ICory Nitta, 26, a.k.a., “Cory Enemy,” producer, writer, electro-pop musician and master re-mixer, grew up at the end of a dirt road in what he calls “the middle of nowhere,” more popularly known as Death Valley, California. Here, he was exposed primarily to Folk music, as a result of his mother--an ex-hippie who was also musically inclined. “My parents were devout Jehovah’s Witnesses, so I wasn’t really allowed to listen to contemporary music,” says Cory. And yet despite that constraint, it was as a child that, under his mom’s tutelage, he learned to play every instrument, including the Celtic harp. “By the age of 10 or so, I had started to reject religion, which meant that many of the parents in the congregation barred their kids from hanging out with me. Being a loner gave me a lot of time to really Focus on music.”
When Cory was 18, he had what he now refers to as a major epiphany in his life. “I woke up one day and just knew i was supposed to leave Death Valley. A lot of kids my own age were dying of drug overdoses, suicide, or just ‘stuck.’ They were never gonna leave.” Cory hit the road with $200 in pocket and ended up on a beach in San Diego. He didn’t know a soul. “Within a few days, I met a girl who told me her friend’s band was looking for a bass player. Even though I didn’t have a bass, any money, or a place to live, they hired me anyway. I moved in with the drummer, who was this rich kid living in a $3.5 million house. It was all very, very lucky.” Yet the opportunities that have been presented to Cory since moving away from Death Valley suggest it’s more destiny than luck at play here, something he can’t help but admit to.
The San Diego band was dismantled after about a year, but during his stint with them Cory was able to make some useful connections and also gained access to a recording studio, where he taught himself the art of digital media. From San Diego, he moved up to Los Angeles and started an electronica band called The Phillipians. “During that time I started meeting all the right people, performing at all the right places, and was finally part of the scene I wanted to be in,” says Cory. While out and about, Cory became friends with an actor, who was somewhat of a fixture on the LA scene, and who shared his love of music and sense of humor. Together, they created the band Pink Enemy (a mash-up of the names Pink Floyd and Public Enemy). “It started out as a joke,” says Cory. “I was still busy with The Phillipians, so this kid and I were like, ‘let’s start a stupid hipster-electro band and write songs about Dakota Fanning.” Cory couldn’t anticipate what would happen next: “People didn’t get it. They thought it was genuinely cool, and we started developing a real following.”
The public response meant that Cory and his partner couldn’t ignore the potential of Pink Enemy. It was time to start taking it more seriously. “I really started to think about this whole electro thing,” says Cory. “We hired a guitarist, got a drummer, and started playing a lot more around LA.” And while their LA presence was getting stronger, it was what happened in Las Vegas that would prove once again that it was synchronicity more than just luck on Cory’s side. “Pink Enemy had only played about ten shows when we were discovered by Dallas while performing at The Mirage,” says Cory. Dallas is Dallas Austin, the major record producer who’s worked with everyone from Michael Jackson to Madonna. “He just happened to be walking by, heard our band, and loved it,” says Cory. Not long afterward, Dallas flew Cory out to Atlanta, hired him as a producer, and signed him to his label, Rowdy Records. During this time, Cory parted ways with his original partner in Pink Enemy and was mainly working under the name Cory Enemy. “I went to Atlanta to record my album, but I also went there as a student,” he says. “Up until that point, I had been doing mostly indie music, a lot of electro and house. I really didn’t know anything about pop.” Under the eye of Dallas, Cory learned more than he ever could’ve imagined. “Dallas really took me under his wing,” he says. “He’s become like a second father to me. I even call him "daddy" ” While working on his album and immersing himself in this pop world, Cory also started getting hired to do a slew of official re-mixes, which has turned out to be a great promotional tool for the Cory Enemy enterprise.
In addition to finishing up his own album, which can be described as sexy electro pop, “sextro,” if you will. Cory has Officially written, produced, and done re-mixes for artists, like Sky Ferreira, Felix Da HouseCat, Dallas Austin, FrankMusik, Pop Levi, Steve Aoki, Peaches, Felix Cartel, N.A.S.A. ,Pharcye, imogen heap, Disco Tech, Chuckie, David Guetta, Uffie, PAssion Pit, Major Lazer,Paul Epworth, Hearts Revolution, Katy Perry, shwayze, Novel, DJ Skeet Skeet, Chris Holmes, John Forte, and Usher. He also started a DJ duo with DJ Ruckus called Party Crash, a live show in which they “battle each other/ perform Live Remixes Using Midi Controllers/ableton Live and Serato Scratch."
Not too shabby for a kid from “the middle of nowhere,” and you can only expect more from him. As Cory’s career continues to grow at what seems to be a meteoric rate, like an artist with a bullet headed straight to the top, his future is undoubtedly filled with more innovative projects and, of course, synchronicity.
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-photo by ruby aldridge-
