Written By: Nicola Hartman

Meet Gabrielle Watson, aka A Hundred Drums/Nya Beats. She has broken the barrier of confining herself to one genre; she makes dubstep, psytrance & techno. Her production and live mixing embraces an entire spectrum of frequencies and vibrations, describing a sound that somehow resonates with people from all across the map.

Watson truly embodies the virtues of diligence & perseverance. Not only does she manage to balance every day life tasks with work and her various projects, but she also manages to make and play quality tunes that move your soul and feed your consciousness.

Her work is extensive and focused; everything seems to send some sort of message to be heard or help the community in some way or another.

Where do you see yourself in the next few years?

I hope to see myself further along with my container project. I am slowly building a family business behind it. I can’t say what all is in the works just yet but it is coming along nicely. I do have intentions to start hosting a workshop on tiny home building.  I also hope to be playing more shows and sharing these vibrations. I have nothing but love and an open heart that wants to share as much of that as possible. Moving people through sound, not hype.

So you go by two different aliases, tell me a little bit more about each one and how they came to life.

I have DJ A Hundred Drums and studio project Nya Beats. I choose that name A Hundred Drums because the main intention I have when I DJ is to align heartbeats. Think about it. Drums are the roots to all music. We have a natural drum in our bodies. The heart. When you can get everyone’s heart beat in sync VIA music, that is magic. It’s a beautiful synchronistic phenomenon. An experience I wish for everyone to enjoy at least once.

Nya is short for Nyabinghi. This is one of the oldest and strictest ways of living per the Rastafarians. It is a pledge. Meaning, to love all human beings. Nyabinghi is also a style of ritual drumming. It’s drummed to perform a meditative practice. I am in full alignment with this and that is why I choose the name Nya. Beats however come from my passion for the drums. I love beats. I love to switch up the groove a bit. Nya Beats.

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You have various other projects in the works, tell us a little bit about each one:

Amplify Her:is a Canadian funded documentary on what it is like being an up and coming artist in a male dominated industry. It’s creator is Ian Mackenzie. He is from Victoria I believe. Amplify Her is also doing a 6-part motion comic. It will be a 15-page comic book and 15-min long motion picture about very specific situations we all had to endear individually. I believe the film and comic will be release within the next few months.

My personal projects also include:

The Container Diaries: I am documenting my journey with my star brother Von The Wizard Bellows. He is a student at San Francisco’s, Academy of Art University. Together we are filming a tiny home being built in a shipping container You can check it out on facebook or my youtube channel. The episodes are about 20-30mins long.

A Hundred Drums/Nya Beats: Music performing and producing.

B-Side Los Angeles: B-Side was started by both Stephen (Watchmaker) and Murad. Great brothers.

To B-Side Los Angeles, I am a promoter and currently working on expanding our production to the Bay Area. Where I am with that is venue searching. I hope to find one in the next few weeks.

That just about sum’s up my most active projects. There’s always going to be more.

What is your favorite part about writing and performing music?

I don’t have a favorite part to writing and performing because both actions are so very special and unique. I will however say that I love to see so many smiling faces when I’m performing and hearing how my musical selection has changed so many lives and left an impact. And for writing I will say that I enjoy the flow. Meaning I love how I can tap into this new realm and the music and beats just come pouring out. It is by far one of the most profound moments.

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