NYLON House Cover: PAWSA Talks Coachella and Why “The Music Comes First” in Rare Interview

Today, NYLON House published a new cover, featuring a rare interview with elusive tech-house superstar PAWSA, ahead of his return to Coachella.

Photo Credit: Brendan Wixted for NYLON

• On where he keeps his focus: “My attention is on the music…I’m so focused on the music that everything else just fades into the background”
• On his ‘day-to-day’ philosophy when it comes to performing: “I live day to day when it comes to how shows are, just living in the moment and not really reflecting too much on individual moments and trying to stay present.”
• On his upcoming Coachella set and European performances: “I try not to have high expectations for one show over another.”
• On what sparked his interest in pursuing music: “I was instinctively drawn to music early on, and just how it would change the atmosphere of a space, how sound could affect people so directly without needing to explain itself…that still interests me now – how something can feel precise or emotional or immediate all at once.”
• On why house music specifically: “House music is physical and direct. There’s something powerful about repetition and rhythm. It has a particular relationship with the body. If it’s done properly, it can feel simple on the surface, but there’s a lot going on underneath.”
• On choosing decks over traditional instruments as a teenager: “I was fascinated by how the right track at the right moment could completely change the feeling in a room, and the joy of sharing moments with people and creating memories…you can shape energy in real time.”
• On what defines a record label: “For me, a label is about curation and creating a home for work that fits a certain standard and a certain identity…a label should feel like a language, not just a release schedule.”
• On why he doesn’t play 100% original sets: “I wouldn’t play a set that’s 100% my music — it doesn’t have an arc if I did that…I like to balance it with older music that can support the groove. ”
• On how painting influences his music: “What painting helped me to do is accept imperfections…you can quite easily wreck a painting by doing too much. You can’t just remove something like you can in music. It taught me how to accept whatever comes out and be less of a perfectionist.”

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