Arara
Nick Kostoglou a.k.a. Dj Arara is playing the decks at several parties and festivals around the globe since 1997. Born in Greece but raised in Holland, Nick has achieved numerous diplomas in multimedia technology/digital art and also music technology and sound design.Starting at small parties, Nick had his first main debut in the legendary Elf squat in Amsterdam.
He has been doing many gigs there over the years, which gave him an excellent change to check his skills and work on them and to play some of the best parties he ever had in his life. The vibes and atmosphere in that place have been magic and mind blowing many times and he will carry those memories with him forever as a good and positive stimuli to carry on spreading the message that is in this healing dance music.
That was just the beginning of an international carrier. Nowadays, Nick is spinning frequently all over the world in clubs and festivals, playing for labels as Loopsnoo Rec. (Greece), Y.S.E. Rec. (Germany) and Millennium Re. (UK). In 2003, he and Anders Nilsson (Chromosome / Soul Surfer) started the project Andromeda. In January 2004, the first Andromeda album was recorded in Eyelipse Studios in Holland.
The result was one of the most up-to date progressive trance record the scene had to offer! Now, Andromeda has already released 3 cd’s (2 albums and 1 cd with remixes). Nick changed his style somewhere in 2005. His sound became less trance, more electric, more housie and more groovy. That brought him to the decision to put an end in his carrier under the name Andromeda and to continue with his solo project, Arara.
Why you like the GypsyMidi?
Nikos; “The GypsyMidi is a unique piece of hardware. I’ve always been a dancer, I love dancing. I always dreamed of a machine that can translate your body movements into sound. Then I found GypsyMidi and it was more than I ever dreamed of. The GypsyMidi gives a new dimension to the word ‘Live’. It brings you much closer to the music. When you are using it on stage your body comes in harmony with the music, your body moves to the music while you are interacting with it, manipulating it, changing it, mixing it…making it. In this way you are enjoying it more. And the crowd enjoys it much more when they see you dancing along with them. It is the medium in the interaction between the music, the artist and the crowd. You can use the Gypsy in many different ways, the possibilities are endless. You can use it as a midi controller, as a drum pad, as a midi keyboard, as a midi mixer. You can use it for sound, visuals and lights. It’s very easy to use and has a great compatibility with other software and hardware. In two words; amazing machine!”
What you hope to do with it?
Nikos; “A couple of years ago I had a vision to create a Live show where everything would be linked to each other, sound, visuals, lights, special fx. I think I am a lot of steps closer now”.
Which application would you be most interested in using the Gypsymidi for?
Nikos : “For the moment I am using the GipsyMidi only for sound. I control the whole live set with it, the sounds, the effects and the mixer.
His next step is to use it for visuals, with a VJ program or a 3D animation program”.
Check new movie on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xG_hzRC_mU