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This edition of MY FIRST GIG features Romanian DJ/producer Alex Sharp a.k.a. Alexandru Hent, who has made Amsterdam his home base for a while now. About his debut: "At that moment, I started to panic slightly."
“When I look back, I actually consider two gigs as my first. The first one took place more than a decade ago, when I was about fourteen. At that time, I was breakdancing in a group with the main goal of ending up on a dance floor in a club. Of course, our age was a bit of an issue because of the 18+ rule. So, we used to hang out on Sunday afternoons in a club in Sighisoara (Transylvania).”
'Side-kick'
“During that period, I met Adrian, alias DJ Ochiu, the resident DJ on weekends. Soon, I became his ‘side-kick’. I was in! I got to stand behind the decks and help him with the light show. Being by his side, it became more and more natural for me to want to mix the tracks myself, and from that moment on, I was practicing every afternoon.”
Behind the decks
“One Sunday, we were chilling on the terrace of the club when suddenly a group of young people around fourteen, with their teacher, walked in. They were on a city trip to Sighisoara. The teacher asked if the music could be turned on, and there I was, behind the decks. I still remember playing Scooter, Florfila, DJ D’Augustino, and other electronic music.”
Lost virginity
“This gig greatly influenced my life. I did my thing behind the turntables when a beautiful blonde girl caught my attention. I took off my headphones and asked her what she wanted. Of course, she had a request, a terrible song that I definitely didn’t want to play.” (laughs) “Nevertheless, a relationship developed, and we visited each other regularly. We had to travel six hours each weekend. I lost my virginity to her, and that experience was unforgettable, of course.” (laughs) “Thanks to that first gig, I got my residency for the event Baby Disco, an alcohol-free event for fourteen- to seventeen-year-olds who were happy just to dance to my music.”
Networking sessions
“My second ‘first’ gig came when I was fifteen and started meeting more people in the city who introduced me to techno. I remember my first cassette with DJ Rush and Mike Lovechild, recorded during DJ networking sessions at Club Napoca.”
UFO project
“I became completely addicted to the 4/4 beats, and soon the UFO project started. This was a series of events at different locations, usually in an obscure basement, with minimal lighting and a powerful sound system, where people could disconnect from the world. I still have some flyers and posters from those days on my blogs. They were private evenings, and you needed a special membership card to get in. We gave those cards to our friends and to people we felt fit in with the whole thing, so we could always have a fantastic evening together.”
More 'power'
“I was the warm-up act at the first event of the UFO project. It was the first time I played electronic music in full force. Deep, minimal, house, progressive, and breakbeat. I combined all these different genres that night. I remember trying to build up the set when someone from the audience asked for more ‘power’. At that moment, I started to panic slightly, my heart started beating faster, and I felt like I had disappointed the audience. Fortunately, I was able to quickly regain my composure and filled the space with the right percussion elements, creating enormous energy. I made short breaks and let the effect fade into the drop. That guy immediately started jumping and gave me a high five.” (laughs)
Sense of community
“After finishing my set, I danced until sunrise. Since we all lived in the same neighborhood, we walked home together with a lot of love and a tremendous sense of community. I cannot thank these people enough for the wonderful moments we shared and that I will remember forever.”
“I lived in Sighisoara until I was eighteen. Then I moved to Bucharest to study philosophy and journalism. During my studies, I had various jobs, including nightlife reporter. I’ve been living in Amsterdam for a while now, where I organize techno nights at club John Doe, under the name UNDRGRND. What I want to tell upcoming DJs and producers is: learn the rules and then learn how to break them. Never give in and never give up.”
This interview with Alex Sharp was originally published in June 2018 on This Is Our House.
Who is Alex Sharp?
Alex Sharp is a versatile artist, passionate organiser, music producer and DJ. Alex Sharp ventured from being a organiser first to a full-fledged DJ, music producer & label owner. With years residencies, Alex Sharp has become synonymous for amazing music and a staple on the labels he released with his deep melodic and dark sound.
In Alex Sharpe’s sets you’ll be surprised by pounding drums and rolling bass lines, that never disappoint, and Alex Sharp loves to infuse very sentimental tones with classic reworks and old timer tunes that brings the dance floors to life!
Alex Sharp’s hard work, spirit and soul brought him local (Amsterdam) and international (Norway, Slovenia, Czech, Ukraine, Germany, Austria, Belgium, UK, Greece, Spain) gigs and shared line-ups with heavyweight artists, such as Matt Sassari, Ramiro Lopez, Ash Roy, Agent Orange, Ran Salman, Several Definitions, Spaceandtime, Olivier Weiter, Hubert Kirchner, Brlee, Marc Grabber, Dexon, Charlie Prince and Minitech Project.