WatchTheDJ

From the WatchTheDJ archive

DJ Mag

DJ Mag

Featured sets

Apr 2016

James Zabiela, Danny Howells & Danny Rampling - Live @ 25 Years of DJ Mag 2016

Your favourite dance mag celebrates its silver anniversary in May with very special a bumper issue which we're launching at Work bar with an intimate live stream party. Tech(nology) pioneer James Zabiela and funky tech ledge Danny Howells will be joined by Shoom founder Danny Rampling for a sweaty 100-capacity school-night dance off.

Apr 2016

Chus & Ceballos - Live @ DJ Mag HQ 2016

Undoubtedly, Chus and Ceballos are the most solid, professional duo from Spain. Hailed worldwide for their excellent production works, including official remixes for world-renowned artists like Madonna or Shakira, they display a remarkable versatility enabling them to play in small clubs to life-size festivals. Their marathon DJ sets capture their genuine Iberican character, while their blend of styles between House and Techno lie in perfect harmony, accentuating the unmistakable beat of the percussions. Throughout the past decade, Chus & Ceballos have been the pioneers and creators of the underground movement known as ‘Iberican Sound’. This resulted in the prologue to an important saga for artists and producers, who have chosen Tribal as their way of life. Their evolution throughout the past years has led them to the pinnacle of the global music scene. All these years of hard work, absolute dedication, undisputed professionalism and a constant evolution in sounds have led this infallible duo to the summit of success, bringing them to securing residencies at the best clubs around the globe; Pacha and Cielo in New York, Space Miami, Stereo Montreal, Sound Los Angeles, Ageha Tokyo, and many others. Chus & Ceballos represent an invaluable legacy of sound, where their blend of styles is their dogma and the quality their message.

Apr 2016

Riva Starr & Alexis Raphael - Live @ Groovefest Malta Launch Party 2016

Groovefest Malta Launch Party with Riva Starr & Alexis Raphael at Work Bar in Angel, London. Just when you think you know Riva Starr... He’ll probably confuse you with yet another side to his musical personality. Don’t call him fickle, though. Try bored. Try excitable. Try unpredictable... And then some! As Philippe Stark once famously said “I do not try to please everybody, I make what I can, how I can, when I can. […] I try to deserve to exist by doing my job well. I have this sickness called creativity and I exploit this sickness to offer new meaning in things to my friends. That’s it, very simple”

Apr 2016

Cassy - Live @ The Sunday School in Miami 2016

Cassy is a strong, independent and unique individual whose feminine power and sensitive musical flow delivers diverse techno with soul, warmth, elegance and a touch of mystery. “Always since I can remember, especially in the Austrian village I grew up in, I was surrounded by music. One of my first and strongest musical memories is of having a ladybird turntable, I played it so much it was demolished in the end.” Born in England and raised in Austria, with her mother from Austria and father from Barbados, Cassy was exposed to many cultures growing up. She went to music school at the age of five before joining a local children’s choir, where she would wear traditional Austrian dress and sing in monasteries. As a young girl, Cassy met jazz musicians including Sun Ra, Archie Shepp and Lester Bowie, when they stayed at her parent’s countryside inn on their way to play an Austrian jazz festival, organized by her parents’ friends. “Sun Ra was this super mega cosmic guy, an out there character. These people must have been a big influence on me. They left a trace behind of somewhere I knew I belonged, without knowing how to get there.” Influenced by her parents, Cassy grew up listening mostly to Chaka Khan and Sade, alongside an eclectic selection including Spandau Ballet, Madness, Sarah Vaughan, Talking Heads, The Cure, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. In her teens she attended singing lessons and studied A-Levels in music, learning a few musical instruments, with the focus on guitar. “At this stage I always felt like I was way too shy to do it properly. I didn’t believe that I could be a musician like the ones who came to stay at my parents, but, it was my deepest wish.” In the early 90s, Vienna started developing a strong techno scene, exposing artists like Kruder & Dorfmeister. Cassy loved and frequented a soul and funk night, Soul Seduction, which lead to her discovering Gilles Peterson and the influential label Talking Loud. “Around this time I also started buying records from the local record shop, Black Market, a bit of drum n bass, Hip Hop, House, Techno, a mix of things. I was never differentiating music.” At 20 she moved to London to attend drama school for what she calls “The serious study years for drama training. I learnt a lot but I realised this wasn’t my path.” She came back to Vienna and arrived directly back into the music scene. “It was around then I started singing to electronic music and soon I started DJing. I got obsessed and didn’t want to stop.” Her first gig was at Flex in Vienna with Electric Indigo, who, alongside artists Acid Maria and Miss Kittin, became Cassy’s first mentor. “I was really influenced by and look up to these women. Susanne (Electric Indigo) was DJing a lot at raves and parties internationally and I would go with her. One day she said “Why don’t you start DJing yourself, and then you can come and you don’t have to pay for it”. I had an Austrian boyfriend in Cologne at the time and I would go record shopping at the Kompakt record store. I also began to experience different techno scenes in Germany, like the Munich scene with DJ Hell and Love Parade in Berlin and I slowly began to build my courage as a DJ. It took a while for me to take myself seriously and it began slowly, which was very good for me in the end. I could focus on my craft and move ahead step by step.”

Mar 2016

Paco Osuna - Live @ DJ Mag HQ 2016

With a career spanning more than 20 years, Paco Osuna is one of the most renowned artists in the industry. As a DJ he is lively, intelligent and sophisticated, with a deep awareness when it comes to sound aesthetics. For Paco, all sessions are important and it is a requirement of his to invent and renew every time he steps onto the stage. Musical monotony has never been an option. In 2006 he launched Mindshake, conceived as a platform for the creation and distribution of electronic music. Also in 2006, Paco founded Club4 in Barcelona. A venue with a fresh concept, Club4 has established itself as the overwhelming choice for its variety and accessibility in electronic music offerings. With his studio production, Paco is a fertile mind ever evolving and over time has developed his own musical trademark, coating the purest techno sounds with his most characteristic fibers: deep, dark and imaginative beats. Paco has published on labels such as Plus8, Spectral among many others. In October 2014 Paco Osuna returned to Minus, with Long Play. The LP is a meeting point between Paco Osuna’s past and his future, a product of almost 20 years behind the decks - eight precision tracks, purpose-built for the dance floor in his own inimitable style. He has also been recognised with several of the most important awards in Spain: Best Artist, Best Techno DJ and Dj of the year (Vicious Music Awards, from 2011 to 2014); Best Producer and Best Remix: Plastikman-Ethnics (DJ Mag Sp 2011).