From Playing at the Largest EDM Festivals in South America to Studying Music with NGHTMRE & SLANDER

Fernando Vives (31 years old) was born in Greenwich, Connecticut but was raised in Chile, South America. Coming from a musical household, Fernando was exposed to music at a very young age. He was already playing the drums at the age of four ever since his mother gifted him a set. Growing up, he had always watched his older brothers play which inspired him to indulge in music. During his teens, he wanted to start a band but could not since most of his friends at the time were not musicians. His first exposure to DJing was when he saw Fatboy Slim performing in New York and fell in love with the idea of playing music for people. One day, Fernando and a group of friends decided to start DJing for fun. They had no experience, no DJ controller; just a speaker and a laptop. Even with no prior knowledge, Fernando was able to get rolling because his partner's cousin who came from a music background, provided them with equipment and skills to succeed. As Fernando’s skills improved, he got invited to play at a friend’s party which was his first gig and ever since then he has played at many parties. He was a mobile DJ for about 7 years from the age of 12 playing mainly reggaeton, hip-hop, and salsa. His best friend, Alex became his business partner and their side hustle at the time was to get booked for parties.

It wasn’t until the age of 18 that Fernando discovered EDM. After playing at parties for a while, it got tiring and was a hassle to set up then later take down his equipment after each event. Using his connections he built over the years, he started getting invitations to play at clubs and other private events in Chile. These opportunities paid him a lot more than what he was making at the time and was easier for him to set up since equipment was already provided by the venue. With the money he earned, he finally purchased his first laptop and started learning how to produce music. He entered and won a music contest that gave him the opportunity to play at the Ministry of Sound which is one of the biggest nightclubs in London.

As his network grew, a friend of his got him in contact with a booking agent for Creamfields in 2011. Fernando immediately took the chance to play in front of 70,000 attendees at the UK's largest dance festival. It was a surreal experience for Fernando to not only play his first festival but also being only 20 years old performing in front of a packed stage. Later that year, Fernando and his best friend Alex started DJing together which caught the attention of many festival organizers. During 2012 to 2013, the same guy that booked Fernando for Creamfields 2011 ended up rebooking him again but this time as a duo with Alex. They were set to play at Creamfields and Mysterylands in Chile. This moment was the birth of a new project: Vives & Forero and people went absolutely crazy for them. Their new project was such a success that in the summer of 2015 they got booked to play at Ultra Chile and Ultra Argentina. Being and performing on the same stage as other famous DJs such as Tiesto and Hardwell was such an unforgettable experience for them both. Fernando finally started getting the recognition he deserved from other DJs and that’s when he thought to himself “Oh shit I really want to do this.” After being inspired by Skrillex, Fernando started playing dubstep at festivals and events. Dubstep was still a new genre in Chile at the time however, it attracted so many listeners because it was something new and different. In the same year, he played at Suka Club (Chile) and was the warmup set for the club’s headliner: Porter Robinson.

Now all good things must come to an end, right? Or does it? The year 2016 was a bit of a struggle for Fernando. He had just graduated college and still did not know what to do with his life like many other fresh graduates around the world. Then one day, Fernando’s brother recommended him to come to the U.S. to study music, so he went online and applied to ICON Collective in Los Angeles. Alex was onboard with this idea and quit his medicine studies to go study music production with Fernando at ICON. If you don’t know already, ICON Collective has had many students that are now big, talented DJs you see today: Kayzo, Jauz, Sullivan King, SLANDER, and NGHTMRE. Fernando had the opportunity to meet and study with these people before they became stars. For the next couple of months, Fernando and Alex were having a great time at ICON because they were studying something they actually loved and enjoyed. Those months would soon turn into nightmares, however. Originally, Alex had applied as a tourist for 3 months since he was born in Chile. He tried getting another Visa but got rejected. This situation was difficult for them because their project consists of two people. Alex was forced to go back to Chile and discontinue his studies at ICON. When all hope was lost, Fernando received an email inviting him and Alex to perform at Lollapalooza in Chile for their 6th edition. This was an exciting moment for both of them because they had always wanted to play there, and it definitely raised their spirits up after the whole visa incident. The event took place in March 2017, and they could not wait to play because they had put so much time and effort into this set. Eventually, Fernando had a difficult conversation with his partner Alex about ending their project. Alex was living in Chile and Fernando staying in Los Angeles, so it was too hard to continue as a duo.

Over time, Fernando wanted to create music that people can vibe and sing to, so he transitioned to making house music. He changed his DJ name to Noon Do which he currently goes by and decided to move to San Francisco in 2018. A year later he went back to Chile after receiving residency at a club called La Feria. Now he lives in San Francisco teaching people how to make music on Ableton and working part-time at Guitar Center to pay his bills. He also has his own label called Johow Digital which specializes in house music. His music journey has not ended yet for he is still DJing in fact he has another residency at a bar called Phonobar in San Francisco. I had the opportunity to ask him a couple questions and this is what he had to say:

If given the opportunity, which artists would you like to collaborate with?

“It would have to be Luciano who is a big artist in Chile, Toro y Moi, and Photay.

What is your top 3 advice as a DJ?

“First, meditation I would say is very important. It helps you become more focused. Every morning I try to meditate for a couple of minutes to start my day. Second, try to look for music from the 80s and 90s and also explore other genres of music. Third, do it because you love it. Don’t do it for fame.”

What is your most embarrassing story when performing?

“I don’t really have an embarrassing moment, but I do have an interesting story. Two days before I was supposed to perform at Mysteryland, my friends and I partied hard that night to celebrate our successes so far. I was super hung over and felt like shit. The next day on Thursday I started getting a fever which got worse and worse each day. It was so bad to the point where I couldn’t walk. I was thinking about packing my bags and going home but then I thought to myself: “I work too hard to get to this point and just quit.” On Saturday I went to the doctor, and he gave me some medicine and I felt a little bit better. The energy from the crowd that day was so intense that I felt my fever go away for a moment.”

Fernando’s first song release on Spotify is called Wapa which has over 82,000 plays and his first EP as Noon Do was released in 2018 called Feeling Alright which has over 2,000 plays. He still plays dubstep however he mainly plays Analog House and Soulful House. He has had a long journey and I wanted to share his story with you guys. If you are ever in the Bay Area, come check out Phonobar.

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