DJ Naaldekoker talks to us about his dance moves, his first attempt of remixing with Gerhard Steyn’s Baby Chocolates, his love-hate relationship with Boney M and that he actually used to be a wrestler!

DJ Naaldekoker is running around crazy since the release of his debut CD, Naaldekoker – The Cub Meltdown. The Beat eventually caught up with him and had a chat about his CD, his first remix ever, the one CD he will hide if he gets house guests and what Kurt Darren’s reaction was when he heard DJ Naaldekoker’s remix of Kurt’s songk Kaptein.

DJ Naaldekoker, interesting stage name. How did you come up with it? The first band I played in was an Afrikaans hip-hop band called Piet Potent. I did a lot of scratching in the shows and the name came from that. Naaldekoker is Afrikaans for Dragonfly but it’s also a word play on Naald = Needle (Like needle on your record) and Koker = cooking (Like saying you are on fire or cooking). So basically it was just a funny name and very different and it just stuck.

So what is your real name then and where do you stay? Jansen-Pierre Myburgh and I recently moved out to Kommetjie from Seapoint and Im loving it.!

Give us the low-down where you grew up, went to school, studies… My early childhood days were spent in Mosselbay. From there my family moved to Somerset West where they still live. I went to both Paul Roos and Parel Vallei High School and finished my B.Comm at Stellenbosch University. After my first degree I carried on to do my post grad law but the music industry with all its touring requirements took its toll and so I made music my priority and followed that path full steam ahead.

How did you get interested in music? I loved music from a very young age. I remember clearly how I took my own mix tape to a grade 3 primary school class sleepover and gave the teacher my tape to play. I remember how surprised he looked when I told him till where he had to forward the tape to get to the track that I wanted him to play. I knew my tape back to front. But the DJ’ing side of it got me when I heard DJ Qbert scratch on the Dr Octagon record when I was fourteen.  That’s when the bug really bit.

Your first CD you ever bought was..... A CD from the LA hip-hop  group Dilated peoples – worst comes to first [very hip-hop in my young days :) ]

Your first ever remix you did was... A semi mock dance remix of Gerhard Steyn’s Baby Chocolates.

You did a cool remix of Kurt Darren's Kaptein. Why that song and what was his reaction to it? Thanks! The thing about that song that most people wouldn’t admit is that is actually a really good song. So it was pretty easy for me to take it as is and just add some flavour to it. His reaction was unexpectedly positive when he heard it. I was pretty much allowed to do whatever I wanted with the song.

You just released your debut CD. It’s called Naaldekoker – The Cub Meltdown. Named after my first single which was one of my favourites, The Meltdown feat Goodluck. It is pretty much a party album which you can dance to from beginning to end.

Why did it take to so long to release? I felt no need to rush it and compromising the end product in doing so. I wanted to take my time with each track and make sure I was 100% happy with it before sending it to print.

How do you choose artists to work with when you make your hot tunes? I usually have a few artists in mind that could work for a particular song that I am working on. I start by approaching whoever is on top of my list. I have been lucky in that no one has rejected an offer of doing a track with as of yet.

It sounds like the artists you choose to work with compliments your style, or is it a mutual collaboration? Each track I have done so far has had varying degrees of collaborating in them but it certainly is best when both myself and the artist I am featuring get to contribute creatively as much as possible.

You're freaking good DJ, but how would you rate your dancing skills? Ha ha ha ha! It depends on whether I’m lubricated enough. But no I can’t sokkie-sokkie.

What does fans don't know about you? Ummmm I used to be a wrestler

What music do you listen to? I know this is a boring answer but it’s true. I listen to a very wide range of music. From Nina Simone to Deadmau5. Different occasions calls for different types of music.

Which CD would you hide when your buddies/musical friends came to visit you? Luckily I don’t listen to anything super cheesy so I don’t have anything to hide but if I had say a Venga boys album then I would hide that.

  Credit: Manfred Werner

What is the worst remix you've ever heard (local or international)? I can’t stand it when SA artists take international hits and simply translate them into Afrikaans and then claim them as their own.

If you could do a remix of a Carike Keuzenkamp song, which song would you choose? I’m not sure which one of hers I would like to work with but someone similar is Laurika Rauch and her song “Blouberg Se Strand” brings back so many memories that I’m sure I can find some inspiration to do something cool with that song.

The jolly season is upon us, what you going to do this festive season? I’m playing a total of 27 gigs this December so it’s pretty much one long touring party for me this festive season.

What would you say is your favourite Xmas song and New Year's Eve Party song? I have been so busy with parties that I haven’t seen or heard much of the Christmas vibe yet but I definitely have a favourite party NYE song and that is a mashup remix I made of Avicci’s – You make me. It gets me into the vibe every time I drop it.

Are you a fan of Boney M? The amount of times I heard Boney M play during this time of year whilst growing up has made it impossible to not have a love hate relationship with it.

Lastly, what are your big plans for 2014? Any secret projects you working on, maybe a movie or a TV series? Ha ha ha I’m afraid my acting skills are pretty shocking but I have some other big plans... Just keep watching this space :)