WIDE AWAKE is a live electronic music trio featuring Niju and N!nze & Okaxy Syndicat. Together, they produce unique slow house music, which they call `KetaPop´. Individually they’ve released tracks on common labels like `Dantze´ or `Under Your Skin Records´ and since forming this project, they promise an even more detailed and experimental sound. Their live show, including analog instruments and electronic setup, is creating an outstanding atmosphere, which is guaranteed to take the audience on a trip!

Q: For those who aren’t familiar, how would you describe the music you produce and perform live as Wide Awake?

A: We understand music as a means of putting yourself into a “High” or a sort of frenzy. We think that this condition in our style is similar to a ketamine or THC High, which is why we like to name our style “Ketapop.”

The love of aesthetics and intensity of individual notes in slower base tempos have quickly formed the center of our music. With our first productions we have tried to create something new & timeless and all three of us are very satisfied! We are also very happy to have found & be a part of “Laut & Luise” from Cologne / Berlin – a complimentary label where we will publish our first EP.

Q: Is there a relationship between the spirit of “open air” celebration and the sound you produce as Wide Awake?

A: When we produce tracks like “Verum”, we use organic sound recordings in the background to create a natural sound, similar to the sound of nature. At Open Air’s these soundscapes are provided naturally and this special atmosphere brings an interactive dimension to the music. The environment is always a central part of the perception of each individual and in indoor clubs we find that the offerings are mainly synthetic.

Q: The Berlin party scene loves your music and will miss you when you go to Hawaii and on tour in the USA this summer. How do you feel about your approaching trip?

We are very excited and are currently preparing the i9 Festival Showcases happening this summer in Honolulu and Los Angeles. The festival producer from Berlin, Julia Hulme and our US agent Yasmine Kerdoudi from Miami are coordinating this.

The Isle 9 Festival Showcases are a musical prelude to the Isle 9 Festival happening in March 2016 on Oahu. We will be performing at all 3 events as well as making a tour of the US until September, which will include performances in Chicago, Detroit, San Francisco, Miami and NYC.

The Isle 9 festival in Hawaii and the Showcase tour is still very surreal and unbelievable for us. We are so thankful that we can be part of this wonderful project.

Q: How did Wide Awake come together?

The first contact between us was in December 2014 via SoundCloud. At New Year 2014 we met for the first time face to face. In March we went into the studio for one week in Mannheim, where we quickly realized that we complete each other superbly, which also became evident in our productivity. In 7 days we produced 10 new songs, including our first EP and album together.

Q: Do you have different approaches to your music? Has working together influenced your individual music production?

The aforementioned music compatibility plays a major role. Starting with Ninze & Okaxy’s sound we could increase the sound quality dramatically with Niju’s technical production knowledge. Niju currently produces slightly softer and more spherical tracks. You can hear the differences quite clearly between the music produced individually by Niju and Ninze & Okaxy and by Wide Awake.