STORE MIX 129: NYRA

From Sheffield to London, Nyra’s soundtracked the nightlife of the UK since the late 2000s. Known for his start as the originator of the warehouse-party Downlo at Dan Sane, he helped highlight the city as an integral spot for underground partying, with guests including Steffi, Baby Ford, and Ben UFO. Imbuing him with electro, new wave, and funk influences, his time in Sheffield shaped his artistry from DJ to producer, releasing a run of EPs including his 2011 debut Diastix and follow-up projects Uno 10 and Configure 8. After ending his time in the city with a career transition into professional cycling, his next step would be a move to London, where he now calls home.

Since launching his own label dubbed Canoe in 2017, Nyra’s output, particularly the Canoe EPs, has been notable for its memorable sampling and consistent bassline — London’s in luck, these are tracks to make you feel good on the dance floor. Now, he takes a turn mixing for LN-CC, and spoke with us about his creative journey, influences, and what we can expect next from him.

Sheffield’s known for being one of the nightlife capitals of the UK. How did growing up there inform your taste in music?

Growing up in Sheffield had a huge influence on my taste in music. I went from spending my early years skateboarding around the city centre to eventually being old enough to experience the nightlife properly, places like Gatecrasher, Niche and Bed. Then, later on, I ended up playing in those same clubs, which felt like a real full circle moment. I think you can hear Sheffield's influence in both my productions and my DJ sets. It's always been a massive part of my musical identity.

Can you talk about the early days of Downlo? What was the first event like?

When we started Downlo, Sheffield's scene was in a difficult place. A lot of the city's iconic clubs had either closed or been knocked down, and there was a real gap for underground music. I teamed up with two friends, we brought over DJs like Ben UFO, Steffi, Norman Nodge, Marcel Fengler, Petre Inspirescu and Praslea, and whether an artist cost £5,000 or £500, the focus was always on creating a memorable night.

Once Downlo was in full swing, people came regardless of who was playing. What made those parties so special was that people trusted the curation. They weren't coming because an artist had a big following or was guaranteed to sell tickets, they came because they trusted our taste and knew they'd discover great music. I think that's something that's become a bit rarer in club culture today, and I'm really proud that Downlo built that relationship with its crowd.

What’s different between the average Sheffield crowd and the average London crowd?

I don't think one crowd is better than the other they're just different. I feel lucky to have come up in Sheffield and now be based in London. Sheffield taught me the importance of building a community around music, and London has challenged me to keep evolving. Having experienced both has definitely made me a better DJ.

How would you say you’ve developed since you started DJing?

I've become much more confident in trusting my instincts and reading the room, instead of feeling like I always have to prove myself. Every record I've collected, every club I've played and every era of music I've lived through has become part of the bigger picture. Now it feels like it's time to piece all of those years together.

Being able to tell a story through a set is something you can only really do with the knowledge and experience you've gained over the years, and that's what excites me most about DJing today.

What’s the best track to close a set with?

The closing track is probably the one people take home with them. If people are still talking about it on the way home, you've done your job.

What was your relationship to music like whilst you focused on your cycling career? Were you still making or did you have a total break?

I tried to keep music going while I was pursuing my cycling career, but I found it difficult. I've realised over the years that I'm someone who can only really do one thing properly at a time, and cycling demanded absolutely everything from me. I never stopped listening to music, it was always there, but I made the decision to put DJing and producing on hold while I focused on racing.

When I came back to music, I came back with a fresh perspective and a real hunger to create again. In a way, having that break made me appreciate it even more, and I don't think I'd have the same relationship with music today if I'd tried to force both careers at once.

Do you listen to music when you cycle — if so, what?

It changed from day to day. I spent a lot of time on Spotify, digging through different playlists, and my taste has always been really broad and eclectic, so I could be listening to all sorts of different genres depending on the day.

If I was doing really hard efforts, I'd usually avoid music because I wanted to stay focused on the training. But generally speaking, I'd say 95% of my time on the bike was spent listening to music.

When you moved to London, you launched your label Canoe. What were your intentions behind it?

Initially, Canoe was simply a home for my own music. The idea was to build a catalogue that reflected my broad taste in electronic music. You could play the entire back catalogue of Canoe and build a whole night from it, moving through different shades of electronic music while still feeling like it all belongs together.

More than anything, I wanted Canoe to be something that would last. It started as a platform for releasing my own music, but as it's grown, that's started to change. What really excites me now is the prospect of building a little family around the label and releasing other people's music as well. I've always seen Canoe as a long-term project, and I want it to grow alongside my career.

Fashion has also been a huge inspiration throughout my life. That's why this new LN-CC × Canoe collaboration feels like such a natural fit, and I'm genuinely excited about it.

Being in control of your label is a feat in itself, let alone the music creation side of things. I imagine that gives you a different perspective on the industry than just being an artist within it?

Definitely. Running a label has given me a completely different perspective on the industry because you quickly realise that making the music is only one part of it. There's so much more that goes into releasing a record than people often realise.

Having that control also means I can make decisions based on what I genuinely believe in, rather than what I think the industry expects. That's something I really value. I think having that wider perspective has made me a better artist as well as a better label owner.

Name three definitive Nyra tracks.

Last One for Today

Closer It Gets

Opening Rhyme

Your latest single, a remix of the 90s classic Finally by Cece Peniston, is on the way. Can you talk a bit about your relationship to the song and how you approached remixing it?

Finally is one of those records I've known for as long as I can remember. I heard it as a kid, so being asked to remix one of the biggest and most iconic house records ever made was both a huge privilege and a pretty daunting task.

I actually wasn't overthinking it. I had the original accapella from the label, was in the studio just jamming, and thought I'd see where it went. It all came together really naturally. From the start, I knew I didn't want to reinvent the song. The vocals are so iconic that doing too much to them would almost feel like sacrilege. Instead, I wanted to build a new setting around them while keeping the soul of the original intact.

I hope I did it justice. That was always the goal to honour such an iconic record while putting my own stamp on it in a way that still felt authentic to me.

You’ve created some merch in collaboration with us for your upcoming single launch. Can you talk a bit about the inspiration for the designs?

For the launch, we've created a black long-sleeve T-shirt and a black baseball cap, both featuring graphics that really mean something to me. I didn't want them to just be pieces of merch I wanted them to tell part of my story.

A lot of the designs are rooted in Sheffield. The motorway signs on the back of the t shirt and side of the cap are a nod to the years I've spent travelling up and down the M1 between Sheffield and London, eventually making the move south.

Fashion has been a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember. There's no better way to launch this side of Canoe than by collaborating with one of London's coolest retailers. It's a real honour and something I'm incredibly proud of.

What do you want to bring to the LN-CC crowd at your launch?

I want to create an atmosphere where people can come together through music. That's always been at the heart of everything I've done, whether it was Downlo, Canoe or my DJ sets.

Launching the collaboration with LNCC makes it even more special because it brings together music, fashion and community in one space. If people leave inspired whether that's by the music, the collection, or the conversations they've had then I'll feel like we've achieved what we set out to do.

Thanks for doing this mix for us! What can we expect when we hit play?

More than anything, I hope people can hear my personality in it. It's a reflection of where I've come from, where I am now, and everything that's inspired me over the years. If someone finishes the mix feeling like they've discovered a few records they didn't know and wants to hit play all over again, then I've done my job.