WAHM (@wahmmusic) approach club music from a live angle, and that point of view runs through their recent single “Feel My Fire” on Squire’s Ànims label. The French-Moroccan duo, Hicham and Walid, entered electronic music after time spent playing rock and metal, and that history still shapes how they think about performance, tension, and the physical side of a room.
In this conversation, the duo speaks plainly about what gets lost when club culture starts serving the camera first, and why live performance still gives them a way to stay locked into the crowd instead of the phone.
That thread connects closely to “Feel My Fire,” a release that arrives with strong support around the Ànims orbit and offers extra context for how WAHM talk about authenticity, spontaneity, and trust in the moment.
Rather than treating visibility as the goal, they keep coming back to presence, local scenes, and the kind of set that stays with people even when there is no usable clip afterward. It makes this interview a useful look at how they see the room right now and how they hold on to a more direct relationship with it while playing live.
Interview With WAHM
Have you ever felt like sets these days are being recorded more than it was being felt?
Definitely.
There’s a shift where people experience moments through their screens first. You can feel when a crowd is present versus when they’re documenting. The energy is different, less raw, more fragmented. It tends to be felt in fancy clubs and mainstream venues, but there are still some places where you almost see no phones on the dancefloor, and it feels SO GOOD.
How do you navigate the balance between creating a memorable moment and getting a viral clip?
We don’t really chase the clip. We’re actually bad at it haha. If the moment is real, it will translate anyway. The danger is when you start designing drops for cameras instead of people, that’s when it loses authenticity.
Have you changed the way you prepare or play because you know people might be filming?
Not consciously. If anything, we try to ignore it. The more you think about being filmed, the more you disconnect from what actually matters which is the room, the tension, the timing.
But the good thing is that we mainly play live, with instruments. So there is always something happening in terms of performance that can be captured without forcing it.
What’s something that used to matter more in club culture before everything became a photo op?
Anonymity. There was something powerful about not knowing who was behind the decks, just feeling the music. Now identity and image sometimes take over the experience itself.
This impacted the scene in a way that people support less local djs and only go to parties if their favorite headliner is playing, without opening themselves to being surprised by someone else’s music.
Do you think the pressure to look good behind the decks has affected how DJs perform?
Yes, in some cases.
It can push people to perform visually instead of musically. But the crowd still feels authenticity, you can’t fake connection for too long. Usually when the dj is doing too much acting it can look good on screen but once you look at the crowd, they could be not even dancing, as if he’s doing the party for himself and his socials instead of the crowd.
What happens to risk-taking in a culture that values content over presence?
Risk-taking obviously decreases. When everything can be captured and judged instantly, people play safer. Social media is relentless so artists tend to be more in control. But the most unforgettable moments usually come from taking risks. An unexpected mashup or transition, or an impromptu jam on stage can make a timeless moment, but could be not so camera friendly.
Have you ever had a night where nothing went viral, but the vibe was unforgettable—and that was enough?
As we said earlier, we are bad at chasing that perfect clip so this actually happens a lot to us haha. Quite often, we play amazing live sets, connect and interact with the crowd, but in the end, we miss that good video that can translate the moment. But at least it stays etched in our memories forever.
Will Vance is a professional music producer who has been involved in the industry for the better part of a decade and has been the managing editor at Magnetic Magazine since mid-2022. In that time period, he has published thousands of articles on music production, industry think pieces and educational articles about the music industry. Over the last decade as a professional music producer, Will Vance has also ran multiple successful and highly respected record labels in the industry, including Where The Heart Is Records as well as having launched a new label with a focus on community through Magnetic Magazine. When not running these labels or producing his own music, Vance is likely writing for other top industry sites like Waves or the Hyperbits Masterclass or working on his upcoming book on mindfulness in music production. On the rare chance he's not thinking about music production, he's probably running a game of Dungeons and Dragons with his friends which he has been the dungeon master for for many years.
