Through a career that started some 20 odd years ago, DJ Ruby has become synonymous with the electronic under-ground music scene, mostly known for his house, techno and progressive sets.

Now, his music is set to take a different direction with The Nakara Project, a live act that combines audio, visuals and performing arts.

Also part of the project are drummer Melchior Busuttil, bassist Liam Spiteri, singer Odessa Green and artist Mark Mallia. Together, the five will present their debut performance during this year’s edition of Earth Garden Festival.

What is The Nakara Project?

I have been performing as DJ Ruby for over two decades and I have been lucky enough to travel all over the world regularly. But performing and spending time in countries such as Morocco, Turkey, the UAE, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia and, especially, Thailand inspired me to put together this act, which has a very ethnic approach.

How did the particular musicians come together?

Odessa and myself have been good friends for 20 years. She has always been a good singer, but only recently has she embarked on a professional career so this is the first time we are actually working together. I had not worked with the other members before, nor did I know them.

When did work start on the project?

The project has been quite long in the making as I have been developing it in my head for years.

Early this year I finally decided to take it to the next level and within some weeks I found the other members. Work started right away and it’s been a constant process, on a daily basis, since January. Work has become even more intense now, given that we’re just days away from our debut show.

The decision to incorporate visual art as part of the band is unusual for Malta – how did it come about?

Apart from being a DJ and a music producer, I am also a filmmaker, cinematographer and motion graphics artist.

This made the decision to incorporate visuals in an act a very obvious and natural one for me. In addition, I’ve also been doing regular VJ (visual jockey) sets for myself as DJ Ruby and other DJ’s for about eight years now, so I know the process and the workflow pretty well.

Artist Mark Mallia is part of the project. What makes his art particularly fitting for the band’s music?

I consider The Nakara Project as a performing arts act. It’s a fusion of music and visuals and having one of the best Maltese art painters as part of the act was a must. Mark’s particular approach and style fit in nicely with our forward-thinking approach.

You yourself have a passion for visual arts. How are you tying in all the different artistic elements?

The band’s musical per-formance will serve as an inspiration for Mark. In addition, our visual showcase will also feature Mark’s work live on stage, bringing it all together. You can also expect to see a new approach to both the painting in itself and the way it is showcased.

What were the particular challenges of incorporating all the elements together?

Apart from the co-ordination of all the rehersals together, which is a challenge due to our packed schedule, musically it wasn’t that much of a challenge. Melchior and Liam are very experienced musicians and were very quick on the uptake.

For Odessa it was very easy, given our 20 year relationship. Working together came about just as easily as our friendship.

Mark also got behind The Nakara Project’s approach quite easily. What is somewhat more challenging is incorprating the visuals. Its very time consuming, it takes weeks to create a 45-minute show in sync with the music.

What was the creative process like? As in do you start out with music, then move on to the other elements?

Every Nakara set is different, but the preparation process is always the same. First up is always the music. I put together my set, consisting of original Nakara productions, other artist’s music and remixes.

Then I decide which parts of the set need vocals and Odessa creates original lyrics to overlay on top of the arrangement, creating her own cover versions. Once ready, Melchior and Liam memorise the percussion groove and bass notes to bring everything together.

The most difficult part follows, which involves coming up with a visual story line for each track and producing the original visual material and syncing every beat to each track.

Everything has to be performed in perfect sync. Mark’s art performance is spontaneous. He creates a live painting on stage inspired by our music in only 45 minutes to one hour, which is the length of our set.

Is this your first collaboration with a live band and vocals? How is your approach for this project different from your approach when you’re doing your sets?

I’ve done many perfromances with live musicians in the past and I have also perfomed back-to-back with a full live orchestra many times.

Improvised performances with live musicians are not my favourite as you can never get it as perfect as I like.

When I perform with live musicians, as is the case with The Nakara Project, I go through the set many times together with the musicians, we rehearse and practise until we are perfectly in sync, both in tempo and harmonically.

Your genre of music is underground electronic dance music – how do you view the scene in Malta?

Both as DJ Ruby and as The Nakara Project I show-case underground electronic dance music.

But the sub-genre is completely different. DJ Ruby is a house, techno and progressive DJ and producer, while The Nakara Project is at a slower tempo, featuring an ethnic electronica and psy dub sound.

The scene in Malta is huge and world-renowed artsists perform on a regular basis here. Apart from weekly events and club nights all year round, our summers are now also filled with big day festivals featuring solely electronic dance music.

The Nakara Project debuts with a live performance on June 5 at the Earth Garden Festival, Ta’ Qali.

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