Dressed in the latest pre-fall trends, DJ Nooriyah fuses directional fashion with the energy of London’s streets in a bold and modern statement that’s a riot of eclectic prints. Throw in high- voltage metallics, texture and ladylike crystals subverted just enough to raise a brow, and you’ve got a season pulsating with personality.
When asked about the moments and muses that have shaped her career, Nooriyah uses the metaphor of luggage to describe her musical inspirations.“I carry all the places where I lived in an imaginary suitcase full of music,” she says. “Growing up between Saudi, Japan and the UK made my ears conditioned to enjoy different tuning systems, and you can see how this variety in my music taste is reflected in all the sets I play. It allowed me to feel free to create the most unexpected mixes.”
Nooriyah has performed at global festivals like Glastonbury, Coachella and MDLBeast, and has produced work for BBC 4. She has a master’s in public health, with focused research on child
food provision in conflict zones. While studying, she worked part-time doing voice-overs at a community radio station, and it was here where her passion for music took hold. “I saw the DJ decks and fell in love with the machine – a machine that allows you to tell a story through music. I also had a love for pressing buttons from a young age; I begged my parents to buy me a toy cashier machine and a lot of calculators. DJing combined my love of research, music and pressing buttons,” she explains with a laugh. After witnessing presenters and DJs at the radio station, she realised this could be a real career path. “I committed from that day to make the machine an extension of me,” she recalls. Five days a week, she would go to her office to work in the public health sector, and spend her…
