Nathan Kofi, Amsterdam-based DJ/producer, co-founder of De Lichting, music educator and nightlife advocate with 11+ years within the house, techno and ambient sphere. In 2022 Nathan stepped up as one of the new Creative Heads at the infamous club and cultural hub “De School Amsterdam”; envisioning a new roadmap for the club including the development of a new day/cultural programming division. And brought the club to a successful close in January 2024.

After switching from Nathan Surreal to his West African born name “Nathan Kofi”, he changed his ways to incorporate hip-hop aesthetics and blend it with the original house and techno ethics from Detroit, Chicago, New York. Initially, Nathan landed his first record deal with techno and house pioneer Kevin Saunderson’s KMS Records Detroit, back in 2013. That led Nathan to further explore and research the sounds and expressions of the black and Latino LGBTQ+ scenes and the overlooked origins of club culture.

Nathan is a house DJ with a varied approach and accumulated experiences from an array of established festivals, promoters and clubs such as: Low Lands, Down The Rabbit Hole, Best Kept Secret. And Breakfast Club, De School, Dekmantel, and Studio 80, among many others.

Together with befriended artists (queniv, Human Space Machine, Eversines, RDS, Kaap and Boris Acket), they established the “De Lichting” collective and label, which has gained international recognition for their straightforward and diy-inspired approach to leftfield dance music.

Nathan is also the founder of Kommune Amsterdam, where he produced events at several venues and hosted a Red Light Radio (RLR) Residency inviting both local and internationally renowned artists on screen. After RLR’s closing, he became a resident at Noods Radio in Bristol, UK. And did shows across the world on other radio stations alike: NTS (LND), Rinse FM (Paris), The Lot (NYC), Kiosk (Brussels), FBI Radio (Sydney), Echobox (Ams), Radio Raheem (Milano), Oroko (Accra).

Nathan also did collaborative releases with Spanish techno icon Eduardo De La Calle as well As with Lord of The Isles, Marquis Hawkes, Neville Watson, Adesse Versions, Eversines, Santonio Echols, Kevin & Dantiez Saunderson. And released on record labels: De Lichting, Dekmantel, Native Response, KMS Records, Biologic Records, and Analog Solutions.