Mochakk is a fully-fledged dance music phenomenon

Mochakk Calling is his space to showcase not only his eclectic music taste along with booking some of the other DJ/producers he admires, it’s a playground for him to further explore his other creative passions; namely fashion (which he studied in college), curation and visual design. And the fans are eating it up.

The New York edition marks the first with full production. The theme was inspired by press photos he shot with old landline telephones, as well as the urban landscape of São Paulo. “The visual aspect of it on the stage and the design of everything that we’re doing is inspired by the chaos of São Paulo city, with lots of poles and exposed wires, metal signal towers and stuff like that. We’re trying to bring a little bit of that chaotic urban landscape to the party,” he tells us.

New York was a fitting place for it, as he feels a deep visual and sonic synchronicity between his hometown and the ‘The Big Apple’, which he says “feels like home.”

“For some reason, every time I come here, I think of jazz and hip hop influenced by jazz, like ’90s and early-2000s hip hop. It matches the visual of the city so much, this massive urban landscape, the concrete jungle. It feels very similar to São Paolo to me, so that’s also the stuff I listen to a lot during my week when I’m home. I feel like bringing those influences into what I’m playing this week,” he explains.

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Maia’s favorite part about throwing his own parties is that he can really curate the music and visuals to fit the vibe and look of the space. “When I play sets, the visual aspect of the venue or the place drastically affects the music that I’m playing. I just feel like I have to play something that matches the visual part of it, so the experience is more married in the senses,” he shares.

“That extends to the line-ups as well, trying to always find people that have something to do with that space and with that area sometimes, and also with the soundscape that we’re envisioning for the project.”

A sprinkling of old phones adorn the DJ booth, party flyers and on-stage visuals, and he has a folder of phone-themed bangers to tastefully drop into his sets—he names Josh Butler and Botan’s classic ‘Call You Back’ as one of his favorites to get the dancefloor going. Near the end of his lively NYC Calling set, as he explores darker sounds, he plays Ellen Alien’s shimmery techno punisher ‘Call Me’.