DARIUS SYROSSIAN

ND MAG #001 DARIUS SYROSSIAN PHOTOS BY PAOLO REGIS

ND 001 NIGHT COVER WITH DARIUS SYROSSIAN

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Article by Christian Dori

Photos by Paolo Regis

ND MAG #001 DARIUS SYROSSIAN PHOTOS BY PAOLO REGIS

Hi Darius, We are happy to have you on ND Magazine again! How are you?

Great thank you! I just arrived on the island for the first time this summer and played our first Do Not Sleep show at Cova Santa, which was incredible! It was packed and with a great atmosphere, it was the first of my many shows across this beautiful island this season.

Please tell us about your Do Not Sleep residency in Ibiza this season. Where else will we see you this summer on the island?

This summer I will be playing for several different parties, but the main bulk of my shows will be for Do Not Sleep on 7 special Fridays at Amnesia, including the opening at Cova Santa with Ilario Alicante, Seb Zito, Sidney Charles & more. My other shows are at DC10 for Paradise, Pyramid at Amnesia, Warriors which will be announced soon, Solid Grooves at Privilege, Defected and a couple more to go in. I’m very selective when choosing who to play for and it’s generally for the parties that are mainly about the MUSIC because that is what is important to me.

ND MAG #001 DARIUS SYROSSIAN PHOTOS BY PAOLO REGIS

Let’s speak about Moxy Muzik, your new vinyl & digital label, which already has the support from artists such as Derrick May and Laurent Garnier. Why did you start it and what kind of music do you want to deliver to the public?

Moxy Muzik is my new project which is set up to feature artists that have made a name for themselves because of their MUSIC and not any other shit such as image or manufactured hype, because I want the label to stay away from generic tech house. Too much music at the moment I feel is sounding way too generic. The music from the first few releases are from artists such as Enzo Siragusa, Christian Burkhardt, Ben Rau, Phil Weeks, Rich NXT, East End Dubs, Steve Lawler, Doc Martin, and more underground artists plus of course myself. The project is also about Moxy Muzik label parties where I focus on all night long sets or 6 hour extended sets playing in more intimate venues, where the main thing is the music and the crowd. We have had sold out shows in Berlin, Budapest, London, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool and these parties will continue all over the world in the coming months. This project has been amazing with the vinyls on first few releases selling out, the digital going straight to number 1 in minimal deep tech genre on Beatport and the support from top DJs, so I’m very happy about it and excited to keep moving forward, when you have legends like Laurent Garnier supporting your music there is no bigger endorsement.

ND MAG #001 DARIUS SYROSSIAN PHOTOS BY PAOLO REGIS

ND MAG #001 DARIUS SYROSSIAN PHOTOS BY PAOLO REGIS

ND MAG #001 DARIUS SYROSSIAN PHOTOS BY PAOLO REGIS

ND MAG #001 DARIUS SYROSSIAN

In your Moxy Muzik launch events around Europe you provide long sets of 6 hours. How important is for a DJ to play long sets and why?

It’s very important, because the REAL art of DJing is taking the crowd on a journey and you can’t tell a real story with your music in 90 minutes! Too many agents and DJs are getting greedy trying to do two or three shows a night and some promoters think they have to stack many acts on a line up but this really loses the flow of the music. I think that playing long sets lets you express yourself properly as a DJ and provides a better experience for the clubbers.

Has it ever happened to you in your career not to be in tune with the taste of your audience?

When EDM started invading the house and techno scene, I noticed that a lot of people at the big shows were expecting to hear that sound. Now to be clear, no disrespect to people who like these kind of tracks, but it simply isn’t what I play. I always play my music and my fans know my sound and want to hear it so I’m not going to play obvious hits just to please some in the crowd, but a while ago one person tweeted saying - Darius was shit, he didn’t even play “Losing it” – and my reply was simple - I don’t even own a copy of that track, but maybe in the future do your research on the DJs you are paying to see, to find out more about their music and you won’t be disappointed! - but this has happened very rarely, and it’s kind of why I started Moxy Muzik, to do more shows playing longer sets, to an audience who is fully into what I’m about as an artist. I didn’t become a DJ to please the masses or to be popular, this is of no interest to me, I became a DJ to play the music that I feel from the heart, which is my sound, and since I have been doing Moxy Muzik parties and longer sets this thing has never happened again.

What characteristics do you think a TOP DJ should have?

I think the main thing is to STAY TRUE TO YOUR SOUND, do not change what you play to start playing the latest fad! All the artists who have stood the test of time and have been going for years, have never changed their own sound. Sasha, Sneak, Derrick May, Lawler, Robert Hood, Jeff Mills, Digweed, Carl Craig have their own style that you can recognise, and this is the TRUE art of DJing. Sadly there are artists these days that have a career mainly made from hype, and this is happening more often, but they will only last few years and then disappear or move into very commercial bookings.

What are your musical references?

Hard question to answer! I just love ALL music that is good. I ran a record shop for 15 years selling every kind of vinyls, from jazz to funk, disco, downtempo, old school, hip hop, house, techno or even drum & bass so I can find influences from any kind of music as long as it is music made from the heart… To me there are only two types of music: good music & bad music.

What do you think of our new edition of ND Magazine?

I love it. I love what you guys do and have always followed the magazine. It’s great for this beautiful island to have contributors like yourself supplying such a qualified magazine.