, Mayaan has racked up an impressive discography. As Miss Fitz, she has released EPs on Archipel, Sushitech, Raum…musik, Eklo, Kalimari, Freak n' Chic and Contexterrior; she also travels in disguise as Laverne Radix, with one single so far for Oslo's Love Letters from Oslo. March 2009 also marks the release of Maayan's debut release under her own name: "Night Long" (on Japanese label PowerShovel), an intimate album woven together out of recordings of Cuba's best contemporary instrumentalists. It's not the first thing that might come to mind when recalling an artist best known for machine grooves and moody funk—but that's what makes the move so quintessentially Maayan.

As if that weren't enough, Maayan is no stranger to collaborative efforts. Working with Lee Curtiss and Shaun Reeves as Uli Künkel, she's put out EPs for Kalimari and Phonocult. And Mara Trax, Maayan's DJ/production duo with Frankfurt's Vera, is a force to be reckoned with in its own right. The pair has recorded for Oslo and Cyclical Tracks, and their Resident Advisor podcast introduced their lean, loose-limbed style to listeners the world over. The most fortunate fans, of course, have caught Mara Trax in their native terrain: the club, where their long, evolving tag-team sessions generate a rare kind of energy—the essense and spirit of house music, of dance music itself.

The diversity of Mayaan's sound is no doubt a result of an unusually global upbringing. Born in Tel Aviv, she lived in the Mediterranean city for most of her life, studying multimedia and, following a six-month stay in New York, beginning to DJ bars and small parties. Tel Aviv isn't a big place, though, and so when Mayaan came to feel that she had hit a wall in her home town, she packed her bags and set off to travel the world. Argentina was her ultimate destination. But after a six-month stint in Amsterdam, she found her way to Berlin, which turned out to be exactly she was looking for. Inspiration was everywhere, from the avant-garde Club Transmediale festival to Jamie Lidell's experiments in live sampling to, of course, the city's legendary underground party scene. She soaked up everything, building up her studio and experimenting with different sounds and processes, gradually inching towards the dance floor. Five years later, she remains in Berlin, making music and molding the contours of the city's clubs to fit her own inimitable vision.

It's impossible to reduce Mayaan's productions and DJ sets to a single sound, but certain qualities prevail: a loping, swinging, hips-and-ass-friendly sense of the groove; a bubbling sense of funk; a keen sense of timbre and tone color, with a wooly low end and crystalline highs. It's also possible to discern a certain sense of humor, as well—nothing over the top, simply the occasional wink or sly grin as a riff steps out and takes its star turn. Like the best musicians, Maayan's work is all about communication. No wonder she understand the dance floor so well, making her a regular fixture at clubs and events like Tokyo's Colors Studio, Frankfurt's Robert Johnson, New York's Wolf + Lamb, Belgium's Decadance, Amsterdam's Mono-Club, Jerusalem's Pacotek, Switzerland's Hive Club and Cityfox @ Alta Börse, and many more—as well as her "space monkeys unite!" nights at Watergate and Arena Club in Berlin.


If it takes fifteen years to make an overnight hit, then Nicolas Matar has truly come of age. The story of house music has run from the New York underground via Ibiza to London and back around again many times over the past fifteen years – and as the chapters have unfolded, our man has been there to turn the page.

Nicolas has been DJing since the tender age of 15. He got an early head-start from his father, an original member of Studio 54 and a denizen of the 70?s New York club scene. “Dad was a hobbyist DJ and had an incredible collection of Disco, Funk and Soul records,” says Nicolas. “I grew up with a mini club in my basement. My parents used it to entertain their friends with my Dad behind the decks.

Nicolas’ musical style is very diverse, encompassing everything from Deep House, Soulful House, Nu-Jazz, Techno to Disco Classics. Like most globetrotting DJs, Nicolas spins regularly in the US, UK, Spain, Brazil, France, Mexico, Peru, Netherlands, Italy, Estonia, Greece, Finland, Canada, Singapore, Belgium, Korea, Hong Kong, Turkey, Japan, Indonesia and Switzerland. It is perhaps his greatest accolade that from 1993-2001, Nicolas was the resident DJ of the world-renowned Pacha in Ibiza. Nicolas credits those years during the golden era of House Music at Pacha as the inspiration for his eventual return to New York to build Cielo.

Nicolas opened Cielo in New York eight years ago. It was awarded an unparalleled 10 awards in its first five years and has become a reputable brand worldwide. In addition to being the co-owner/resident DJ, Nicolas handles all music programming and marketing at Cielo. Roger Sanchez, Francois K., Carl Cox, Louie Vega, Tedd Patterson, Richie Hawtin, Dubfire, Danny Tenaglia, and Frankie Knuckles are just a few of the Djs who play alongside Nicolas at Cielo on a regular basis.

Cielo just released its much-anticipated seventh compilation, Paradizo 2 to much acclaim mixed by Nicolas and fellow Cielo resident, Willie Graff. Cielo’s first compilation, Cloud 9, and its following compilations were a great success worldwide and amongst the best selling CDs in Ibiza during the summer. Nicolas has also mixed three other highly acclaimed DJ compilations: “Latitude 40?, and “Sundance” for the Journeys By DJ Label in the UK, and “Tropicalism”, for Razor and Tie in the US. Please go to www.djnicolasmatar.com for more info.


Special Guest TBA. Watch this space for updates.