Maya Jane Coles
British musician

Maya Jane Coles

The basics
Quick facts
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British musician
A.K.A.
Nocturnal Sunshine
Gender:
Female
Work field:
Birth:
(London, UK)
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The details
Biography

Introduction

Maya Jane Coles is a music producer, audio engineer and DJ based in the United Kingdom, born in London of British and Japanese descent. Under her real name, she mostly composes and plays techno music, while her alias Nocturnal Sunshine creates darker, more bass-driven productions with a heavy hip-hop and dub influence. She was previously part of an electronic dub duo called She Is Danger with Lena Cullen.

Debut

Maya declares she started to have a passion for music in early teens and decided to learn how to produce music using the Cubase software program when she was fifteen. She first produced hip-hop and trip hop. A few years later, she released her first two records on Dogmatik Records, in 2008 and 2009, which were more house music based.

Career

Having already remixed acts such as Massive Attack and Gorillaz with her duo She Is Danger, Maya gained her breakthrough exposure in 2010, when she released a four-track EP on Franck Roger's label, Real Tone Records. She was then named by DJ Mag as one of the best newcomers that year, as her track "What They Say", taken from the eponymous EP, was also one of the most playlisted by DJs on Resident Advisor.

In 2011, she featured on many specialised magazines' covers like Mixmag's,and her growing fame opened new doors, such as the BBC's, which invited her to record an Essential Mix of her own which was later nominated for Essential Mix of the Year 2011. Later on that year, she was voted‘Best Newcomer 2011′ at the Ibiza DJ Awards 2011 and came ninth place in Resident Advisor's annual DJ ranking.

In 2012, Maya won 'Best House/Garage/Deep House' track at the Miami Winter Music Conference 2012,'Staff Pick: Artist of the year 2011' at the Beatport Awards, DJ Mag's ‘Producer of the Year 2011′, Mixmag's ‘Best Breakthrough DJ 2011′, FACT's 'Female Artist 2011', and Symphonic Distribution's 'Artist Of The Year 2012'

Later in the year, Maya Jane Coles was invited to record a mix for the DJ Kicks collection. The volume she produced was released in April, and obtained a favourable reception from specialised media. In November, Rolling Stone places Maya Jane Coles at the fifteenth rank of its world's 25 most influential DJs list.

Maya was later invited back to record a second BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix in 2013.

Maya's début album Comfort was on her own I/AM/ME label and Kobalt Label Services internationally in summer 2013. It featured guest appearances from artists such as Tricky, Miss Kittin, Nadine Shah, Alpines, Thomas Knights and Karin Park.

Maya also produced Fabric 75 (released April 2014), the 75th edition of London nightclub Fabric's monthly compilation album.

In late-2014, the title track of Coles' 2010 EP What They Say was sampled in the Nicki Minaj song "Truffle Butter", a collaborative track with Drake and Lil Wayne from her album The Pinkprint.

In 2017, Coles released her sophomore album Take Flight on her own label, I/AM/ME. The 24 track album peaked at number 37 in the overall UK albums chart during the week of release, number 26 in the Independent label chart and number 15 in the Billboard Dance and Electronic Album Sales Chart. The album received immense support, receiving a 72% score on Metacritic, gaining coverage from a number of high tier publications including Mixmag,Pitchfork and Billboard, as well as receiving DSP support such as a banner on the iTunes Electronic page, a spot in Spotify New Releases, Apple Music New Releases and was named Beatport Artist of the Week. Maya gained 2 ‘Essential New Tunes’ from Pete Tong on BBC Radio 1 for two of her singles from the album, ‘Cherry Bomb’ and ‘Trails’ and to top of her year, she won Best Album and Best Producer at the DJ Mag Best of British Awards 2017 off the back of her ‘Take Flight’ album. 

2017 also saw Maya gain a number of selected mix placements such as her Essential Mix, which was shortlisted for Essential Mix of the Year, Annie Mac's Mini Mix, Channel 4 Best Before, Beats1 Mix as well as Radio 1 Live in Ibiza. Going into 2018 she also secured a British Airways exclusive mix with her full album also added in flight.

Discography

As Maya Jane Coles

Studio albums

  • 2013: Comfort
  • 2017: Take Flight

Compilation albums

Review scores
SourceRating
Mixmag4/5 stars
Resident Advisor4/5 stars
Spin8/10 stars
DJ-Kicks: Maya Jane Coles
No.TitleLength
1."Deft – Loqux & Past" 
2."Kris Wadsworth – Mainline (Jimmy Edgar Remix)" 
3."Chasing Kurt – Money" 
4."Bozzwell – In My Cocoon" 
5."Larse – Karoo" 
6."Milscot feat. Angela Sheik – All Alone (Domyan Just Slow Remix)" 
7."Adam Stacks – Hey Love" 
8."Phil Kieran & White Noise Sound – Never Believed" 
9."Sigward – Nuerd" 
10."Maya Jane Coles – Not Listening" 
11."Virgo Four – It’s A Crime (Caribou Remix)" 
12."Roberto Bardini – Hate Me (Muteoscillator Fairy Tall Remix)" 
13."Tripmastaz – Guess Who" 
14."Standard Fair – Little Helper 16-3" 
15."Nocturnal Sunshine – Meant To Be" 
16."Zenker Brothers – Berg 10" 
17."Last Magpie – No More Stories" 
18."Zoe Zoe – Church" 
19."Gerry Read – Roomland (Youandewan Remix)" 
20."T. Williams – Analog Tour" 
21."Marcel Dettmann – Translation Two" 
22."Claro Intelecto – Hunter’s Rocket To The Sky" 

Singles and extended plays

Year Title Label Reviews
2008 Sick Panda Dogmatik Records
2009 Monochrome EP Dogmatik Records
2009 The Dazed EP 1TRAX
2009 Not In My House EP 1TRAX
2010 No Sympathy Elite Records
2010 Bubbler EP Loco Records Supreme
2010 What They Say Real Tone Records Resident Advisor 4/5 stars
2010 Cool Down EP Dogmatik Records
2010 Humming Bird EP Hypercolour
2011 Beat Faster Mobilee
2011 Focus Now 20:20 Vision Resident Advisor 4/5 stars
2011 The Remixes Real Tone Records
2011 Dont Put Me In Your Box EP Hypercolour Resident Advisor 4/5 stars
2012 Not Listening K7
2012 Watcher Dogmatik
2012 Getting Freaky Heidi presents... Jackathon Jams
2012 Easier To Hide I/AM/ME
2013 Comfort I/Am/Me, Kobalt
2014 From the Dark Mobilee Records
2017 Won't Let You Down EP I/Am/Me
Trails
Weak / Werk
2018 Keep Me Warm
Don't Leave
Other Side

Remixes

Year Title Artist Label
2008 New System (Maya Jane Coles Remix) Chris Ibbot Dogmatik
2008 Fuck Me Pumps (Maya Jane Coles Remix) Amy Winehouse Island
2008 Uncle Tech (Maya Jane Coles Remix) Todd Terry 1TRAX
2009 Romanov's Boogie (Maya Jane Coles Remix) The Sun Paulo Wisdom Records
2010 Time To Dance (Maya Jane Coles Remix) Tricky Domino
2011 Cicadas (Maya Jane Coles Remix) Tom Middleton Lo:Rise
2011 Crash (Maya Jane Coles Remix) Fritz & Lang featuring Lizokot Airdrop Records
2011 Your Style (Maya Jane Coles Remix) Maceo Plex Cross Town Rebels
2011 O' So (Maya Jane Coles Remix) Inxec & Mark Chambers Leftroom Records
2011 Next To You (Maya Jane Coles Remix) Marvin Zeyss Brown Eyed Boyz
2011 City Life (Maya Jane Coles Remix) DJ T Get Physical
2011 Ritual Union (Maya Jane Coles Remix) Little Dragon Peacefrog
2011 Time To Dance (Maya Jane Coles Remix) Tricky Domino
2011 Creeping (Maya Jane Coles Remix) 2:54 Fiction
2012 Bring It Back' (Maya Jane Coles Remix) Franck Rodger Real Tone
2012 Lost and Found (Maya Jane Coles Remix) Lianne La Havas Warners
2012 She's On Fire (Maya Jane Coles Remix) Bo Saris Bo Rush
2012 Spectrum (Maya Jane Coles Remix) Florence & The Machine Island Records
2013 Fiction (Maya Jane Coles Remix) The xx Young Turks
2013 So High (Maya Jane Coles Remix) Big Dope P Moveltraxx
2013 Free ft. Emeli Sandé (Maya Jane Coles Remix) Rudimental Asylum Records
2013 Blue Skies (Maya Jane Coles Remix) Ella Fitzgerald Verve Records
2013 First Fires ft. Grey Reverend (Maya Jane Coles Remix) Bonobo Ninja Tune
2013 Love Drug (Maya Jane Coles Remix) Booka Shade ft. Fritz Helder Blaufield
2014 Pray For Love (Maya Jane Coles Remix) Kwabs Atlantic Records
2015 Hurricane ft. Pandora Drive (Maya Jane Coles Remix) Karin Park State of the Eye
2015 Lay Me Down (Maya Jane Coles Remix) Sam Smith Capitol Records
2017 Going Backwards (Maya Jane Coles Remix) Depeche Mode Columbia Records
2019 Movement (Maya Jane Coles Remix) Hozier Columbia Records
2019 Cocoon (Maya Jane Coles Remix) Gold Fields Haven Sounds
2019 Rushing Back (MJ Coles Remix) Flume Future Classic

As Nocturnal Sunshine

Studio Albums

2015: Nocturnal Sunshine

  • 01. Intro (Holding On)
  • 02. Believe feat. Chelou
  • 03. It's Alright
  • 04. Take Me There
  • 05. Drive
  • 06. Footsteps
  • 07. Down By The River feat. Catnapp
  • 08. Bass Bin
  • 09. Can't Hide The Way I Feel
  • 10. Intergalactic
  • 11. Skipper
  • 12. Hotel

2019: Full Circle

  • 01. Wildfire feat. Catnapp
  • 02. Gravity feat. Ry X
  • 03. Possessed feat. Peaches
  • 04. Pull Up feat. Gangsta Boo & Young M.A
  • 05. I'm Ready
  • 06. Ridin' Solo feat. Gangsta Boo
  • 07. Lessons of Life
  • 08. Dash feat. CHA$EY JON£S
  • 09. To the Ground
  • 10. Fuck Fame feat. CHA$EY JON£S
  • 11. U&ME
  • 12. Foundation
  • 13. Tied Up
  • 14. Closed Eyes feat. Thomas Knights
  • 15. Something About the Drama feat. Chelou

Originals

Year Title Label Reviews
2010 Can't Hide the Way I Feel LMD SkunkWorks Resident Advisor 4.5/5 stars
2010 Meant To Be !K7

Remixes

Year Title Artist Label Reviews
2010 Not Your Teddy Bear (Nocturnal Sunshine Remix) Backwords Elastica
2011 Ms Cooper (Nocturnal Sunshine Remix) Floyd Lavine ft. Mey Polydor
2011 Cocoon (Nocturnal Sunshine Remix) Alpines Polydor
2012 Pixellated People (Nocturnal Sunshine Remix) Jess Mills Island
2015 Close Up (Maya Jane Coles Remix) Peaches I U She Music GmbH

As She is Danger

Remixes

Year Title Artist Label Reviews
2009 Under The Sheets (She is Danger Remix) Ellie Goulding Polydor
2010 Girl I Love You (She is Danger Remix) Massive Attack Virgin Records
2010 Gangster (She is Danger Remix) Dreadzone Dubwiser
2010 On Melancholy Hill (She is Danger Remix) Gorillaz Parlophone
2010 Doubt (She is Danger Remix) Delphic Polydor

Music videos

Year Title Director(s)
2014 Comfort Jonas K Lord
2014 Come Home Jonas K Lord
2015 Believe The Fashtons