Premiere: Noah Lyas - Yashim [Profundo Collective]
Bringing you another exclusive premiere, this time from Malii, the artist behind Noah Lyas, on his own Profundo Collective imprint. The ‘‘Wadada’’ EP isn’t just another release—it’s a milestone, marking the first-ever vinyl pressing for both the label and the artist. To get the full story, I sat down with Malii to talk about his artistic evolution, the foundation of Profundo, and the journey that led to this significant moment.
I met the guys from Profundo in 2023 at Monument Festival in Norway, on the morning of the second day in anticipation of a mutual favourite act – Babe Roots. At that time, emotions and excitement were high and we did not exchange that many words, but in the following months and years our paths crossed more often, and we started to have more frequent conversations. That’s when I discovered that these guys are genuine and share similar values, and their passion for music is pure and limitless, just like mine. So when I heard they were preparing for their first vinyl release with Noah Lyas, I knew it was a story worth telling—and a record worth celebrating and supporting.
Malii is a Dutch DJ and Producer and co-founder of Profundo Collective alongside Alberto (artistically known as Amnis) and Trøm Borg. He has been making music for 15 years already, but it is only in recent years that he started to put it out there, and it has been received warmly by the deep hypnotic community. Naturally, I wanted to trace things back to where it all started. ‘’ My father was a musician, mainly in reggae music, and I think at some point when we were going to Amsterdam, I had the chance to explore the city a lot and that’s when I also started with electronic music parties. My brother is more of a computer person, so 15 years ago he got this program to make music and said to me ‘Hey, I’ve got this let’s try it’. He is my teacher in the technical things, we inspire each other a lot but sometimes we go in different directions. He sometimes made dubstep and I started with house music for example. At some point when I met Alberto and we started going to Trouw, we got so inspired about all of it. That’s where my interest towards electronic music began. As for my artist name Noah Lyas, for me it represents the paradox of having a pseudonym and a ’different personality’. I always feel like whatever you do it’s part of yourself, and I question why do people split themselves in two by having a different name. In that sense Noah Lyas actually means ‘no alias’. ‘’
Malii artistically known as Noah Lyas
It’s always a euphoric moment to meet someone who, to this day, shares the same deep appreciation for the magic of Club Trouw. That venue was a formative space for me as well, and when someone tells me it played a key role in their journey, I can feel it in my bones—no words are needed. But without slipping too far into nostalgia, I wanted to dive deeper into Malii’s musical evolution. ‘’We grew up with all these dub songs, so we got to hear that as kids. I think even within house music, we were always drawn to the deeper parts. Later on we also discovered dub techno and that really clicked. I started DJing back in that time, but mostly at truly underground parties all around Amsterdam.’’
I feel like those experiences made us who we are today. We went through all of it, and the road has been the most fun part of all. Having mentioned that monumental meeting with Alberto, that changed everything and led to having the label today, I was curious how did they get the idea to start this project?
‘’It was during Covid actually. Before the pandemic, we went out a lot, to see everything that the city had to offer – from major clubs and festivals, to the small and underground events. In every genre that we were discovering we found a little niche, a little subculture. It was actually Alberto, who was initiating the project of the label. My brother and I make a lot of music, but we never released it. We got inspired by so many things, and made so much music in response to that. We were just sensitive to everything that was out there – soaking everything up.‘’ That’s also an approach right? You work a long time ‘behind the scenes’ until you are clear with yourself - what do you want to be as an artist and what your direction is. ‘’Yes absolutely! At some point, we just went through my library and settled on something that we liked and Profundo was born. We were already following some people like Rambadu and Oslated for example. So we started talking to people on SoundCloud.’’ That is the true ‘'OG’ approach of the millennial generation, I say with a cheeky smile on my face as I remember those days when reaching out on SoundCloud meant so much more than any social media channel out there. Malii goes on ‘’We just wanted to let people know that we are a new label that has a debut EP and just wanted to connect with people that might enjoy the music. Back then the owner of Secuencias Temporales, whom I later made an album with, pointed us towards Jongmin Lee from Oslated, which led to our first premiere and from there things went really great.’’
For any new label, the scariest part is the beginning—putting something out into the world and waiting to see how it will be received. Fortunately, Profundo Collective approached it with authenticity, seeking out like-minded individuals who would not only appreciate their sound but also value long-term artistic connections over momentary trends. Their organic approach paid off, as they quickly found their niche and a supportive network that believed in their vision. But what happened next? ‘’After that we just kept on releasing more music. Our name in fact is Profundo Collective, because we have a vision for more things like art, events and so on surrounding the label. Everyone in the collective also has a say in decisions and releases. Currently it’s me, Alberto and Trøm Borg and Pia, who is based in Halle, Germany and has helped us with our events so far. We actually met Trøm through her. We also have Aimée who does all our artworks.’’ Next to running a label, having events and all the other activities is a lot even for a collective of people. ‘’Yes indeed, next to music, I actually have a ceramic studio and my own shop and I live on a farm. That’s already 6 days a week and organizing events next to that is heavy.’’
‘‘Wadada’’ EP by Noah Lyas
Release date: 28.02.2025, A limited 12’’ vinyl available for pre-order now.
Full Tracklist:
A1. Yashim
A2. The Shepherd
B1. Mother & Dub
B2. Wadada
I completely understand where Malii is coming from, and luckily having the label already is quite a great outlet for expressing their passion for the music, the rest will come in time. Circling back into the label’s catalogue, I see that there are some other artists on there, who are not part of the collective. ‘’Yes, we have some great releases from Miuson, Eafhm, Morpha and most recently Clarence Rise to name a few.’’ That last release stands out to me in contrast to the rest of the catalogue, as it is a little different in sound. While it maintains an organic character, it is not so much on the deep end as previous EPs have been, which also made me think about the upcoming release that stands out too. From Malii’s earlier work on Profundo and Oslated, it’s clear that he has always embraced deep and hypnotic textures. But with ‘‘Wadada’’, he ventures into new sonic territory, merging halftime and DnB-infused rhythms with his signature organic and dub-heavy aesthetic. Malii shares: ‘’I just played in Berlin recently, and I created a set at around 130 bpm which is not typical for me as I play lower tempo normally, but it was a great experience. I guess I was inspired by what I have been hearing lately when going out. If I think in retrospect from the first EP that I released to this now, I feel really good about it, because it’s also about exploring.’’ That’s great to hear! I guess when you are in the studio making music for 15 years, you need those new sparks and challenges to keep things creatively interesting. ‘’I don’t want to be stuck in a certain sound. I am someone that can get inspired by many things, even just a conversation or things around me. Exploring these new rhythms and tempos is exciting for me and I love it.’’ The core values of Malii transpire still even in these new sound territories, and now that I had a chance to sit down with him for a chat in person and get a feeling of who he is, I see even more clearly the link between his music and his personality. Malii is someone who is very calm, friendly and open and radiates positivity, which is how I experience his music too.
‘‘I don’t want to be stuck in a certain sound. I am someone that can get inspired by many things, even just a conversation or things around me. Exploring these new rhythms and tempos is exciting for me and I love it.’’
‘’I have an album that came up on the Milan-based label Eterea Music in December, which is entirely halftime works with remixes by Owl and Alpi. I guess I just felt that vibe lately and this is the kind of music that I put out.’’ That release is really cool! Especially the remix by Owl is a favourite of mine! It was time we talked a bit more about the creative process in the studio. I am curious to know how does it look like, what is his setup and how does he approach making music? ‘’My setup is very simple and my brother has a lot of synthesizers and a large studio, which I borrow. For me it all starts in the box and the first thing I do is to find cords that are resonating with how I feel in this moment. I go to my piano and start playing cords, that later turn into a soundscape in Ableton. It’s often just an ambient soundscape or a simple melody. I listen to a lot of Jazz also, so sometimes I go to my records and play something jazzy or hip hop, and start thinking about rhythms and after a little inspiring session, I get back to my project, but in my process the rhythm come last. Usually, I create a wave of 10 minutes, and in the very end it is time for arrangement. I think about how would you mix this track in a DJ set for example, and then it becomes clear to me what needs to be the intro and what needs to go where.’’
Is it always important to imagine the tracks in the context of a DJ set or sometimes when you produce you think about the EP or album and the story of the release and how this track would fit in it? Malii goes on to add ‘’The difference for me is about the rhythm. If the rhythm makes you bounce, then I want for people to experience that bouncy feeling. In other occasions it’s not like that. For example, the album I released on Oslated is a listening experience and it was meant to be that way.’’ Cool approach and I think it’s nice to have those little dips out of electronic music that inspire you to get back in there and create something unique! As this is the first vinyl release on the label, I was wondering how the process is going. ‘’It’s great, I have the test pressing at home and for me it is still so unreal when I play it on my turntable and it is my music coming out of the speakers. I don’t want to exclude all people, so the release will also be digitally available, but I am so glad to have a record as well. I am already working on something else.’’ That’s awesome news I wish all the best to the collective and Malii and hopefully there will be a lot more records coming our way! Lastly, I wanted to hear a few words on the ‘’Wadada’’ EP and it’s encoded meaning and emotional value.
‘‘The title of this EP represents a moment in my life where I say ‘Hello brother and sister, it’s me and I love you’.’’
‘’Yes there is! Wadada is the word for Love in Amharic, which is the most spoken language in Ethiopia. This word is also being used in the Jamaican language Patwah, to say hello to your brothers and sisters that you love. As I said earlier my parents were Rastas and I grew up with reggae musicians and a lot of records around me. Both my parents passed away so it’s only my sister, brother and me now. The title of this EP represents a moment in my life where I say ‘Hello brother and sister, it’s me and I love you’. If you look at the track titles, you’ll see The Shepherd (my brother), Yashim (my sister’s name), Mother and Dub (our parents) and all that is under the title Wadada.’’ I am in complete awe after hearing this deep and personal meaningful story. I love when artists attach special meaning to their works, and as someone who considers family to be the most important thing in life, I am sincerely touched by this lovely tribute and expression of love in the form of beautiful music.
With that it is time to bring our conversation to an end, and let you enjoy the music for yourself and get your hands on those pre-orders at Bandcamp! The record ‘’Wadada’’ is coming to you on vinyl and digitally on Bandcamp on 28th of February. I hope you’ve enjoyed this journey into the world of Noah Lyas and Profundo Collective, and I’m honored to premiere this heartfelt and sonically rich release today.