DJ Nocturna

Science corroborates a truth about music that many people feel instinctively: The music we listened to during our youth hits us particularly hard.

As demonstrated in one recent study, the results of which are detailed in journal article Cascading Reminiscence Bumps in Popular Music in Psychological Science, autobiographical memories and music preferences largely are shaped during an individual’s teen and early adult years due to rapid changes occurring in the brain. As Slate‘s Mark Joseph Stern explains it, “Musical nostalgia, in other words, isn’t just a cultural phenomenon: It’s a neuronic command. And no matter how sophisticated our tastes might otherwise grow to be, our brains may stay jammed on those songs we obsessed over during the high drama of adolescence.”

At least, that seems to be the case for DJ Nocturna.

“I am inspired by the 80s — it was an amazing time,” says Nocturna as she settles into a booth in the back of Downbeat Diner alongside Lana Saldania, her co-host on KTUH radio show A Feast of Friends.

“Eurythmics. Billy Idol. When I first saw Billy Idol, it was during that Eyes Without a Face (video) on MTV, and I was like this,” Nocturna continues, dropping her jaw and opening her eyes wide to mimic her 1984 self.

Since 2010, DJ Nocturna and Saldania have been keeping that era alive with 80s Pop Muzik, held every last Saturday of the month at Bar 35, where they team up with local bands and other DJs to play their favorite 80s tunes. This Saturday, Feb. 28, 80s Pop Muzik celebrates its fifth anniversary, starting at 9 p.m., featuring rock band Super Hi-Fi and DJs Gary O and Rhombus, along with DJ Nocturna. Saldania is set to emcee.

Throughout the years, the events have featured various themes — from Seven Deadly Sins to 80s Prom — and also have included fashion shows, DJ competitions and karaoke. The theme for Saturday is a “Tribute to Post Punk” — particularly fitting for the anniversary, perhaps, as it is that sub-genre of 80s music that Nocturna is drawn to.

80s Pop Muzik (the name is a reference to the 1979 M song Pop Muzik) features every type of 80s music — rap, dance, new wave — but Nocturna always has had a penchant for the darker side of the decade. The Smiths. Joy Division. The Cure. The Sisters of Mercy. Nick Cave.

“That is what the 80s is really about to me,” says Nocturna, who won’t reveal her full name. “I have always just listened to the more obscure stuff.”

Nocturna’s music proclivities were weaned on the early days of MTV — particularly its alternative after-hours show 120 Minutes. Legendary post punk band Joy Division was one of the first bands she remembers getting into. She owns everything The Smiths put out (and counts bassist Andy Rourke as a personal friend). And when it comes to The Cure, she prefers the early, darker Pornography to their later, more popular albums.

While her tastes may lean a little gloomy, the reason why is somewhat romantic, if ominously so: She associates this type of music with the concept of the duende, a creative inspiration punctuated by melancholy.

“Darker music, in my opinion, is in tune with the realm of sad and beautiful love songs,” Nocturna says. “As Nick Cave said, ‘The love song must contain duende, because the love song is never simply happy.’ … We can’t have love songs without sadness, because when we love someone, we open our hearts to the potential for pain and suffering.”

Wanting to share her passion for music, Nocturna got her start as a DJ on public radio in Guam, where she grew up. After attending University of Hawaii, Nocturna went back to Guam, but returned to the Islands shortly after.

Since then, Nocturna has been carving out a spot all her own in the local music scene, including a 15-year gig DJing at UH Manoa’s KTUH (90.3 FM in Honolulu). A Feast of Friends (the name is a nod to The Doors) runs from 6 to 9 p.m. every Saturday and features 80s music, dark electronic, goth and more, as well as interviews with musicians and guest stars. She began DJing at clubs more than 10 years ago, and has played at hot spots throughout the years like The Wave, Indigo and Pink Cadillac.

The idea to start 80s Pop Muzik came up as a conversation between her, Saldania and the now-retired DJ Mod Boy, about their shared love of the 80s.

“There’s such passion in the music (from the 80s),” Saldania says. “You cannot repeat that decade — it was decadent and it was colorful. And let’s talk about that wardrobe — it was crazy, right?”

It was, in fact, a love of the 80s that brought Nocturna and Saldania together in the first place: Nocturna was spinning at another 80s night event, and when Saldania complimented her set, she mentioned she was a singer-songwriter. So Nocturna brought Saldania on A Feast of Friends for an interview and recognized that Saldania has a melodic, soothing voice well-suited for radio.

In some ways, Saldania is something of a foil to Nocturna. DJ Nocturna boasts an encyclopedic knowledge of music: “She knows when they were born, what they’re eating, for God’s sake, when they died —” Saldania explains.

“Especially when they died,” Nocturna interjects.

“— How long they toured,” Saldania continues.

Meanwhile, Saldania’s main goal in radio, she says, is to promote positivity to their listeners: “I think that anybody on the radio or in the media has a responsibility to promote sincerity and kindness and love and passion.”

But they found they flowed well together on air.

In person, too, the pair has a banter going. They gently dispute the details of how they met (“No, actually, no. Sorry, Johnny, it doesn’t work like that!” Saldania says after hearing Nocturna’s account) and argue whether Nocturna ever dances (“I will dance if I like the DJ,” Nocturna relents).

Six years later, that chance meeting has morphed into a productive collaboration. In addition to co-hosting A Feast of Friends and 80s Pop Muzik, they co-produce events including Miss Vamp Hawaii, an alternative beauty pageant that aims to be inclusive for all women. (“Like vampires, we take the concept that love and passion never dies, everyone is ageless and timeless and growing older should never be a factor to hinder growth, development and dreams,” the website explains.)

Part of what they both enjoy most about their radio show and events like 80s Pop Muzik is being able to support other local bands, DJs and artists — and, of course, to promote the music that they love.

“Another 20 years, and I don’t know if (80s music) is going to be around,” Nocturna says, explaining that she has seen a decrease in 80s theme nights in recent years. “That’s why we’re keeping it alive.”

The idea that musical throwback nights could disappear is a dismal concept if you believe those studies that suggest the music we hear during our formative years is the music that will always have a strong hold over us. But the saving grace of that is that music also has been strongly linked to memory — hearing a song from your past can make you feel like you’re 15 again.

Or, as Saldania puts it: “You would be surprised what music can do to your mindset. When you come into 80s Pop Muzik and you hear something from the 80s, it takes you there.”

in the 1980s with friend Angie Penninger DJ NOCTURNA PHOTO

in the 1980s with friend Angie Penninger DJ NOCTURNA PHOTO

For more on DJ Nocturna and Lana Saldania, and details about 80s Pop Muzik, visit djnocturna.com.

DJ Nocturna shared some of her top picks that she’s likely to play at 80s Pop Muzik this Saturday:

Joy Division Love Will Tear Us Apart
Real Life Send Me An Angel (Lana Saldania cover)
The Cure A Forest (dance mix)
The Chameleons In Shreds
Wire Train Chamber of Hellos