MUMBAI: Hailing from a town that historically never associated itself with electronic music, Norman Doray’s first experience with the genre came through the likes of Daft Punk, Junior Jack and a few others. In thirteen years of producing music, Doray collaborated with the biggest DJs across electronic sub-genres and created an image of his own in the circuit. The DJ spent most of the year 2015 performing at several festivals and club gigs, but the last quarter of the year was, to an extent, dedicated to the club capitals across Asia. Two months after ending his multiple city tour with Nikhil Chinapa in India, Doray found himself, once again, playing his set to electronic music lovers gathered at Supersonic 2015 in Goa. Norman Doray played when the sun was preparing to set on the Goan beaches, and although he would have loved a bigger turnout for his set, he should consider himself lucky he did not play earlier. Several artists performed for smaller crowds as a direct consequence of the complications early sets face in a multi-acts festival. The sun was kinder when the French DJ started playing with his turntables, and the revellers found their way in front of the spectacular Iron Heart Stage. Right after his set, Doray sat down with us to explain how and why he adapts according to the requirements.
“The set was great, but I also think this year was weird. You expect to put a stronger and powerful set and you see fewer people in the crowd, so you need to adapt, and I am glad my set was a bit funky and groovy today” the DJ answered when asked about the hour-long set. “It is necessary to adapt. I come from a very small town. Naturally, I have performed at a lot of smaller clubs. As a DJ, it’s my job to keep people in the bar, entertain them. Hence, it is essential to adapt” added Doray. The 32-year-old’s habit of spontaneous changes during live sets adds to the list of possible adaptations that can be largely credited to his plan of ‘not having a plan’. Doray begins his sets with a couple of planned tracks, and later allows the mood of the room takeover the set-list. “When I play club gigs, it’s a different matter though. In clubs, there’s more time, more freedom. Today, I had around 55 minutes and in such cases, I got to play it quick.”
‘Going with the flow’ does not happen only in Doray’s live sets. Ask him if the ‘moment de gloire’ has arrived for him yet and Doray uses honest words to express his opinions. “To be honest, I do not know if it has happened already. Right now, I am just going with the flow. Touring across the world, meeting new people and realising they love their music,that means a lot to me.”
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Doray considers Chinapa as a friend, but the association was surely not the reason why Doray became another name in the list of massive line-up for Supersonic’s third edition. Doray has a calm, friendly voice when he speaks and ensures that eye-contact remains till the end of the conversation. He does not answer for the sake of it and neither does he ignore little things that make moments special. “I am really humbled that I am here. Nikhil has been working super hard to ensure all this was possible,” said Doray.
Doray, after all the years of producing Electro and Progressive House music, is working on to find the perfect formula to decide the length of a track. Doray says, “It’s super hard, dude. As a producer, I feel the track is never finished. I mean, you put out a track and people like it, but you always feel there could be more to it.”
Norman Doray promises more shows and festivals next year. Does India feature in his 2016 plans? “I can never say “no” to India”, said the DJ while signing off.
