Anyma News
“Let’s not confuse what real techno is:” Nicole Moudaber talks the evolution of techno music, her diverse background & more aboard Groove Cruise 2025
Who says techno music can’t be tropical? Certainly not techno queen Nicole Moudaber, who brought her percussive, loopy style of techno to the stages of Groove Cruise 2025. EDMHouseNetwork caught up with the techno icon about the evolving state of the genre, her affinity for racing, and more onboard Groove Cruise 2025. Read the full interview below:
Q1: “Just to start off, what’s the unique experience of playing at Groove Cruise compared to your typical festival? Your Tomorrowland, or where you got to play with Carl Cox earlier this year? Playing those sets in a typical club or festival setting?”
Moudaber: “It’s a city on the sea. It’s almost like Vegas on water, so I don’t know. I’m just gonna check it out later, today and tomorrow and get a feel for the place. I’m not gonna probably play my typical kind of techno on this boat. I’m just gonna keep it a bit groovier and sexier. And a bit lighter.”
Q2: “How does the atmosphere kind of change your set in that sense? Compared to when you’re playing in a club setting, or playing in a London or Ibiza nightclub, compared to playing on a cruise ship. How does that kind of change your set selection and building process?”
Moudaber: “The music that I’m gonna play is the same. It’s just the way that I’m gonna put it together, really. So, yeah, if I know if I’m gonna play tech house, I will be going through certain records. I’m gonna be doing a back to back with Layton [Giordani], and so that’s going to be a bit of melodic techno, and I have all the ammunition. I just need to put it together basically, and for it to make sense.”
Q3: “How incredible has it been to kind of see a resurgence in techno this year? Whether it’s Anyma playing in The [Las Vegas] Sphere with melodic techno or even, you know, with women? With Sara Landry being the first hard techno artist on the Tomorrowland mainstage, and you this year with the back-to-backs with Carl Cox killing it in your own right. How great has it been to kind of see techno get a little bit more of that mainstream attention?”
Moudaber: “It’s got so many different styles. Now, let’s not confuse what real techno is. What I played with Carl Cox at EDC is like the real underground techno. Melodic techno, it was definitely Prague, what we know as Prague. And what Sara is playing is pretty much hard pop, probably. Which is good in its own right. And I love to listen to it, and she’s excellent. I love that girl. But, yeah, let’s not confuse techno with the other stuff, because they’re not the same.”
Q4: “How great has it been to kind of in your own right, preserve that true style of techno. You know, with these other genres of techno kind of popping up, being able to really represent that old style that really still rings true.”
Moudaber: “It’s not really old, because there are tons of new records like that at the moment with incredible labels releasing that sort of music. It’s just for me, I prefer that, you know, the big kick, kick drums and the loopy kind of hypnotic, heady kind of techno. You know, not the massive drops and the fluffy stuff. You know, we need to keep it serious a little bit in techno.”
Q5: “I know the only thing that rivals your passion for techno music is racing. How is it kind of similar, you know, the thrill of being behind the wheel on a race track and being, you know, up on the decks in front of 1000s, 10s of 1000s of people?”
Moudaber: “It’s actually the same kind of adrenaline rush when I’m on the wheels. Probably, it’s more intense than being on stage, being on the wheels, going at 300 miles an hour, you know? Yeah, you can’t beat that. That is the ultimate rush. But, yeah, obviously being on stage with all this energy coming back at you, it’s just an incredible feeling and that’s what I live for, really.”
Q6: “Just to finish off, also, I know you come from a lot of diverse backgrounds. Growing up in Nigeria, Lebanon, and now being based in London, how do all those unique backgrounds really show in your style of music and kind of blend in the influences in your production?”
Moudaber: “It has influenced me a lot, especially my childhood in Nigeria, where I grew up with a lot of rhythmic and percussions and all about beats and grooves. You can hear it in my production. [It’s] Very percussive in a way, and it’s got funk and soul in it. Even if it’s like the hardest techno that I play, it’s always soulful in a way, and it’s got that sexiness in it. You know, even if I’m playing at 145 BPM, you can still dance to it, so it does reflect in my music. And I’m quite lucky to have experienced all sides of these worlds, and I’m still learning wherever I go all over the world. I absorb their culture, and I try to, I don’t even try. It just comes naturally to me, and I hear it.”
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Anyma’s ÆDEN World Tour Heads to Bangkok This December
Anyma is bringing ÆDEN to Bangkok on December 5, expanding his world tour further across Asia
Anyma is bringing his ÆDEN world tour in collaboration with Neon Events to Bangkok on December 5, marking another major Asian stop for the audiovisual production. Anyma first introduced ÆDEN at Coachella earlier this year. The show opens a new chapter in his live concept through original music, large-scale digital visuals and a story exploring technology and human consciousness. Fans in Thailand will now get their first chance to experience the full production.
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What Is Anyma’s ÆDEN Show?
ÆDEN is the latest audiovisual project from Anyma and continues his combination of electronic music, digital art and technology. The production follows the Genesys era with new music and a completely new visual narrative. It also expands the world Anyma has developed across his releases and live shows over the past several years.
At the centre of ÆDEN is a story exploring humanity’s relationship with artificial intelligence, digital consciousness and existence beyond the physical world. The concept draws inspiration from Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy. Throughout the show, recurring characters, futuristic environments and large-scale visual sequences connect those ideas with the music. This gives the visual story a wider purpose beyond individual sequences.
ÆDEN now forms the foundation of Anyma’s 2026 world tour. After Coachella, he took the production to major international dates across Europe, Asia, Australia, the Middle East and the Americas. The upcoming Bangkok show now brings that full audiovisual production to Thailand for the first time.
Who Has Joined Anyma on the ÆDEN Tour?
The ÆDEN tour has featured a rotating group of supporting artists, with each city bringing a different lineup around Anyma’s headline show. In Shanghai, the lineup included Prospa, Ben Böhmer, Kölsch, Kasia and Stylo. The London dates featured Kevin de Vries, Chris Avantgarde, Layla Benitez, Mind Against, Woo York, 8Kays and Kasia. Sydney will also feature Argy, Colyn, Layla Benitez and PARIS. Together, those lineups show the tour’s continued focus on melodic house, melodic techno and related styles.
Bangkok has not revealed its supporting lineup yet, which leaves room for another interesting possibility. LISA, one of Thailand’s biggest global music stars, collaborated with Anyma on Bad Angel. Her character Beatrix also became part of the wider ÆDEN story. Bangkok is her home city, so a surprise appearance would carry particular significance for the local crowd. Anyma has not confirmed any guest appearance, but their existing ÆDEN connection makes the idea especially interesting for the December 5 show.
Anyma presents ÆDEN will take place at MCOT Land in Bangkok on Saturday, December 5, 2026. Organizers will announce more artists in the coming weeks. Presale begins on Friday, October 2 at 5:00 PM ICT. General ticket sales follow at 7:00 PM ICT through Anyma’s official website.
The full lineup will come later, leaving more to be revealed before ÆDEN comes toThailand in December. For now, fans can secure tickets for Bangkok’s first ÆDEN show and see who joins Anyma for the event.
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Anyma Responds After Istanbul Show Cancellation
Anyma responds after Istanbul show cancellation over alleged satanic imagery as ÆDEN artist claims AI-manipulated visuals fueled controversy
Anyma has responded after his ÆDEN show in Istanbul, Turkey, was cancelled following accusations surrounding imagery used in his audiovisual performances. The decision came after a social media campaign called for the event to be stopped over alleged “satanic” elements, while Anyma has since rejected those interpretations and claimed that some of the material circulated online had been manipulated using AI.
Anyma’s Istanbul Show Cancelled Following Online Campaign
The ÆDEN show was scheduled for September 12 at Ataköy Marina Arena as part of Anyma’s 2026 ÆDEN Global Tour. Ahead of the event, clips and images taken from his previous performances circulated across Turkish social media, with some accounts claiming that elements of the visuals represented “satanic rituals” or symbols and calling for the Istanbul date to be cancelled.
The Istanbul Governor’s Office later withdrew permission for the show. No formal explanation was initially published by the authority, but Emin Gökçegözoğlu, Provincial Press and Public Relations Director for the Istanbul Governor’s Office, confirmed to Turkish fact-checking organisation Teyit that the cancellation was connected to alleged “satanic elements.”
Promoter Only You Live officially confirmed the cancellation on September 4, with refunds through Passo beginning on September 7. The decision brought the Istanbul stop to an end less than two weeks before Anyma was due to perform.
Anyma Responds To Claims And Alleges AI Manipulation
On September 6, Anyma, the project of Matteo Milleri, issued a lengthy response through Instagram Stories. He described ÆDEN as a science-fiction story dealing with darkness and light, destruction and creation, fear and hope, arguing that individual scenes from the production had been presented without the context of the full story.
He also rejected the religious meaning being attributed to the visuals, explaining that the production draws references from art history, mythology and ancient literature, but does not directly depict religious figures or intend to disrespect any religion or culture.
Anyma then addressed the material being circulated online, alleging that selected darker scenes had been taken from the show, manipulated using AI, combined with different music and shared in a way that created what he described as a false interpretation of the project. He also stressed that his original visuals were not AI-generated, saying the technology had instead been used by others to alter his work.
The artist also criticised the process leading to the cancellation, stating that neither he, his team nor Only You Live received a meaningful warning or an opportunity to explain the production before permission was withdrawn. Anyma confirmed that he intends to appeal the decision and remains open to speaking with local authorities, while expressing hope that ÆDEN can eventually be presented in Istanbul.
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EDM Events Held At The World’s Most Historic Sites
EDM Events Held At The World’s Most Historic Sites, from the Great Wall and Petra to Versailles and the Pyramids
EDM events held at historic sites have become one of the more interesting ways major artists and promoters are taking electronic music beyond standard clubs, arenas, and festival grounds. The strongest examples are not just famous locations with a stage placed nearby, but performances where the site matters to how the event is filmed, produced, and remembered. Anyma and Tiësto have brought major electronic productions to the Pyramids of Giza, Bedouin performed for Cercle at Petra, Nina Kraviz played a sunrise set on the Great Wall of China, and Adriatique filmed a Cercle set at Hatshepsut Temple in Luxor. The same idea also appears through POSITIV Electronic Festival at the Roman Theatre of Orange, Charlotte de Witte at Ancient Messene, and Nifra at Masada Fortress, where historic architecture, ancient ruins, desert landscapes, and protected heritage sites become part of how each performance is experienced. These events show why historic locations are becoming a serious part of electronic music’s destination-event culture, especially when the artist, production, and setting all make sense together.
Great Pyramids of Giza, Egypt
Events:
Anyma presents Quantum Genesys
@anyma
The End Of Genesys | Pyramids of Giza
Tiësto at the Pyramids of Giza
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The Great Pyramids of Giza have become one of the clearest examples of how far large-scale electronic shows can go when the location is part of the story. Anyma presents Quantum Genesys took place at the pyramids on October 10, 2025, with the night split between his Quantum DJ set and The End Of Genesys audiovisual show across two stages. The production leaned into the contrast between the ancient site and Anyma’s digital world, using large visuals, lighting, and a long nighttime format that ran from 5 PM to 3 AM near the Giza Plateau. Tiësto at the Pyramids of Giza followed on December 19, 2025, with a PRISMATIC set that brought another major electronic name into the same setting, adding to Giza’s recent place in destination EDM events.
Petra, Jordan
Events:
Bedouin at Petra for Cercle
Medaina Festival
Petra is one of the most recognizable historic sites connected to electronic music through Bedouin at Petra for Cercle, filmed at Al-Khazneh, the Treasury, in 2022. The set was not a public festival, but a controlled early-morning performance with no crowd, placing Bedouin’s hybrid live sound directly in front of the sandstone monument. That format worked differently from a standard stage show because the production did not need a large audience setup to make the location central to the performance. In 2025, Medaina Festival gave Jordan a wider electronic music moment across Petra and Wadi Rum, with a lineup that included Âme, Bedouin, HVOB, Jimi Jules, Mind Against, Patrice Bäumel, and Sonja Moonear. With Petra already listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, the location adds one of the article’s strongest examples of electronic music being presented in direct connection with an ancient landmark, while Medaina Festival extends that connection into a broader destination event across Jordan’s desert and heritage settings.
Masada Fortress, Israel
Event:
Nifra Live at Masada Fortress
@nifraofficial Do you know this track? ❤️ My new live set recorded at Masada Fortress is now on youtube #nifra #trance #trancefamily #trancefamily #trancemusic #tranceclassics #raver #femaledj #dj #edm #trancecommunity #masada #delerium #silence ♬ Silence – Andrew Rayel & Achilles Remix – Delerium
Nifra Live at Masada Fortress placed the Slovakian trance artist at one of Israel’s most dramatic historic sites, high above the Dead Sea in the Judaean Desert. Masada is a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its desert plateau, Herod the Great’s palace complex, and the remains connected to the Roman siege of 73 A.D. For the 2023 set, Nifra performed from the clifftops of Masada Fortress in partnership with Tiede Night’s, with the sunset timing giving the performance a direct visual connection to the desert landscape around the site. The result fits the article because it connects a known trance artist with a protected ancient fortress, without stretching the angle into a normal festival or unrelated event space.
Great Wall of China, China
Event:
Nina Kraviz at the Great Wall of China
Nina Kraviz played a sunrise set at the Great Wall of China in May 2018, turning one of the world’s most famous historic landmarks into a stripped-back techno performance with no need for festival-scale production. The set was filmed on the wall in the early morning, with the mountain landscape and stone watchtowers framing the performance as the light changed across the site. For an artist closely tied to underground techno, the location gave the set a very different feel from a club or warehouse show, placing her sound against a landmark known for Chinese history, military architecture, and centuries of preservation. The Great Wall is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, which makes Nina Kraviz at the Great Wall of China one of the most direct examples of a globally known electronic artist performing at a protected historic site.
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